What time of day do you stop giving an 8 week old puppy food and water?

How often do you take him out during the night?

Thanks,
Kory

I'd say take up the water at 8 pm.

I never had to go out in the middle of the night more than once. Set an alarm for about 4 hours after your last time out. Do that for several nights, then start adding 5 or 10 minutes to the time every few nights. By the second week or so, the alarm is 5 hours after bedtime...then 6 hours...then you're nearly there. It's all over in a month. Maybe less.

Thank you. I actually was planning on every two hours. Maybe I can get a little more sleep than I thought.

I give last meal & water by 6pm.

I'm a bit of a night owl..so I would usually take the pups out at around midnight or 1 am & then be up at 5 or 6am. I never had to get up in the middle of the night...except for a rare emergency ptty run with any of my dogs.

Like Tracy....I would add a little bit of time each night or 2 & it would be a short time before we'd be going out 11 or so & up at 6.

I had one pups that could go for 6 hours at night easily, but needed to go out every hour during the day for the first week or so. They are all different.

Also make the night time potty break just that. Lots of praise when they 'go', but other then that it is all business not a time for play & games. Out to potty & back into bed. Or you will end up with a pup that wants to get up during the night to play & take a long time to potty 'cause they think that it is party time.

I vote for no food or water after 6. On a week day if I had been working and the pup was crated for much of the day I might go later so that I could get training/play time accomplished.
They can learn soon that when the sun goes down we get quiet, we watch TV, chew recreational bones, and soon we part ways and I'll see you in the morning.

I vote for no food or water after 6. On a week day if I had been working and the pup was crated for much of the day I might go later so that I could get training/play time accomplished.
They can learn soon that when the sun goes down we get quiet, we watch TV, chew recreational bones, and soon we part ways and I'll see you in the morning.

Kory,
I agree with the three women before me. Last feeding was around 6PM but I did let him have water a little later because he would usually have a play session with my kids sometime after dinner so I would let him replenish after that.

Last potty at 10PM, the first 3 days I set an alarm for 2AM, but when I practically had to drag him outside on the third night I added an hour and it wasn't long before he'd go until 6AM which was when I started my day...somewhere between 10 and 12 weeks but like Anne mentioned he required more frequent pottying during the day.

O.K last night I stopped food and water at around 7. Actually he stopped food on his own earlier. Took him out at 9. Set my alarm and had to get him up out of the crate at 1. He peed, put him back in crate and he did fine until I got up at 6:30. So tonight I did the same with food and water, just took him out at 10. I figure he can go until at least 2 and then I'll be up at around 6.

So here's a follow up. I work full time Mon-Sat. My wife works part time Mon.-Thurs. We both leave at 7:30, she's back at 1:30. My schedule varies, never the same. Rarely I'll get home earlier then her We are having her dad & step-mom watch him at their house since I drop the kids off there to catch the bus in the morning anyway. But how long should it be before he could go from 7:30 to 1:30 in the crate?

6 hours is a long time for a young puppy. You want to set the pup up for success not failure. Rushing things & making them stay in a crate longer then they can hold it will CREATE problems.

If the pup deecides that no one is going to come & let him out to potty, then he is going to have no other choice but to soil his crate. NOT what you want to have happen. Once they get comfortable doing that it is a VERY hard habit to break. Pups WANT to be clean.

Most pups can hold it for longer at night sooner then they can during the day. I would rather let my pup out to potty earlier then later. I want to beat him to the punch & get him out before he starts to think about having to go. Most pups go immediately upon wakening & eating.

Also make sure that the crate is not ovwersized for thew size of the pup. If they haven enough room to use for a bed area & have additional room to use as a potty area in the crate that will give them less incentive to hold it a bit to be let out.

Remember set him up for success not failure. If the pup has an accident it is YOUR fault NOT the pups. You didn't let him out timely.

Good luck with your new pup.

ETA...the general rule, so to speak, is that pups after the fist 3 months or so can often hold it about an hour per month of age.( 5 month= 5 hours) Of course there are exceptions to this. Eash dog is an individual. You want to make sure that the pup has plenty of opportunities to drink during the day at potty breaks.(not leaving water in crate)

I'd probably have a dog-walker halfway through the morning.

The same time every day is best, because the pup can rely on it.

I have a couple of small-breed adults who would have a serious struggle with 6 hours.

Like Anne, I don't want to push it at all .... it's SO much easier to avoid a bad habit than fix it after the fact.

Also, holding it for longer than is comfortable (which can't be relied on anyway, if the dog has no reason to perceive that he is about to be released for potty ..... he has no reason then to hold it until he is uncomfortable) isn't good for the kidneys or the rest of the urinary tract.

Really best all around to have a relief schedule that's reliable and comfortable enough for the pup not to pressure his body.

Plus, it relieves pressure on YOU, fearful about getting there late, worried about the pup being uncomfortable or lying in a wet or messed crate .....

JMO!