[Sherlock]

At what age should I expect my lab to sleep though night without bathroom brakes? Watson has just turned 3 months old. Since we got him a month ago, I've been getting up in the middle of the night to let him out. Last week I started increasing the time from 4 hours, gradually up and we're at 5hrs 15mins right now. I also pull his water bowl an hour before bedtime.

I know every dog is different, but how old was your lab when they could go without nigh time brakes?

 

[BigBrownDog]

Mine has been sleeping through the night (9PM to 6AM) since 10 weeks old. I do lift his water bowl about a half hour after his dinner (at 7:30).

My older dog is diabetic and he does get me up at night to pee - and one time figured I would let the baby out too. I opened his crate and asked him if he wanted to go out - and he would not even stand up. I closed his door and let him go back to sleep! LOL

 

[justine]

How long is your dog left during the day while you are away? When Abbey was a pup, she was used to being crated for about 7-8 hours, so she was fine through the night as long as I picked up her water bowl a couple hours before we went to bed.

 

[Sherlock]

Watson is crated while we're at work on weekdays. We have someone come by twice a day to let him out for pee brake. So, during the day, he's not forced to hold it for more than 3-4 hours at this point.

 

[justine]

Hmm. Well if he seems to be doing well, I would just keep upping his time spent in the crate w/o a break a little bit at a time. Sounds like he's doing well!

Most dogs won't pee/poop in the place they sleep. Do you have his crate set up with a divider so it's not too big (i.e. he can stand and turn around, but that's it)? If yes, then that will help. If the crate's too big or without a divider, he could potentially pee/poop in a corner and go lay where it's dry.

If you cut out the water a couple of hours before bed and make sure he goes before you put him in his crate, I'm sure he will do well. It just takes some time and effort, but sounds like you're on the right track!

 

[Luvmydog2much]

I've never had a pup who didn't sleep through the night. Even my litter was sleeping through the night at about 6 weeks old, and it carried through to their new homes. Keep everything routine, times, night night cookies, crating etc.

I've never lifted water.

 

[Dani]

are you getting up to take him out or is he waking up to go out? If it's the prior..stop getting up. My boys were sleeping through the night at 8 weeks.

 

[kelli]

tuck was sleeping through at 10 weeks.. i lift his bowl, even now, at 8pm.

 

[Crush's_Mom]

Mine sleeps on my schedule, which is about 11PM to 630AM. He is 10 weeks old. I take him out right before bed and straight out in the morning to 'potty'.

 

[hayshakerlabs]

The basic rule of thumb is if your puppy is 3 months old, add 2 hours to their age which equals 5 hours, 4 months plus 2 hours equals 6 hours, etc., and that is appropriate length, although some sleep throught the night faster than others. Good luck and it wont be long and he will sleep all night for you. My puppies are 14 weeks and there are times they want to go out during the night so I take them out, although for the most part they sleep all night.

 

[Sherlock]

Thanks for all the replies. Based on all your posts and Watson's behavior, I'll shoot for the full night sleep this weekend.

He doesn't whine in the night, so I'm the one who gets him up and out to pee. But part of the reason I've been doing that is to avoid him having to whine and me having to face a choice of either letting him him out because he whines (bad precedent) or cleaning up the crate. But he's being a good boy overall and now goes 5 1/2 hrs without a peep before I let him out at night. So I'll shoot for a 7 hr night this weekend and go up from there.

 

[PhoebeJeebies]

He shouldn't be going in his crate - if he is, the crate is too large for him. Do you have a divider to make it smaller? It should only be big enough for him to stand up and turn around.

 

[Sherlock]

He has a wire crate with a divider up. He had a couple of accidents in there, but not for the last 3 weeks.

 

[Rodarbal]

Hey my little Huck is 11 weeks old and has just started sleeping through the night. Until about two days ago he would wake up around 2:00 like clockwork and need to go out. My other two labs, now 2 years old, when they were puppies were different, my female always slept through the night while her brother got up also around 2:00 a.m. needing to go out. He always went potty so I just got up every night. He eventually started sleeping through. I know the other morning I looked at my husband and said "A full night's sleep, Wow!" Hang in there your pup will get there soon.