Sleeping through the night - adult dog

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

So my 3 year old male doodle STILL doesn't sleep through the night... my son didn't either until he was six, so we haven't had a solid night's sleep in 10 years!! Rocky wakes us up to pee, and since we don't have a dog door (and won't be getting one because there's no place to put it), he does need our help to get outside. Other than attempting to train him to unlock the patio door and open it himself and relocking after he's done, does anyone have any good advice for getting a male dog to "hold it" for 7-8 hours? He goes right back to bed and falls asleep after he has peed, so I know he's not waking us to play or cuddle. We remove his water bowl at night, and make sure he pees right before bedtime. The vet says there's nothing wrong with his bladder or kidney function. We've tried to ignore him, but he gets restless, and paces around and whines until we let him out. My female dog has slept through the night since she was a baby, and has never requested to go out to pee in the middle of the night. I suspect male dogs have smaller bladders, but still!! Any advice/ideas would be much appreciated ;)

[2hl9mp3c2fuam]

Oh I hear ya on that one!!! At least the child one!! LOL!! My daughter is now 7...is finally starting to sleep through the night!!

[23ght0c2zk1tt]

I don't think that it's a male thing either. Chapin is only five months old, and his last pee of the night is around 10 pm, and then he goes into his crate, and sleeps until 6:30 or so - often we have to wake him up!

Just re-read the thread, and see the crate thing isn't an option. What about a small room like a laundry room or powder room? If you feed him 3-4 days in there, and move the bowl around, he'd maybe be less likely to soil there, and would just sleep through the night.

Good Luck!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If you do use this suggestion of a powder room, etc., DO NOT close the door of the room. You will need a gate or screen door; it can be very damaging to a dog's psychological well-being to be closed up in a room where he cannot see the adjoining areas. (Just ask my big guy, Jack!)
I have a feeling, though, that Rocky will just howl in there, too, and maybe even scratch up the walls, etc.

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

Yes, I think you're right about him howling if we locked him up downstairs. He prefers to lie down right next to my bed. If he could, he'd be up in the bed with us, cuddling. We call him "Mr Velcro", he prefers to be close to us.

[Missi]

Well I don't think it's a boy dog thing. Marley, my 15month old LD has a bladder of steel! I don't know if it comes from being crated for so long at his old owners or what. The longest we have left him is 14.5 hours (not on purpose) when I got held late at work and he didn't even act like he had to pee when I got home. He stays in in an exercise pen when he's home alone. Lizzie makes it that long with free run of the house. But I don't have any new suggestions for you, sorry!

[Karen Klempel]

Our labradoodle is 9 mos old and has slept in a crate at night since we brought her home at 8 weeks. The first week home, we got up once during the night to let her out. After that first week, she hasn't got up again during the night. Her last time out at night is around 10:00pm and is content until I let her out of her crate around 6:30 or 7:00am.

The crate is a wonderful thing, sorry it's not working for Rocky. Trying to get him to like the crate may be an answer if you can make it happen.

I think with Rocky it is more of a habit than a need. You may have to apply some "tough love" and let him fuss longer before taking him out - trying to gradually delay the time of morning you take him out. Taking away water in the evening and lots of exercise will help, but breaking the habit may be the key.