Waking puppy to pee at night

[Mary-E]

I'm wondering - doing I have to wake the dog up to bring him outside in the middle of the night if he's not waking on his own?  Last night I took him out at 11pm and 4:30 am.  He did pee at the 4:30 am trip, but it was me that woke him to go.  What do you think?

Read more here: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/puppymadness#ixzz3LyQozn2N

[Linda And Loo]

Do not wake a sleeping puppy! Loo was 8 wks when we brought her home! She slept until 6 am on the first night. She did wake us and she needed to go out! We took her out for the last time around 10 pm. Loo has never gotten us up during night since we brought her home. You may be one of us lucky ones that do or did not make the middle of the night outings! Enjoy your puppy and sleep tight!

[Laura and Angus]

I agree not to wake the puppy up if they're sleeping. They'll let you know if they have to go out in the middle of the night by crying or pawing the cage (as far as our puppy did). Your puppy may be able to hold it longer in the beginning which is amazing! We had to get up at 3:30-4:30 every morning for weeks because our puppy would wake up and whine or paw the cage...

As long as your puppy is close enough where you can hear them if they wake up, that's good I'd say...

[Amy and Annabelle]

We brought Annabelle home at 10 weeks. I used the piddle pads in her crate at night the first week. If she woke us up, I would take her out. After that first week, she has kept a dry crate and no longer needed the piddle pads.I have never woken her up though. I take water away at 7pm. I make sure she has plenty to drink before then. She goes out a couple of time before she is ready for sleep. She goes to sleep about 9pm. and wakes anywhere from 6-7am. If she happens to wake up when we are going to bed, I will take her out one more time.

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

No! They will do what you train them/make habit to do! :-) and you may like to pickup the water bowl by 8 to be more confident that he can hold it. Mine held it from the start at 8-1/2wks old.he never woke from 10pm - 5/5:30 am, and no issues. Let him sleep and you can, too! Enjoy!

[Laura and Angus]

I totally agree with this. I think Angus would probably have gone back to sleep, but we were terrified of him peeing in his crate, so we took him out when he woke up. It's possible we prolonged the early wake-ups...and it really truly was a rough time for us.

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

One more thing I remember as being terrific advice we received: do not, ever, ever remove a puppy from a crate while he is whining. Wait until he is quiet - even if just for a few seconds - before removing him. We were told it is better he pee the crate (he never did!) than teach him that his whining will work... Best of luck and enjoy him!

[Laura and Angus]

Yes I read somewhere that you should wait long enough to take a full breath before removing them...

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Just answered in your other post, but NO! You may start a habit that you do not want to continue.

[Keri]

I followed the advice I got when my kids were born, "Never wake a sleeping baby." At first Jackson would wake up around 3:00 a.m. and cry to be go out to pee, but now he'll sleep through :)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

 Nope, you do not have to wake up a sleeping pup in the a.m.  I would still take him out at your bedtime.

[Christy&Riley]

We're the odd ones on this. My husband woke Riley a few times at night to take her out at first. He didn't want her to learn that whining at night would be rewarded. Worked well for us and didn't seem to cause harm. We never used the bells either though. We took her out frequently at first then learned her "sign" that she has to go. She will start pacing around the house and when she passes the front door she put her nose up towards the handle. When she notices you are watching her, she will freeze in place as if to say "so, are you coming or do I need to keep pacing?"