Should I wake my puppy up to pee at night? (A guide)

In this article, we will answer the following question: Should I wake my puppy up to pee at night? We will tell you everything you need to know about potty training a puppy. 

Should I wake my puppy up to pee at night?

You should not wake your puppy up to pee at night, as they do not pee as often during the night. However, keep in mind that each puppy has its own learning pace, so you should avoid despair and be understanding with it.

Even if you try to take him out for a walk often during the day and have left him a towel or newspaper where he has learned to pee and poop, your puppy may still be doing it in the wrong place. As a puppy, he always does not control his sphincters at all, especially in situations in which he is afraid, nervous, or happy.

For this reason, if, for example, he has not been taught yet or if at night you lock him in a separate room, it is possible that being alone will make him feel unsafe and urinate and defecate everywhere. Since he was born, your puppy was used to sleeping in his brothers and his mother’s company, making him feel protected. In this sense, an early separation can also be detrimental. 

Keep in mind that puppies begin the period of socialization with their mother and siblings and it is their mother who gives them their first life lessons. Therefore, puppies separated prematurely tend to develop some behavioral issues.

What to do if my dog ​​urinates at home during the night?

Despite the difficulty that solving this problem often represents, the truth is that you can take different ways of acting to prevent your dog from peeing at home at night.

1. Establish a walking routine: As we have mentioned, the lack of a walking routine can be why your dog pees at home at night and the poor distribution of the hours of walk throughout the day. We advise, then, that you take your dog for a walk frequently and always at the same time; ideally 3 times a day and at least half an hour per walk.

In addition, the walks should be spread out throughout the day, that is, morning, noon, and, especially, at night, to give you the opportunity to pee before going to sleep. 

Suppose it is impossible for you to frequent the walk so much. In that case, we recommend asking a third person for help or taking 2 long walks (one hour each) and overcome the laziness of taking it out a few minutes before going to sleep so that you can urinate outside the home and, therefore, do not have to wait until the next morning.

2. Provide adequate exercise: It is common to see dogs that have behavioral problems due to excess energy. They do not do enough daily exercise that their bodies and minds need and this triggers a general state of discomfort and nerves, which leads to problems such as urinating at night since they have not tired during the day.  For this reason, you need to know what your dog’s specific needs are. 

Establish, as we have mentioned, a coherent walk routine to its needs, as well as games and activities that are cognitively demanding (smell games, obedience exercises …), in order to have a healthy and balanced dog.

3. Eliminate the urine smell: If your dog has some favorite objects or places to pee inside the house, it is most likely that you need to erase the smell of urine with a specific enzyme product, easily available in pet stores. Eliminating the odor will prevent your dog from urinating again since that space will not be associated with peeing.

Enzyme products are those free of bleach and ammonia. Both bleach and ammonia are products that encourage the animal to urinate the disinfected area again because the dog’s urine contains ammonia. So, no matter how much you clean that piece of furniture or that object, you will always leave that trace that will encourage your dog to mark again.

4. Offer him a space in which he feels protected: If your dog urinates indoors at night due to separation anxiety or because he is upset because something is keeping him alert, you will need to prepare a space in which he feels comfortable and protected. To do this, you must:

Find an area of ​​the home that is away from all sources of noise or other elements that can stress your animal. Leave him in this space everything he needs so that his needs are covered: food and water, a bed, toys with which to entertain himself (especially interactive and that may contain prizes), etc.

5. We also recommend placing a pheromone diffuser, as it will be of great help to calm the dog down. Pheromones are substances that these animals naturally secrete to emit certain messages. Synthetic pheromones imitate natural ones, so when detected, they transmit calm, safety, and well-being to the animal.

You can also leave some of your garments that contain your scent to make them feel more secure. If your dog has separation anxiety, the most advisable thing is to solve this problem at its roots by going to a veterinarian specialized in ethology.

6. Go to the vet: Finally, if your dog has started to perform this behavior suddenly or is already advanced in age, you should take him to the vet as soon as possible. Urinary incontinence is likely to be a consequence of age or some pathology, which may or may not have a solution.

If this is your case, that is, that your dog for organic reasons cannot last all night without peeing, it will be necessary to educate him to relieve himself in a soaker or a urine tray, showing him where he is, and take him to this area each time you can see that he wants to pee and then reward him effusively each time he does it well (through food, praise or caresses). 

In this way, despite not being the ideal solution, you will minimize the problem.

My puppy pees at home, what to do?

If this is your situation, the first thing you should know is that it is completely normal for your puppy to pee and poop inside the house. No dog is born taught and it is our obligation to educate them correctly to avoid things like this.

If your puppy is less than three months old or does not have all the vaccinations, remember that she cannot leave the house, because she could catch some disease common in dogs but dangerous for puppies with an undeveloped immune system. 

So the only option is to teach your puppy to go to the bathroom and do her things inside the house, in a place enabled for it, such as a balcony/terrace/garden, the kitchen, the bathroom itself…. where you think best and that is obviously always accessible to the dog.

How to teach a puppy or dog to pee in a certain place in the house

You have to spend time and have a lot of patience for teaching a dog to pee or poop in one place in the house. If it is a puppy we will have to have even more patience if possible, since how do you know puppies are how you drink, they don’t learn… you have to be very patient and follow the same steps continuously.

The first thing we must do is locate a place that is always accessible to the puppy. A corner in the kitchen for example or in the bathroom can be a good place. There we will place a training tray, which is nothing more than a place where we can teach our dog to urinate.

Placing a training tray is very important for two reasons:

1. The dog will associate its smell with a place where it can pee or poop.  You can put soaps that absorb the pee in seconds, thus eliminating odors and making the area more hygienic.

The soakers are like a kind of small, thin blanket that is placed on the training tray. They are like diapers but shaped like a little blanket. They will help us keep the training tray clean and avoid bad odors (they are very practical). We can also use newspapers as an alternative, but they are not so hygienic or recommended…. since many times the puppy gives to bite them, break them, and spread them throughout the house.

2. The trick for our puppy to learn to pee only on her training tray is to congratulate her a lot when she does it there. Cuddles, verbal congratulations and even a treat in the form of a dog biscuit.

In contrast, when he pees in a place where he shouldn’t, we have to completely ignore him. Yes, you read correctly, no scolding him, or pouting at him, or speaking with an angry tone, or anything…. just ignore it completely. If we catch him right in the moment, we can try to get him to the place where he should pee and if he ends up there, congratulate him very much.

We insist, puppies are just that, puppies. You have to be very patient with them. From three months and as long as you have their vaccinations, they can go out and we can teach them to do their things outside the home.

How to teach a dog to urinate and pass outside the home

This part is the most fun and simple at the same time since both the dog and you will enjoy putting it into practice. The first thing we should know is that these techniques are applicable both in puppies and in adult dogs, both learn in the same way.

We must create a schedule of trips that is consistent since our dog will need to relieve himself several times a day. It is advisable to take our dog or puppy out at least four times a day, if more times, better than better.

For example, a departure in the morning when we get up (8:00 a.m.), a departure at noon (1:00 p.m.), a departure in the afternoon (6:30 p.m.), and the last pee at night before going to sleep (11:00 p.m.). You can adapt the schedules as they suit you best, but remember that you must always respect them.

The exits must be of at least fifteen minutes (fifteen in the street, not fifteen counting the time while you get to the park) and one of them must be of at least one hour, where the dog can play and socialize properly.

Our dog will quickly get used to the schedules and with patience and practice, he will learn to put up with his needs until the time for the walk.

The technique is very simple, congratulate our dog a lot every time he pees or poops outside the home, it’s that simple. You have to verbally encourage him by congratulating him, petting him, etc … This is the simplest and most practical way in the world to teach a dog to pee outside the home.

Final thoughts

Remember never to scold your puppy when he relieves itself at home, just ignore him. In this way your dog will learn this trick very quickly and over time will stop doing his things completely at home, except obviously for an accident.

It can take a puppy two to four months to fully learn, while an adult dog can take one to two months. Patience, perseverance, and courage, it seems complex but it is very simple.

If you have any tips, comments, or questions on the content, please let us know!

FAQ on Should I wake my puppy up to pee at night?

References

Petsworld.in

Animalwised.com