Hi there, I have an 18 week old black lab called Kevin. I’m having a bit of trouble training him to hold his bladder and bowels overnight and wondering if anybody has any advice on the best way I can go about it, or their own experience to share. What’s happened so far: Kevin has had ongoing diarrhoea since I got him that is only now starting to settle (due to a few things that are being slowly sorted with the help of my vet), so basically the first 8 weeks that I had him I hadn’t been able to effectively use e.g. an alarm to toilet him overnight because he’s needed to go often and at irregular times. It’s only in the last 2 weeks that his movements are becoming more regular and he now typically only needs 1 poo and 1-2 wees overnight (so wakes me every ~3 hours overnight). I am crate training him, and he sleeps in his crate in another room. When he needs the bathroom in the night he wakes up and whines. As soon as I hear him whining (I’m a light sleeper since he arrived!) I take him to the balcony to go to the toilet. There’s no exciting play or anything, straight to the toilet and straight back to the crate once he’s done. I go to him immediately when I hear him whine because I live in an apartment building and I don’t want the whining to escalate to barking at night time as much as possible for the neighbour’s sake. He then either settles straight back to sleep or fusses (chews his bedding, barks, things like that) for 5-30 mins then falls back asleep. I have a camera set up facing his crate so I can see what he's doing, and as long as he's safe I ignore these behaviours so he doesn't learn that they equal attention, but I do find the barking stressful because it does carry to the neighbours. Now that his diarrhoea is resolving I really want to get to working on getting him to sleep through the night. Not only am I concerned about disturbing neighbours, but I’m raising him by myself and the sleep deprivation is getting to me! I know he’s still a baby but I also know he’s been able to do longer sleeps (6-8 hours) occasionally, just not consistently. It feels like I have two options: Keep going as I am, so letting him whine and tell me when he needs to go, and hope that as he gets older he’ll start going longer himself. This feels like a long road, but if it’s one that will work eventually (or has for other people) I’d be grateful to know that sticking with it does work in the end! I guess with this I’m wondering whether, because I go to him as soon as he whines, he’s actually learning that he doesn’t ever need to hold overnight because he’ll always be let out to the toilet and all he has to do is whine. I know barking for attention is a habit they can learn, but is whining for the bathroom overnight a habit that he can learn (and therefore I need to discourage) or something that he’ll just naturally stop doing as he gets older? The other option would be starting to set alarms again overnight, so getting him up at say 12am, 3am, and then slowly pushing those out. My question with this options is, if you do that and your dog wakes at e.g. 2:30am and starts whining to go out, would I make him wait until 3, or would I let him out? And does that then defeat the purpose of setting alarms in the first place? Does anybody have any advice on either option? Or maybe another option I haven’t thought of? Or even just a shared experience to help me feel a bit less alone in this tiredness right now? Thanks!
Personally I would give him a bit more time as you have been doing - getting up with him for a boring bathroom break and back to bed. Even adult dogs can’t hold diarrhea/soft poo overnight. He’s young enough that I would not worry just yet that it’s a habit - both my dogs woke super early in the morning until after 6 months and gradually slept later aligned with when the family gets up as they were able to hold their first bathroom break longer. If it continues well past his tummy troubles and as he gets older, then you may have to re-visit ways for him to sleep through the night.
Thank you so much for your thoughts! It's helpful for me to bounce off people, so I appreciate you sharing what you think.
Just wanted to post an update here for any puppy parents who read this going through a similarly tough time in the future. Kevin is now 20 weeks old and I stuck with option 1 (not setting alarms and just letting him tell me when he needs the bathroom overnight). It’s amazing how much progress he’s made in just 2 weeks - I thought I’d posted this question way longer than 2 weeks ago but no! He’s doing 6 hours solid pretty consistently overnight now, if not a bit more. We’re on the right trajectory - what a win. If you’re reading this and you’re exhausted, you’re struggling with puppy blues, or still adjusting: gee it sucks. So so much. I see you, and I hope this update gives you hope (if it’s what you need) that things are going to settle for you too in time.
As a puppy owner who struggled with 4 months of chronic puppy diarrhea, I feel your pain. Sophie had to get new prescription food to get over that hurdle, but for 2 months we are good. Hang in there! I was so frustrated and tired from all that! I used the alarm method and by 6 months she was getting through the night. Even now at 8 months during the day (I work from home) we have a pretty routine potty schedule. I found she behaves better when EVERYTHING is in a routine. Glad you’re pup is doing better! Keep up the good work!
Thanks so much Annamarie it's so reassuring to hear from other people how things improve! I've just switched to setting alarms as well actually, as I've noticed that his fussing in the night has changed to attention barking rather than 'need the toilet' whining, so not wanting that habit to settle in. Hopefully only a month or two to push the alarms out and we'll be on the home stretch!!
