[Cotto]

I am cage training Cotto and i guess im having trouble figuring out his potty time. I take him out when I first wake up and he does both poo n pee. Then, he eats, I play with him a while and then train him and put him back in his cage, I take him out about 2 to three hours after to go poo n pee, but he only pees this goes on 2 more times with no poo so i gues what im asking is how many times a day should Cotto poo? He is my first dog so any advice would be great.

[maryellen]

how old is he? if he is a puppy he should be eating 3 times a day, and going outside for potty at least every 2 hours, he should go out to potty after he wakes up, eats, drinks, plays, naps. sometimes puppies take longer to relieve them selves as their brains are the size of gnats, so they have no attention span.

if he is not eliminating in his crate then you are doing it right.

as he gets older he will be able to hold his bladder and poop longer..

[Cotto]

He is 4 months old and he is eating 3 times a day i take him out about every 3 to 4 hours and he doesnt go potty in his crate so i guess im doing ok

[maryellen]

yep sounds like he is doing good.. sometimes pups need more exercise to stimulate their bowels to go.. how much food are you feeding him each time? around a bowl ful?

[Cotto]

I am giving him one measured cup of innova puppy. How much water should i let him drink?

[maryellen]

so he is getting 3 measure cups a day? ok that is good.. water he should have access too all the time,as some pups if you limit their water intake then they will drink obsessively when its down, if you keep water down all the time it will be a normal thing to have water 24/7 and the pup wont drink alot but only what he needs.. after 8 pm you can limit his water at that time, as you will probably put him to bed when you go to sleep right? so if you go to sleep around 11ish, limiting his water will help him not wake up during the night to go potty..

i always leave water bowls full in my house (right now i have 4 water bowls in the house full and a huge 8 quart water bowl full outside for when we are all outside..)

[Miakoda]

Originally Posted by Cotto I am cage training Cotto and i guess im having trouble figuring out his potty time. I take him out when I first wake up and he does both poo n pee. Then, he eats, I play with him a while and then train him and put him back in his cage, I take him out about 2 to three hours after to go poo n pee, but he only pees this goes on 2 more times with no poo so i gues what im asking is how many times a day should Cotto poo? He is my first dog so any advice would be great.

1. As soon as he comes out of his cage.

2. Within 5 minutes after eating/drinking.

3. Right after playtime.

4. Right after naptime.



As long as your pup is doing something outside, even if just urinating and not defecating, then you are not taking him out too much. A young pup's bladder is extremely small. At 4 months of age, a reasonable amount of time for him to "hold it" is 3-4 hours and that's only if he has not eaten or drank anything within an hour or more before being left alone.

[Cotto]

Great thank you guys for the advice its going to help me alot with him. This has been my biggest problem with him since ive brought him home so ill just keep working on it again thank you guys a bunch

[maryellen]

he wont be fully housebroken until he is around 8 months old, so have tons of patience... some dogs give signals, like sniffing the ground, running around and sniffing, whining, look for his signs and then you just have to follow them. you can also teach him to ring a bell onyour doorknob where you take him out to let you know that he has to go too. all mine know to ring a bell i have hanging on the door so that if i dont see them i can hear them telling me they have to go out

[R & B]

How accurrate is this statement, " As a genersl rule a puppy should be able to hold its pee in hrs the age in months." ex. 4mths than 4hrs.

[Drgnrdr]

That's good general rule, but not set in stone, too many outside factors, how much they eat or drink..etc...like was said before eat drink sleep play, can cause them to go sooner than 4 hours. and that rule is for daytime not night, at night they can usually hold it longer at night.

[maryellen]

depends on the puppy. i have had 2 month old pups who couldnt hold it for more then an hour, and could only hold it for 3 hours at 4 months old. then i have had pups 2 and 4 months who could hold it for 4 hours no problem.. nighttime sleeping some could hold it all night and sleep thru the night, others would have me up every 2 hours to go potty.