# Night time bladder training



## yheywood (Feb 20, 2013)

Hi everyone, 

So our pup is now 10 weeks, and we have him crated at night. The crate is in our bedroom and he absolutely loves going in there when he is tired. The only problem is, he wakes us up roughly every 2 hours and we take him outside and he always does a wee. We live in a really quiet street (so we would let him cry and ignore it) but the last thing we want is complaints from the neighbours. 

Is there any way we can train him to hold his bladder for longer during the night (as we are absolutely exhausted from lack of sleep) or is this something that will just come with age?

I will also add that he hasn't had any accidents in his crate so far, even during the day when we leave him for a couple of hours. It just seems that he is in a routine of waking up every couple of hours during the night.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

There are other members who are a lot more puppy-savvy than I am. I do remember learning, though, that puppies have little, tiny bladders to start with, and it'll take a little while for your puppy's capacity to "hold it" to improve.


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## Nelly (Feb 7, 2013)

Hi yeheywood and congrats on your V puppy. At 10 weeks our pup was up every 2 hours or more for a wee, some nights down to the minute! 

As mswhipple said their bladders are still teeny tiny and can't hold it for long. I'm not sure if there is a 'magic number' of times your pup should be going out for a wee during the night at 10 weeks, but we found by about 11 1/2 - 12 weeks our pup could either hold it all night or would only be up once for an actual wee rather than just crying. 

It comes with age, with any pup really and all pups are different. Some will be able to hold it sooner than others. 

The lack of sleep is exhausting but it's part and parcel of having a baby puppy. On the bright side all these potty trips now will pay dividends in the future with potty training!


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## mlwindc (Feb 8, 2013)

We brought our pup home at 11 weeks and he was going once at night. By about 13 weeks he was sleeping through the night. Hope that helps!


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## lyra (Nov 2, 2012)

Hi yheywood and welcome to the forum. 

Can I suggest you have a quick search of the forum as this is a very common question and there is lots of good advice.

Long and short of it is your puppy should be able to manage with one potty break in the night. He gets you up every couple of hours because he likes the attention  He may wee every time you take him out but that doesn't mean he* needs* to wee that frequently. 

Start ignoring him or you are going to establish a pattern that is hard to break!


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## yheywood (Feb 20, 2013)

Thank you everyone for the replies! It's nice to know that we're not alone and that it is semi 'normal'. 

The first night we brought him home, we did wake him up a few times during the night to go wee, and were so proud that he had no mistakes in his crate and that he got the hang of holding to go outside. We were just worried that we had formed this pattern of every few hours and weren't sure what the norm is. But I feel much more reassured and we will wait it out  

Astro is our first vizsla (we both have had other breeds of dogs though) and exhausted is an understatement. We're only young (21) so having a vizsla is a huge eye opener into what I can only imagine having kids will be like! However we simply adore Astro and absolutely love the viszla breed - so all of those positives definitely out weigh any sleepless nights.


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## pippylongstocking (May 21, 2012)

yheywood said:


> Thank you everyone for the replies! It's nice to know that we're not alone and that it is semi 'normal'.
> 
> The first night we brought him home, we did wake him up a few times during the night to go wee, and were so proud that he had no mistakes in his crate and that he got the hang of holding to go outside. We were just worried that we had formed this pattern of every few hours and weren't sure what the norm is. But I feel much more reassured and we will wait it out
> 
> Astro is our first vizsla (we both have had other breeds of dogs though) and exhausted is an understatement. We're only young (21) so having a vizsla is a huge eye opener into what I can only imagine having kids will be like! However we simply adore Astro and absolutely love the viszla breed - so all of those positives definitely out weigh any sleepless nights.



I can vouch for the exhaustion part! :'( It does get better, but you just have to be patient, very, very patient. My one year old V Ester still gets me up in the night, anywhere between 1-4 times. She can sleep through, as she has done it before, but has recently started waking at night again. Having said that, she has stayed in her crate for the past 2 nights.  She was also very good at toilet training, and never soiled her crate (probably because she didn't spend enough time in it)! At first she made such a protest, i seem to remember spending the first few weeks at least, on the sofa downstairs, with Ester by my side, as she would not settle in her crate at night, and would make an almighty racket. I think she just likes the attention really, although she does pee and poop, and there's not much I can do about it, as our neighbours are not amused (they have previously complained re the barking). Currently in the process of changing feed in the hope she will poop less and gain some weight, hence the sleeping through the past couple of nights! Hoping it works! By the way, I have had 2 children, one of which also had me up in the night regularly for years, but they were no where near as demanding, infuriating and exhausting as Ester. Wouldn't swap her for the world though, just wish she'd stay in bed!!! ;D ;D ;D Good luck, and if nothing else, at least you always have someone to talk to via the forum, at any time of the day or night. Keep us informed of Astro's progress!


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## yheywood (Feb 20, 2013)

Aww Pippylongstocking I hear you with the exhaustion! That's the same with Astro - each time he got us up he would do his business outside but I feel as though he was doing only little wee's to compensate for getting us up for a cuddle and some attention. 

Last night we let Astro sleep in bed with us. We were a bit cautious as we were afraid of him having an accident but so far since we have had him, he's only ever had one (so I was quietly confident). However, I had the best nights sleep I have had all week! He was a perfect angel - laid right in the middle of my boyfriend and I. My boyfriend did get him up once at 5:30 to take him out just in case, but I think he would have gone the whole night had we not woken him up. So I think we have found our solution  however during the day he still loves having naps in his crate. Just this morning I had to duck out to the supermarket and he stayed in his crate without a worry. 

So thank you everyone for your feedback! I love getting opinions from those who know a lot more about this special breed than I do


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## lydiaful (Feb 15, 2013)

HI,
We had exactly the same issues with our v Wilson at around the 10 week old stage and i had some really good advice from people on the forum.
Wilson is now 16 weeks old and sleeps right through from 10.00 to 5.30 which is massive progress, however i have become a bit of a softy and tend to go cuddle up on the sofa with him at 5.30am for another hour which is becoming a bit of a problem as he expects this now!
my fault i know, :-\ but he is so hard to resist! plus when you are sleep diprived you'll do anything for a bit more sleep!
I am no expert at all as Wilson is also our v, however i do know that they respond to whatever you teach them, so start as you mean to go on!!!
Good luck!!


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