during the night, hes usually a 1am potty, then back to bed. so, he is usually quite until 1-1:30 am, whines, we go potty, then back to sleep. if he keeps whining, i let him, and he stops after a few minutes and i dont hear from him until i get up in the morning. ( i also make a trip outside before bed as late as possible, mine is usually between 10 and 11pm.)

maybe try to start with a late outside before bed, then like 2 times during the night, then down to one time until older when they can make it through the night?

the only reason i started this way is 1.i had no clue what i was doing then, 2. the constant whining was driving me crazy and i had to try something 3.i also heard, and i may be completely wrong here, that if a dog, cat, child, etc tried to hold it too long it can cause uti's and i rather would have got up

I should not have said period as with all dog training there is always exceptions. With me and my 8 week old I get him out regularly usually waking him up or waiting for him to be quite then we go out mark it everytime. When at night we come right back in and go back to sleep. I am a light sleeper so I get up alot and take him out depending on the time. I also am off for the next three weeks to bond and work with puppy so this is a big help. We so far have had zero accidents in the crate or house yet. I know this will get harder before easier as he is wanting to sleep less already and he does act up in the crate when he wants to get out.

Yes and No.

As one that has been dealing with a "sick" puppy off and on now for the last 3 weeks. If he didn't whine during the night and wake me up, I'd wake up to at least a half-dozen diahreah piles, not to mention a sticky crate and room.

If he whines and he's in his crate and it has been for any lenght of time at all, I assume that he has to go to the bathroom. If he has just done all of his business, I tell him enough and let him tough it out.

I think it is situational for both the owner and the puppy. I didn't want to set my alarm every couple of hours for fear of creating a two hour schedule when I want to be sleeping eight hours non-stop whenever possible. When we're not dealing with diahreah, we do get 8 hours non-stop, which is nice.

I can tell you that daylight is the new trigger, as the sun rises a bit earlier each morning, so does the pup. And for that whine, it is ignored. If he has just been outside at 5 a.m. he can certainly stay in his cage until 7 a.m.

I think it really depends on the owner, the pup and the schedule you want to create for life.

Just my uneducated opinion.

Cheers!

That's very good advice, Louanne.

You really just have to get a feel for it and get to know your pup. Probably everyone misjudges and gets an accident in return but you do figure it out if you keep at it and stay tuned into your dog.

It's alot like figuring out your newborn baby those first few weeks.