How often should I take my 3 month old puppy out for "potty"?

Question

I have been taking him every hour and 1/2. He is doing very well with this, and Im also using a crate (which he is perfect in now).
In fact, there have been no accidents in the house or crate for 24 hours already. And we have only had him a day and 1/2.
When could I add a worn towel or blanket with him in his crate, I have read to wait like 5 days with no accidents?

But, at max he's getting about 4-5 hours out of the day to play with us out of his crate. Is that enough for him? Or is that not? I usually bring him out to potty when he wakes in his crate, if he goes outside, I'll play with him for at least a half hour, let him cuddle with me for about 15 min. then put him back in.
And also, he is so smart, in almost a day he has already gotton the hang of sit, and up....!

I think I am going to add a blanket now. I was hesitant at first because he had 1 accident in there, and I knew it was because the rescue had so many dogs, that none of them were takin outside, they did poop/pee where they layed.
Now that he has done good with not doing it in there for 24 hours, I will add one. Thanks

Well, he's 3 months old. I dont believe he should have run of the house most of the day. As he gets older, he will be allowed more time, I need to gain a trust with him first.

Answer 1

You are doing great. Rule of thumb is that a pup can hold his "business" one hour for each month of age. Is he going the night without dirtying the crate? Good job. I think you should keep him on the schedule you have as he is only a baby and needs to have the rest time he is getting.

I never heard about waiting to give him a towel in his crate. I always put one in from the start. But he isn't hurting without one, as long as his place isn't in a draft.

Socializing with you is important. You want him to become bonded with you. Sounds like you have one smart pup there. Don't stress and just enjoy him. You'll be able to give him more and more freedom as he gets older.

Answer 2

You're doing good. I was told to take my pup out about every 4 hours, after eating and drinking, first thing in the morning, and before bed. I would go ahead and put some sort of bedding in the crate that smells like you to make it more comfortable for him. Playtime out of the crate depends on the breed of dog. I would never leave a dog in a crate for more than 8 hours a day, and I would have 2 to 4 breaks in that time for play. I know you likely don't have a pit bull, but pitbulllovers.com has some good training tips that could likely apply to almost any dog breed. I use their tecniques to train my boxer and my pit pup.

Answer 3

It sounds like he's already well on his way with the potty thing, but my concern is about the use of the crate. It sounds more to me like a prison. He needs to learn how to mingle with the family and jump and play and tear up the slippers and drag shoes, books, clothes and anything else that fits in his mouth around the house or else when he finally gets out of jail, he'll be too damn old to do all the puppie things that we adults love so much about them. Free him so that he can show you his personality and also show you just how special he is because he just chewed up the sofa cushion. He will let you know when he wants out, or better yet, install a Doggie Door and then he will do it on his own.....But please, for his sake, dump the crate.

Answer 4

You are doing the right thing with the potty training. Puppies have very small blatters, so you need to continue to keep up with the potty breaks until he has learned to hold it himself. Is he making messes in his crate? If not, he's learning to hold his bowels. We two are potty training our new puppy (6 weeks) and she also has had no accidents in the house. You just need to keep up with what you are doing and hopefully he'll continue on not to make messes in your house. Our puppy sleeps every night with a blanket inside her crate. So, you can put it in there whenever you feel like he needs it. Our puppy is always shivering (in the house and during potty breaks outside) so she is always wrapped up in a blanket. I would recommend that if this pet is going to be an inside animal to let him roam more during the day when you are home. Only 4-5 hours out of that cage is not enough bonding time/exploring time for your animal. He needs to know his home and his limits where he can go. If you work, and it's not possible to let him roam while you arent there you can put him in his cage, but the min you get home until you go to bed you should let your dog out. Our puppy knows that when it's bedtime she goes inside her cage, and the min she cries in the middle of the night she needs to be walked .

Answer 5

sounds to me he is pretty well house broken-he should by now come to you when he needs to go out. As far as the playing goes-play with him as much as possible and I would suggest not keeping him in the crate when you are home-let him hangout with you until it is bedtime or you are leaving to go somewhere. when he tires of playiong he will go lay down and snooze. I ahve left the crate open and my pup went to it and laid down when she was tired. However I never closed her in the crate if she went to laydown and fell asleep unless I was leaving. If I were you I would go ahead and put a blanket in the crate.

Answer 6

the schedule you have for your dog is fine, it sounds like he has gotten the hang of going out now. you might want to take him out when you get up in the morning and before going to bed and in the afternoon if possible. my dog is a little over 2 months old and is always asking to go out and go potty and play almost every two to three hours so it also varies from dog to dog.

Answer 7

you should put a bell on the door you normmally go out of with him and every time you take him out ring the bell. itll soon rig it when it has to go.

Answer 8

your doing a great job everything perfect continue taking him out as much as possible but your doing awesome

Answer 9

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