Bathroom issues

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Is it usual for a dog to not have to go to the bathroom as much as he gets older? Yeti is a year old (today!!!) and for the past couple weeks he has been so stubborn when it comes to going potty. We have had the same routine since we brought him home may 1st. Get up about 7 go out for potty come in to eat and back into his kennel while I get ready for work until his dad gets up and let's him / plays etc. Recently he has started to not go to the bathroom right away in the morning. I figure he has to go. He usually is in his kennel from 11-7. He always used to have to go. Every morning he at least would pee, a lot of times poop too and lately nothing. He sits down right next to me, and if I move to try to get him to go he gets right up walks over to me and sits or lays down again. He hardly ever sits by the door (his signal to us that he has to go out) lately. We haven't had any accidents in the house so I suppose it's okay, I just wonder if this is typical behavior.

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Dog parks are great for getting a dog tired.  Ditto Fetch, and you can buy lighted-LED balls to do it at night.

I also recommend the FitBark (have a thread on that here) which helps you measure activity.  I can tell when Teddy will be tired at night based on his BarkPoint activity that day.

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Oh yes our only problem so far with dog parks is Yeti gets a lot of burrs in the wooded areas. And he also humps everything that comes near him :( *eye roll*

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Most Dog Parks have pens besides walking areas.  Try and find one like that.

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

As an example...I just took Teddy outside for the 1st time since he got up today about 9:15 AM; this was about 12:45 PM or so.....so that was over 3 hours after waking up, and he last went I think in the 1 AM - 1:30 AM hour.

So just short of 12 hours between calls, though most of this was time sleeping.

Personally, I would probably prefer to have Teddy's last call before Midnight rather than after, even if meant having to go out 1st thing in the AM when we awake.  Almost always (but not 100%), when the room is dark and I am watching TV and he's resting next to me on the couch, he's usually done for the night/morning.  But if he is laying on the floor because we just snacked or he got up for water or lights are on in the TV room because I am still active, then he tends to still be "active" and he can ring the potty chimes at any time.

Like I said, I quiet things down and even darken the room and Teddy will nap/sleep during this time, but when I walk around to a different room (bedroom, kitchen) he'll pop-up and this leads to a more likely occurrence of having to go outside.

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

BTW, Haley.....Teddy always used to have to go 1st thing in the AM up to about 5 or 6 months old.  So what you are experiencing seems par for the course.  Less drinking of water after his last potty call....a later bedtime...they can all push the 1st AM Potty Call later in the morning/day.