How long can goldendoodles go without peeing?

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

I am a teacher so I'm with Bexter all the time & let him out often during the day (at night he pretty much sleeps the whole night).  When school starts in August, I'll be either crating him or confining him in a small area (bathroom probably) with a gate.  My husband can MOST OF THE TIME come home for lunch, so Bexter will just have to hold it 5 hours at the most.  He'll be 4 months old at that time.  My question is...There are certain days that my husband won't be able to come home for lunch due to meetings, although most of the time he can.  How long can I expect Bexter to hold it during the day?  Do any of you work all day & have the doodle hold it for 8-9 hours?

[Kendra K. Rhoton]

Absolutely.  There are times when Remington is crated for 10 hours.  This doesn't happen very often, but we have had to do it.  He was absolutely fine.  Don't worry!  :)

[Heather Martinez]

Teddy is home for 8-9 hours a day on weekdays. He stays in the kitchen behind a baby gate. Up until he was four months old we provided a "puppy pad" for him to use during the day. When he was about 3 months old he stopped needing to poop on the pad and started holding it. When he was 4 months old he started tearing the pad to shreds and peeing on the floor. This lasted a few days and then he started holding it until we get home. He has plenty of water to drink during the day too.

[Lindsey]

Yep- Molly girl is amazing in her crate. We've had to crate her for 9-10 hours before too!! (I KNOW this sounds sooo cruel) but she does fabulous and never has had an accident on the random days when she has had to stay in her crate that long.

PS. if you do end up having to crate her for a lengthy period of time, try and make sure you have a safe chew toy for her...our toy of choice for a long crate time is a peanutbutter filled kong (frozen) it takes a longggg time for her to get bored with that toy, which keeps her happy for a good bit of time while crated :-)

[Lindsey]

Oh and PS. I also wouldn't feed her right before you're getting ready to crate her for a lengthy period of time...that just makes it harder for them, I think. Molly gets fed as soon as she comes out of her crate (well, right after she goes potty).

[Carlos and Chloe]

Depends on how old they are but the older they get the better they are at holding it.  I was in a similar situation with chloe.  There were a few occasions early on when I couldn't come home for lunch and she would have a couple accidents here and there but after about 6/7 months she was fine holding it.  Even when we got home after a late day she was in no hurry to go outside.  She'd wait another hour or 2 after we got home before she'd want to go out.

[Amanda Kelmer]

Definitely, 

I have a 5 month old doodle. I work 8-9 hours a day 5 days a week. I normally can come home and let her out for about 45 mins, but there are rare occasions where I have to attend a lunch with the customer (maybe once every other week or so). Although I feel bad about not coming to let her out, she is fine. The first time it happened I was freaking out, thinking I would come home to a pee/poo filled cage with a sad puppy, but that did not happen at all!

 

A couple tips though... don't put a water dish in her crate or penned area, most definitely get a sturdy chew toy like a kong filled with something delicious, and if you know prior that you won't be coming home, tire the pup out the day before by going to a dog park or something like that! 

[Dori & Rua]

I heard the rule of thumb was 1 hour for each month they are plus 1 month.  So, a 4 month old puppy should not have any problems holding it for 5 hours.

 

Both my DH and I work M-F, so we are gone from 7:30 until 5:30.  I know Rua could handle the 10 hours (she is 10-1/2 months), but I prefer she doesn't.  So, Rua goes to daycare two days a week and my DH comes home for lunch the other 3 days (he has appointments out of the office many days, so it is much eaisier for him).  If there is a day he can't, then I do.  It is 17 minutes each way for both of us, so we are only home for about 1/2 hour, but we can let her out, play a bit and eat left overs for lunch.  I know he would love NOT to come home at lunch, but he is indulging me.  Since we can, we do.

[shelly]

Hi Traci.   YES!  I do believe he can do it!  I'm a teacher too. We got Tori in May of 2008.  Our school goes to the end of June.  The weekend we got her was Memorial Day and I actually had five days off.  Luckily my in-laws live with us and were able to let her out of her crate during the day.  We really worked on leaving her in her crate for hours at a time during the summer vacation starting with 22 hours, then increasing to at least 4 or 5....But by the time I went back to work in September, she was able to hold it until my older son came home from school - I would walk her before I left at 8:40 and he came home by 2:40. But then again, she was 6 months and was holding it through the night for 9 hours at least..... obviously the best situation would be to have someone come in and let Bexter out.. even if you can find a friend, relative, or even a dog-sitter.... but they really do learn to hold it.  You also may want to look into the ex-pen.  I wish I would have known about them when we were training.  You can put the crate inside the pen and yet give him room to 'go' if he really needs to while no one is there... and if it's not really hot, don't leave water or food in there for him to drink and graze on while you're gone.. that will make it harder for him to hold it. .GOOD LUCK!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna held it for about 7 hours from the time she was maybe... 4 months old?  Now at 10 months she can hold it all day but is definitely desperate when we get home.

 

I agree with giving him a kong or other sturdy toy filled with something.  Luna ONLY gets a kong stuffed with peanut butter and something else (usually banana or veggies) when she is going to be left home alone. It's her "sorry I'm leaving, but this will keep you busy a while" treat ;)

 

We started her with a pen in the kitchen and now (as of 9 months) she can be trusted to be in the master bedroom/bathroom (she likes to lie on the tile floor) with her crate and a water bowl.