I have the pleasure (and curse – when you work from home, you’re always at work!) of working from home, so taking my dogs out regularly has never really been an issue for me. Maybe it’s because they’re small dogs, or perhaps I’m not the best puppy trainer, but both Kit and Fen were pains to potty train. Luckily, now that they’re older, they’re both awesome at only going outside. My dogs rarely actually ask to go out, unless it’s really an emergency. They normally wait until I take them out to use the bathroom. How often do you take your dogs out for bathroom breaks?
What I Do With My Own Dogs
I take Kit and Fen out, on average, once every 5 hours or so during the day. They go longer than that overnight. I don’t like making them wait too long between trips outside. Holding pee too long can lead to heath issues such as urinary tract infections, bladder, and kidney problems. Holding poop for extended periods of time can cause constipation, which isn’t fun for anyone!
How Often Do YOUR Dogs Need Bathroom Breaks?
Kitsune patiently waiting to go out.
The answer can depend on a lot of factors, including (but not limited too) your individual dog, his/her age, diet, activity level, and general health. A general rule for puppies is that you can take their age, in months, and add 1. That’s how many hours they can be expected to be able to hold their bladders for. So an 8 week (2 month) old puppy can generally go around 3 hours between bathroom breaks.
A general time frame I’ve seen for adult dogs is anywhere between 4 – 10 hours between bathroom breaks. I do wonder, though, if the higher estimate is based more on people’s work schedules than it is on maintaining pets’ comfort. Both of my small dogs can go 10 hours without using the bathroom, but I really don’t like making them wait that long and would only do so under rare, extenuating circumstances. Bathroom breaks every 5 or 6 hours seems to really be the sweet spot for my duo.
I understand that not everyone has the luxury of being able to work from home. People who work long hours can, and do, make awesome dog owners too. Often this entails enlisting the help of a dog walker, doggy daycare, family members, neighbors, etc, to ensure their dogs get not only regular bathroom breaks, but attention during the day.
Comment below! If you have a dog, how often to you take him/her out to use the bathroom? What do you feel is an acceptable amount of time between bathroom breaks for an adult dog?
Post last updated: 1/18/2022
17 Comments
Great post! I try to get the girls out at least 4-5 times per day. On rainy days we go out 3 times. They literally will not pee in the rain so it’s pointless to go out any more than we do.
Thanks!
Kit hates the rain. I usually try to wait it out if we can, but if it goes on for too long I’ll bring him out in it. He’s never happy about it, but he will pee quickly before running back inside.
Our dog, Jake, very rarely asks to go outside. He must have a good bladder, I guess. But I’m home 24/7 too, so I routinely take him outside 3 or 4 times a day. That would roughly translate to first thing in the morning, noon-ish, suppertime, and bedtime. We live in the countryside, so it’s also not a problem to leave him outside for awhile if we’re going to be gone on errands. Great article. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
My dog is the same way. He very rarely asks to go out, so I have to make sure to take him out on a schedule. I live in the city, so it’s not safe to leave Kit out by himself, but we spend a lot of time at our local park together. It gets me out of the house for awhile too! Thanks so much for stopping by. 🙂
I take my dog out 4 – 5 times on work days. Morning,Lunch and 2 – 3 times after work. On days off, it is a lot more than that, we both like to spend as much time as possible outside.
My dog goes 12 hours at least two to three times a week without an accident during the day. He has since I got him 5 years ago. He is 7. Neutered male 55 lbs.
For the people who say that their dogs never really ask to go out…My dog is same way he does not signal me to use bathroom but I am home all day so he gets many walks only problem is that if he has to go and i have not taken him for a while he just goes in the house…why won’t he signal that he needs to go? I’ve been trying to train with a bell but no go so far. He is a 5 yr. old rescue male 12 lbs. Thanks
My dog is 21 lb adult, neutered male. I take him out early morning, lunchtime, late afternoon and bedtime. He rarely has accidents inside, only if he’s ill (diarrhea), and he usuall does that by the door – he will stand by the door when he needs to go out.
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I have a friend who only takes her dog out once every 24 hrs. I tell her this is dangerous but doesn’t make a difference. What can I di to make her understand.
show her articles that say all the problems that can occur from doing this!! her dog is in danger because of her!!!
Tell her to think about her own dog every time she goes to the bathroom and how selfish she is being. She should try to go to the bathroom every 24 hours and see how she likes it.
I take my baby, Lab of 7yrs. Out in the a.m. then for 4 hrs. Out, back in for food and water. He eats breakfast before going out. Then about noon in for food h20; he is in for about 5hrs. We walk everyday good exercise for me to store. Park, let him run do what he does. At Nite about 12 or 1 he runs by his self. Comes close to running me over. We come in. He plays with his toys, water, rest or follows me like glue.
3 times a day for my 2 pups. Their potty schedule is 8am, 2pm, and dog park at night to get as much out as they can + their exercise before bed time.
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I have a 9 month old Lab/American Bulldog mix. He is about 80lbs . He wants to go out every hour, sometimes not even an hour. He loves being outside, he can hold it all night about 8 hours and that is the max he can go, but he is sleeping.
Is this normal for a neutered males at this age to go this much?
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