What Happens When Dog Holds Pee Too Long?
According to vets how long a dog can hold their pee should not matter. They recommend letting your dog out every 6-8 hours. This would be 3-4 times a day. Vets say that just because a dog can hold their pee for +8 hours they shouldn’t have to.
Have A Neighbor Or Family Member Check In
This is a good option for someone who is not usually away from the house too long. If you get stuck in traffic or there is an emergency, you could contact someone to check in on your dog.
Signs Your Dog Has To Pee
Most dogs begin to show these signs when their bladder is 3/4 full. This should give you adequate time to finish what you are doing and take them outside. You need to learn to identify your dog’s signals. These are common ones.
Every dog is different. If you are having a hard time identifying what your specific dog’s signal is, then you need to think back to the last accident. What were your dog doing right before they soiled your house? Write them down and look out for those behaviors next time.
If you are unable to supervise your dog, you should confine them to a specific area. The most ideal form of confinement is crate training. This is because other forms of confinement give the dog too much space. Too much space is the number one reasons pet parents fail at potty training
Crate training is the only method that teaches a dog to hold their bladder and teaches them where to go. It is the only option for overnight training. To crate train a dog you need to:
- You can put divider to make a big crate smaller
- Throw the cookie, or give them a Kong
This happens because a dog cannot go when they are overstimulated. This is biology. Our nervous system shuts down that part of our body. Outside is overstimulating. Once the dog comes back in, they relax and the nervous system restarts the digestive track. Therefore they can potty. This is why it’s important to put a dog back in their crate if they were unable to go potty outside. Try again in 15-30 minutes
Now your dog has the freedom to play and romp. Knowing your dog’s schedule is important. This is because you need to keep an eye on their water intake and time between potties. If your dog pees every 30 minutes, he has 30 minutes of play time before he goes back outside or in the crate.
Confine them to a small kitchen, laundry room, or basement. If you have an open floor plan install buy baby gates that install on the side of your walls. Pull them across to limit your dog’s ability to roam. This does not train a dog to hold their bladder or go outside. Instead, it prevents a dog from soiling hard to clean areas like carpets.
Added Benefit:
If you do not have baby gates you can get a drag leash. Drag leashes have dual purposes. The first is to limit where the dog can go and the second is to accustom the dog to having a leash. Drag leashes differ from regular leashes because they do not have a loop at the end. The leash prevents furniture from snagging on the leash. Since the dog has free range of the house this does not train a dog to hold their bladder or go outside. Instead, it allows you to limit their ability to go in off-limit spaces like carpeted bedrooms.
The teether serves the same purpose as the leash confinement. However, it restricts them to a specific area. Most teethers allow too much space. Most dogs will go to the end of their teether to pee. This does not train a dog to hold their bladder or go outside.
These are free standing areas. They are helpful with open floor plans. However, most ex-pens are too large. The dog will carve out a corner to pee in. This does not train a dog to hold their bladder or go outside.
Routine is the kindest things we can do for our dog. Taking your dog to pee at the same time every day will encourage them to hold it. Write down your dog’s current potty schedule. Adhere to it and gradually move it to fit your own.
One mistake pet parents make is taking their dog out every 15-30 minutes and never increases the time. This does not teach a dog to hold their bladder. The minute you have found a schedule that works you need to start increasing the time between breaks. So, if your dog needs to go out every 30 minutes then you need to push it to 35. You can only do this once you have discovered your dog’s schedule.