# 12 Week Old Puppy - how often to get up during the night for pee breaks?



## souffoue (Jul 7, 2014)

Hi,

We have a 12 week old puppy that is crated at night. Most nights he does great, no accidents (usually wakes me up if he needs to go out, I'm a very light sleeper). Last night he peed in his crate (didn't wake me up or maybe I was sleeping more soundly than usual, although I tend to wake up at every single sound). Anyway, should I be setting an alarm and taking him out during the night? If so, how many times during the night should he need to go out? Lots of times he has slept from 11 pm to 6 am with no potty breaks and no accidents - sleeps through the night without needing to pee, others he doesn't. Thanks!

Happy National Dog Day! (sorry for the huge pic, not sure how to size it in PB)


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## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

If accidents are rare, I honestly might just leave things the way they are.
If, however, you feel that your dog does need to go out in the night, I might set an alarm for the half-way mark and take him out then.


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## souffoue (Jul 7, 2014)

Thanks! I have to say I'm pretty proud of our little guy! Love the pics of your dog. He looks like he is smiling.


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## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

souffoue said:


> Thanks! I have to say I'm pretty proud of our little guy! Love the pics of your dog. He looks like he is smiling.


Thanks! He's a smiley guy when he's outside  Or doing training... or getting treats... or meeting new people... LOL


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## souffoue (Jul 7, 2014)

LOL Happy dogs are the best dogs!!


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## doggiepop (Feb 27, 2014)

how often a dog needs to out depends on the dog. i think at 12 weeks old our pup was out 2x's overnight.
from 4 months old to 8 months old our pup woke one of us up at 4:00 am to go out. one of us would take
hin out. we never refused him.

take your pup out a couple of times overnight and see if that helps.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

My pup at 13 weeks is fine most nights from 10 p.m - 7 a.m. Sometimes, she needs a middle of the night pee, or wakes up earlier. Those times, we get up and take her out. The nights she doesn't, we enjoy the sleep!


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## SchnauzerDaddy (Aug 27, 2014)

What time do you stop giving your puppy water? Puppys like to gulp down large amounts of water frequently. Unrestricted, this can be a cause for accidents during house breaking. I limit my puppys water intake at night but check the gums and mouth for hydration. 

So far no accidents in the crate. All dogs are different.


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

I don't usually have to take my dogs out at night from the time they are around 12 weeks old, big and small dogs. I am a very light sleeper so it is not a case of "never" as sometimes they have eaten or drank more and start to fuss and I let them out. I do crate them at night till they are reliably house trained so they do not get a chance to make a mistake.


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## souffoue (Jul 7, 2014)

Thanks everyone! I wanted to make sure I wasn't supposed to be setting my alarm for like every four hours or something haha


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## SoulDogs (Aug 14, 2014)

At 3 months, in my experience, it's not so much about "every four hours" or something like that at night, but it's more you can't sleep in... someone has to be getting up early. For example, when my dogs were puppies, my husband got up really early for work. I'd put the puppy to bed at like 10pm, and my husband would be up at 5am and need to let them out to the bathroom before leaving, while I slept in to a more normal hour (haha). If we had waited until I got up at like 8, there'd definitely be an accident that young.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

We didn't wait for the pup to wake us up, we just set an alarm. At first it was 4 hours in, so if we went to bed at 10, we would get up at 2, and then he would sleep until we got up again at 6. We gradually moved it back an hour every 4 weeks of age or so. He was about 5 months before he stopped needing that break - before that if we tried the whole night he woke up whining at 5am, so we kept setting the alarm earlier than 5. The goal was to never let him out when he cried, but to anticipate when he might need to go out and take him out proactively. Not sure how well that worked since he still isn't great in his crate, but that was the theory we followed.

We never had to take him out more than once per night even as a 9 week old, but a small breed with a small bladder might need to go out twice.


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