AAAAARGGHHH!! How Long Til He Can Hold It All Night?

[sugarskullz]

So......, we have been working very hard at potty training, although Ozzy really doesn't seem to get it yet. The only success is Me, getting him outside regualrly to potty, otherwise he just goes on the floor willy nilly without a warning or a care! I tell him 'potty time' as we go outside, and I only reward (with treat and lots of praise) when he pees or poops and he still gives me that blank look!! LOL
Also, without fail, at around 4 am every morning, he starts whining in his crate and I have to get up and take him outside to do his business, or else!! I always take him out at 10 pm the night before and he always has a pee and a poop for me, but he can't seem to wait until I get up at 6:30 am to go again. I am becoming sleep deprived!!
Right now Ozzy is 11-1/2 weeks old.
Usually, at what age til he can hold on ALL night?

I was spoiled with Lola, she was a breeze at potty training!

[CSollers]

Do you limit his water intake in the evening? We did this with Minni when she was younger and it helped a lot. Just take up her water a couple of hours before bedtime.

Don't wanna scare you but Ray is like 9 yo and gets up at 4:30 wanting to be fed.

[ayleash]

Mine awake early because the heat kicks on.. if it didn't, they'd sleep... I am certain of it...

[sugarskullz]

He doesnt have access to the water or any food after 6pm at night. He seems more anxious to poop at 4 am than pee, which is weird as he poops at 10 pm the night before. His last meal is between 5 and 6pm. He is on a really good quality food, and gets fed 1/3 cup 3x day. Only gets a treat when he does his business outside. He poops about every 4 - 6 hours without fail. Is this normal cuz Lola doesn't?

[shaynapug]

When I'm feeding 3x a day.....last meal is no later than 8PM.... Mine generally sleep all night...

[Wally 'n' Leto]

11.5 weeks is still really young... Wally was fantastic about potty training and I'm sure it was about 6 months before he was able to reliably hold it all night. It's normal for them to poop every 4-6 hours... their bowels (and bladders too) are very small and can't hold very much at a time. Hang in there.... he'll catch on eventually!

[Snifter]

It sounds like pretty normal progress to me, to be honest.

I've just had a look back at my old potty diaries. Snifter was on a schedule of pottying at 11pm, then 4am then 8am until he was about 4 months old. At that age I started stretching the morning time to 6am and by 41/2 to 5 months he was holding 10.30pm to7am. However I don't think he really caught on to the need to potty outside until about 4 months and then it started coming together.

With Toddy my approach was a little different in that from about 3 months I just penned him in an xpen overnight with his potty papers at one end so I could sleep. It took him slightly longer to be clean overnight, probably because he had the availability of potty papers at night but at 5 months he was clean throughout the night even so. I was lucky in that his trainer had put in a lot of time with paper training and from fairly early on he would try to seek out his potty papers if he needed to go. It meant more clearing up than I had with Snifter but the trade off for a proper sleep was worth it for me.

[MrsGreene]

The fact that he is whining to go out is a GREAT sign! You are doing the right things. It takes about 6 to eight hours for the food to work its way through a dog's system, so that seems about right. He is still very much at an infant stage. He'll catch on. Do some reading about puppy development--he can't reliably feel his urges at this tender age. You are being very consistent and this will help in the long run.

Puppies are a HUGE nuisance. Good thing they are so cute.

[Tinker's mom]

I agree, the fact he is whining to go is a good thing. He is still very young so be patient.Sounds like you're doing all the right things.Good job!

[sugarskullz]

He only whines when he's in the crate though, otherwise when he's not in the crate, he just pees or poops right there without warning.
You're dead on when you say it's a good thing they're so cute!! LOL