Potty Breaks, Sleep, and Bedtimes

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Teddy just passed 6-months.  When he was 2-3 months old and not trained, I was taking him out 8-10 times a day.  Now, he rings a bell on the door when he has to go out and I would say he rings it 4-6 times a day now (plus another 1-2 times that I may take him out for a walk or Dog Park and he'll do a "quickie" on the way).

Now...the thing is I work from home PT and am a late-night person.  Teddy mimics my schedule; I   I normally turn in close to 3 AM though I am watching TV on my couch about 1 AM or so.  Teddy usually naps on the couch next to me and his last potty call is usually anywhere from 11:30 PM to 1:30 AM, depending.  He's getting plenty of sleep, it's just that instead of sleeping from 11 PM to 7 AM like most dog owners I know he sleeps from 1 AM to 9 AM on average. 

My Questions:

(1)  Recently, when we get up (about 9-9:30 AM since we turn in late) I have seen Teddy NOT have to go to the bathroom for up to 3 hours.  He usually goes back to napping.  This means close to 12 hours without having to go outside.  Is this normal for a 6-month old puppy?  He seemed to have better-than-expected bladder control even when he was 3 months old:  I would put him in his cage and he'd be dry 5-6 hours later.  I thought the rule of thumb was 1 hour per each month of age but he's more than double that even now.

(2)   The tired nature when he wakes up -- anybody else experience this ?  Should I take him out and "force" him to be more active even if he doesn't need to go out so he doesn't go right back to napping after we wake up (sometimes he'll eat a little breakfast, other times, no nibbling at all).

(3)  Will Teddy or an older Goldendoodle have to go out LESS as he ages ?  How much less ? 

I tried to put him to bed in my BR months ago in his cage but no luck after 1 or 2 successes.  I would love for him to turn in earlier even if it means I have to get out of bed at 6 or 7 AM and take him out then (that actually was the case the first few weeks I got him when he would fall asleep by 10 or 11 PM).  But he seems to have 'separation anxiety' and will not tolerate me being in another room for any length of time unless he's eating/playing with another dog/just came in to check on me/etc.

Maybe as he gets older he'll no longer be paranoid about me being in another room and not having a problem going to sleep earlier (and maybe in another room while I am still up) but for now, we're tied at the hip.

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

I will just add that when someone is not at home, the dog will sleep and be less alert--so they usually hold their pee longer--when you are there and they can get your attention by asking to go out, they will pee more frequently.

That's a great point, Ginny.  The fact that they are less active and partly resting/sleeping/napping no doubt shuts down their functions for part of the time.  When Teddy is up, I would say the longest he has gone without ringing the bells has maybe been 3-4 hours, tops.  In his crate, he has done 6-7.

I would also say that if you do not start training him to be apart from you for short periods of time using positive reinforcement, you will never be able to leave him, even if you get a job outside of your home...he will have a great deal of difficulty with that because you have never prepared him for that--dogs can live 13-15 years, so I hope you are happy with being "joined at the hip" for all that time.

How do I "train" him to be away from me ?  I mean, he KNOWS I am coming back....and usually within a few hours.  Heck, when he sees me prepare the playpen (snacks, water, etc.) and then put on my coat....he HIDES in his carrier case because he knows I can't easily get him out (unlike in his bed pillows where I can grab him from all sides) and he knows I am going out.  I give  him snacks....I tell him I am coming back soon....hug and kiss him....and I would say maybe 1 or 2 times only have I not heard him bark when I lock the door behind me.

Now....he ALWAYS quiets down after 2-5 minutes of barking (sometimes less) so it's not like he's terrified for 30 minutes or so.  You would think he would realize that by now I am not coming back so barking isn't accomplishing anything but I am not a dog psychologist. LOL

I love having him miss me and I have a Nest Cam on him (well, I did when he was in the playpen, now it's out of position to see him at the front of the living room) and he seems OK.  He mostly rests...sometimes he plays with a toy in his playpen....sometimes he gets up and looks out at the door (maybe a neighbor comes up to the 2nd floor and he thinks it is me).....he's not miserable.  

When I come home sometimes he jumps exuberantly but other times he just climbs up on the playpen wall (when he was in the playpen LOL) and then when I open the little door he sticks himself through it and snuggles up to me.  He's happy to see me but it's not like he is slobbering over me like he was terrified I would never come back.  He's a smart dog -- all Doodles are !! -- and if he is smart enough to "hide" from me when he sees me get ready to go out then he is smart enough to realize I am eventually coming back to him even if he doesn't have any sense of the time, whether it's 20 minutes or 2 hours or 6 hours (it's usually about 2 hours).

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Yeti is not a fan of us leaving either. We usually have to coax him into his kennel because he will run and want to play when he sees us getting ready. We usually throw a treat in and he will go in after it. Sometimes that doesn't even work haha. He isn't afraid of his kennel but he doesn't want us to go. Even though he cried a lot we started "training him to be away from us" by kenneling him while we were home. He cried, he barked, he "screamed" but eventually he stopped. We just had to wait it out. Is it annoying? Yes, but after doing it enough, he got used to it. We kennel him when we're at home at least a couple times a day just to keep him used to hearing us up and about without him getting upset. This helps with teaching him to hold his potty because typically a healthy dog will not mess his crate. We found the crying stopped quicker (and now almost all together) when we put a blanket over Yeti's kennel. Even if we are home and he can hear us, he almost never cries if it is covered. I can't be sure because we didn't clock it, but I'm thinking the longest Yeti has gone without needing to go potty (while we were home and being out of his kennel) was something like 6-7 hours.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ginny and Haley, she said she doesn't want to try leaving him alone or crating him as training because she wants him with her all the time, so I guess when she needs to leave him,  she'll figure it out at that time.

[Adina P]

Are you just concerned about doing right by him or is this a major problem? Because I honestly have never worried about bed times with dogs. If they want to be awake, great, if they want to sleep, great. If I need space, the crate or gate works.

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

I'm fine with him matching my hours.  I mean, he is getting sleep at night, it's just pushed forward alot....he's resting/napping/sleeping from 11 PM or midnight until 2 or 3 AM....we usually go to sleep about 3 AM or so....and sleep until 9 or 9:30....then he wakes up, maybe eats (a little) and/or goes out to do his business....then nap/rest another 2-3 hours.  Lately, when he gets up he doesn't have to go out until after noon (11-12 hours after his last time out).

I never met anybody whose dog went to bed/naptime as late as Teddy, that's all.  Everybody I know works a normal job and keeps normal hours so their dogs are asleep or on/in their bed by 10 PM or 11 PM or so.  Maybe a bit later on the weekends.

If I get a traditional job soon (let's hope !), my bedtime will be before 1 AM, still late but a few hours earlier.  I'll probably be in the bed itself a bit after midnight.

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

If we didn't put Yeti in his kennel around 9 for bed time, he would never go to sleep! No matter what we did that day, he just loves to be up with us and near us. I wouldn't worry too much! Like you said, he's getting plenty of napping in during the day!

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

He is....like I said, he'll nap 2-3 hours after breakfast.....then again after his 1 PM lunch or potty break......then late afternoon.....then early or mid-evening.  I notice he naps deeper or sleeps as opposed to just resting when he goes for a very long walk or we excercise with another dog...or I take him to a dog park and he runs around.  I can see him getting tired at the parks when he can't keep up with newer dogs after 30 minutes, as opposed to when he first gets in the pen and he is leading the pack.  LOL

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Oh yes! We take Yeti to the park when its nice out and a good 30 minutes with his Chuck It and he is spent. It is wonderful :p

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

BTW, Yeti's coat looks similar to Teddy's.  He's a Toy and I'm just a bit surprised his coat is more Retriever than Poodle since he's more Poodle.

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Boy This Drives Me Nuts:  So after not having to go outside for 3 hours after he woke up (until 12:30 PM or so), Teddy just rang the chimes for the 3rd time in 3 hours.

He had very little for lunch and very little water.  I think I have to have him hit MORE TARGETS to drain him. In the past, he'd do his business all at once.  Now, he marks.  And sometimes he is "dry" but 5 minutes later he'll hit a pole or rock and there's more #1.

[DonMarie and Picco]

Dogs aren't on a sleep cycle like we are. They're not sleeping all through the night but usually get into the routine that we follow. And they are sticklers for routine! He should settle into one as he gets older.