How Often Does Your Dog Get Out?

[Guest nicola]

Ok, I'm struggling with the sheer amount of visits to the loo that Merlin seems to want. We've had a few accidents in the house so I'm always on alert for when he needs to go outside and as a result I feel like I'm never in the house!

Our day starts at 6am. I get up and take him out to pee. Then we leave the house for the school run at 8:30 and he pees and poops. Around midday I take him across the road to the field to give him a run and he pees and poops again. We head back out at 3 for the second school run and he pees again. He starts pacing by the door at 6ish and we go back out so he can pee. He paces again around 9 so we go back out for another pee and then husband takes him out for a half an hour walk at 11:30 so he can have a final pee and poop before he's crated for the night.

Is it usual for him to need to go every three hours? I've tried delaying some of them to maybe get four hours between toilet trips but he just goes on the kitchen floor or in the hall. Any advice welcome!

[cleptogrey]

he sounds like he's now getting accustomed to that schedule. does he hold himself all night?

 

the first thing i thought of is his food to rich. some of the richer foods produce more waste product. this i'm finding out since i threw my hands up and started feeding a mid-range food. the volume of stool is now 1/3 and the dogs are gaining some weight(which they needed).

 

many people do not like the sound of crating, but if he's crated (and he is at night) then will he hold himself while you adjust his schedule? just a thought.

 

it sounds like trial and error to modify his behavior. i will say that my male is set to a train like schedule. when we have modified it, it's not easy. but it can be done. positive treats and an activity(if you are home- give him a filled kong to occupy the time) and adjust the schedule a little at a time.

[Hubcitypam]

Pre dog door mine went out 4 times a day...at wake up, before work, after work and before bed. That included a zillion 15 month old "beauty school dropouts" from the Oklahoma farms. Agree the food might be too rich.

[GeorgeofNE]

My dogs get 5 trips outside a day.

 

First thing in AM

 

1 hours after breakfast

 

When I get home from work

 

Around 6 PM (we get up very early).

[4My2Greys]

I would have him checked for a UTI. Schedule or not that seems to be too many outs needed. I thought perhaps he just was interested in something outside, but when you posted that he will pee indoors if you don't let him out then he doesn't have the ability to hold it. I will add that being able to hold it overnight is different from the daytime.

[Guest nicola]

He's currently on the Iams green bag so I don't know if that would be classed as too rich. He drains his water bowl around 4 times a day but I don't want to take the water away from him!

He won't pee in the garden either so I can't just open the door and let him out I have to actually get his lead on and take him out onto the small field by our house and he has to walk along with his nose to the ground for a few minutes till he finds the perfect spot

I'll phone the vet in the morning and see what they suggest. Thanks all.

[Roo]

Daisy the 20 pound 13 year old terrier gets more potty trips than I used to give my greys (but she's 13 years old, 20 pounds, and drinks like a fish for no medical reason we can find ). Her schedule is:

 

8am - quick poo and pee trip

10:30-11am - pee trip

3:30-4pm - stroll in the woods for a couple pees and a poo

5-5:30pm - pee trip

7:30pm - pee trip

10:30-11pm - last pee before bed

 

She'd probably be okay with a 6:30 pee instead of the 5:30 and 7:30 pees, but I eat dinner a little after 5:30 but she's gotten accustomed to this so we'll stick with it. She's old and small with a small dog bladder, so...

 

The greys went out for a long walk in the morning, followed by a quick pee before we left for work and school around 7:30, another slightly shorter walk at 4ish, a pee after dinner at 6 if they acted like they had to pee, then another quick pee before bed.

 

ETA: If he's draining his bowl 4 times throughout the day (and it's a standard sized stainless steel bowl), I'd take him to the vet. Sometimes UTIs will cause them to drink more and pee more. Iams isn't a rich food, but I believe it does have corn or some grain that bulks up the poo size. Daisy poops a lot more on foods with grain and fillers than on foods without grain. The only reason I know this is because she gets bored halfway through a bag so I'm always switching up her kibble. To save money, I vary between affordable (Iams) and fancy (Fromm Pork). The Iams gives her big poops and more poops and the Fromm just gives her slightly bigger poops.

Edited December 20, 2016 by Roo

[4My2Greys]

If he is draining his water bowl that many times, unless it is an extremely small bowl, there is something medically wrong. It is good that you are not withholding water.

Is he the only pet that drinks from that water bowl? If so, I would measure how much you put in each day and then subtract what is left at the end of the day, so you know exactly how much he is drinking. This information will be helpful to the vet.

[greysmom]

My dogs hardly drink at all, except right after a big run/play session. They get maybe 1/2 cup on their two meals, and a few sips from the bowl otherwise. They probably don't drink more than 1 1/2 cups of water a day. I would definitely check this out with your vet.

 

FYI

6:30am out for potty after breakfast

11am potty and play

2pm potty and play, if needed - I don't wake them if they're sleeping and quiet

4:30pm potty after dinner

11:15 last outs

 

We do have a fenced yard so we don't have to walk them. And sometimes when we go out they don't potty, or only a tiny wee. They only poop twice a day, usually morning and night.

[cleptogrey]

If he is draining his water bowl that many times, unless it is an extremely small bowl, there is something medically wrong. It is good that you are not withholding water.

Is he the only pet that drinks from that water bowl? If so, I would measure how much you put in each day and then subtract what is left at the end of the day, so you know exactly how much he is drinking. This information will be helpful to the vet.

he also can be hungry. felix used to tank up on water and my new vet informed me that most likely he was HUNGRY and filling his belly with water. mmmm.....interesting. who knows, rice is 90% water, that can easily be added to his food and maybe he won't drink as much and he shouldn't be as hungry. it's a royal pita looking for another food that's as reasonable and might fill him a tad more. stick w/ what works. he's on a reasonable food.

 

felix is a weird one, in the middle of eating he always needs to potty, like a 4 year old kid...they start eating and run to the bathroom. it's guaranteed. they all have their quirks.

[LBass]

I do think it would be a good idea to make sure that his drinking doesn't indicate a medical issue. My boy, Spirit, drinks a lot in the evenings after dinner and then needs to go out 3-5 times between 7 & 10. He got a clear bill of health from the vet so it just seems to be a habit with him. I tease him that he has a teeny tiny bladder to go with his teeny tiny brain. MoMo, my female, probably pees 3 to 4 times a day. It is not at all unusual for her to ask to go out only to flop down on her bed on the deck without ever even going into the yard to pee.

 

I'm blessed right now with a big fenced yard and dogs who'll go out there to potty. Many dogs ago, in the days before the fenced yard, the usual schedule was:

• 1st thing in the morning (6)
• Just before I left for work (~7:30)
• Right after I got home from work (~5:30)
• After supper (maybe)
• Immediately before bed (11ish)

[3greytjoys]

Since Merlin was just adopted into his new forever home (with children and cats) 1 month ago; his outings may be increased (at least partly) due to settling into a completely different life. Medical clearance is important first, and helps to establish a baseline with your vet.

 

Another perspective: My fosters from the track are taken out every hour (or so) during daytime/evening the first day in a home; then every 2 hours for a few days; then every 3 hours, etc. (Our group requires a minimum of outings every 4 hours during day/evening throughout their life.) All of our own resident hounds have naturally asked for a minimum of 5 to 7 potty outings per day. Currently, our 15 year old needs even more outside potty opportunities.

 

Dogs can easily learn a new place to go potty. Assuming your garden is fully fenced; consider escorting him in your garden using two leashes tightly knotted together (to temporarily allow extra length for his potty privacy). Reward every potty action in his own garden with treats and happy praise. During these potty training sessions, do not even take him to the field as an option. He'll catch on with positive consistency.

Please use a standard 6' leash (or shorter) for regular walks. Double-long leash length is too hazardous for normal use for sighthounds.

(Greyhound adoption groups in USA require retired racing Greyhounds only be allowed off leash within fully-fenced spaces; thus, the assumption that your garden is fenced.)

 

Normal water consumption for dogs can change due to activity, weather, indoor temperature, lower humidity, medical conditions, etc.

Below are veterinarians' examples for dogs' normal water intake by body weight:

60 lbs. = 6 cups to 7.5 cups per day

70 pounds = 7 to 8.75 cups per day

80 pounds = 8 to 10 cups per day

90 pounds = 9 to 11.25 cups per day

 

 

 

[Feisty49]

I too would be concerned about the amount of water he's drinking, but that's based on what my girl drinks, which is much less. She does, though, get water mixed in with her kibble.

 

I have a fenced yard. Our schedule is, with times approximate because Miss Annie doesn't always go outside first thing when she deigns to get out of bed:

 

7:30ish -- pee, poo, pee, with a lot of sniffing in between because one needs to know if the rabbits came through.

9:00ish -- we walk 1.5 to 2 miles and she pees many times because she marks (I swear she forces it out because the last one to pee wins, don't 'cha know) and poos at least once, sometimes twice.

1:30ish -- pee in our back yard (and I set an alarm on my phone to remind me to put her out because she won't ask and I forget).

6:00ish -- pee either in the back yard or on another walk (in the winter, I don't walk at 6 PM). If I didn't let her out, she'd be fine waiting until later.

9:30ish -- pee in backyard.

 

Pretty much Annie would go far longer between her out times, but I don't let her. Good luck. Let us know what the vet says.

Edited December 22, 2016 by Feisty49

[Guest DarkHorse]

My boys go out 3-4 times a day depending on need.

 

7:30AM - After breakfast trip to the yard

4:30-5PM - After dinner walk (winter) or trip to the yard (summer)

9PM - Trip to the yard (winter) or walk (summer)

11-11:30PM - Trip to the yard before bed

 

The 9PM outing is the most flexible one. If the 5pm walk is a really good one, we'll skip it, and sometimes in the summer we'll push it back to 10 and then skip the 11PM outing. It all depends on whether the boys seem to need to go out.

[Guest nicola]

Update from us! Merlin has settled right down. He now pees 6:30 when we get up, on the school run he doesn't bother but comes along for the journey. We head back out around 2 ish and I leave him at home for the second school run since I have to actually go into the yard and I don't want to be leaving him tied to the fence out of sight. Sometimes after that he wants to go out around 5 or 6 but it's just a quick pee stop, if not he goes out around 8 and then final trip out around 11:30.

Our yard is so small I haven't really considered letting him pee there. It's fully paved and I can cross from one side to the other in three strides so I think if he did go there it would smell pretty bad quite quickly! The field I take him to is literally on the other side of the garden wall. We're surrounded by fields here so I'm not too bothered about that. I admit it would be nice to just let him into the back rather than having to go on an actual walk every time but I suppose it is better than having a smelly garden!

His water intake has settled down too, I fill it in the morning with fresh water and usually only have to refill it around 4pm. He is the only one drinking from the bowl, the cats have their bowls upstairs.

I phoned the vet about the whole situation and was advised to wait and see how he was as everything was still new to him and since it's all settled down I think it's all fine

[MattB]

I'm not sure about others but our two will drink water based on their schedule. So daddy gets home means walkies soon and time to fill up, during the morning when we're out they don't touch the water. Oddly Charlie has just downed quite a bit at bedtime which means I'll be letting him out in approx 2hrs time!

[GreytTerp]

Our guy goes out 3-4 times per day (more if the weather's nice or he's showing some cabin fever), but he has a giant bladder and can hold it all for unbelievable amounts of time if the weather is precipitating (rain or snow; he's a wimp). We feed IAMS green bag as well, and I don't usually have to refill his water bowl more than once - he only seems to drink just a bit more than his bowl holds over a 24 hour period. Unless the bowl is very small, 4 bowls of water a day does seem like a lot.