My 7-month-old Blue Heeler/Border Collie mix wakes up every night to use the bathroom between 2am-5am and it's been happening for the last month. I use to take her to potty at 8 am with no problems and feed her at 9 am. Then I would take her to the dog park for about an hour and I take her out whenever she rings her bell. I'm on summer break and my dad's self-employed so I'm not sure if her never having to hold it may be causing the problem.
Her last meal of the day is at 6:30 pm and then I walk her to the dog park down the street and we stay from 7pm-9pm. I give her a final potty break at about 11 pm and I don't have an issue with getting up to take her out, but I don't know if that's abnormal.
I'm not sure if this is important but she was spayed at 2 months (which is a requirement when you adopt a dog from the shelter I got her from). She isn't ill and she's still on the same food. She's housebroken and she used to be able to hold it the whole night and she is crated at night. As I said, I have no issue with her needing to go out but I'm wondering if I'm making a mistake in the routine she's on.
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This shouldn't be an issue. Most dogs will drink a lot of water when they return from their walks. You could try limiting her water after walks. I allow mine to drink as much as they want. They are 6 months old and get up twice in the middle of the night to go out to the bathroom.
I have a 5 year old Borador (Lab+border collie). It took us almost a year to figure out how to get Tucker on a "schedule". He's the sweetest, coolest most loving dog. You will have better results by altering your mindset about feeding, drinking, training and sleeping based on a schedule. I had to recalibrate my brain to think in terms of energy expenditure. If Tucker hasn't started burning off physical or mental energy, although he appears to be chillin on the couch, I can tell by the look in his eyes that he's WOUND UP and ready to explode. Think of your dog like a gauge measuring 0 to 10, with 2 to 5 shaded in green. You'll realize fast results training, feeding/drinking, and everything will fall into place as long as you keep the energy level close to, or less than 5.
Is this peeing or pooping?
If it's pooping, It's likely the food you are feeding has too many "fillers" in it.
Try to gradually switch to a higher quality food with more meat and meat protein. Fillers should be lower on the list of ingredients. This includes soy, oats, wheat, and corn. Also corn syrup, artificial colors, etc.
Here's an example of a bad dog food:
Ingredients: Corn, Soybean Meal, Beef & Bone Meal, Ground Wheat, Animal Fat (BHA Used As Preservative), Corn Syrup, Wheat Middlings, Water Sufficient For Processing, Animal Digest (Source Of Chicken Flavor), Propylene Glycol, Salt, Hydrochloric Acid, Potassium Chloride, Caramel Color, Peas, Sorbic Acid (Used As a Preservative), Sodium Carbonate, Minerals
Much better:
Chicken Meal, Dried Potatoes, Peas, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols), Sweet Potatoes, Chicken, Natural Chicken Flavor, Turkey, Yeast Culture, Organic Alfalfa Meal, Salt, Salmon Oil, Vitamins, Minerals and Probiotics.
The food should be more like the second than the first.
A puppy can control their bladder one hour for every month of age. So if your puppy is two months old, they can hold it for about two hours. Don't go longer than this between bathroom breaks or they're guaranteed to have an accident.So as your puppy gets older she will hold it longer.
I'm wondering if the temperature is too high. You said you are on summer break. Try a fan to cool down the room if you don't have air conditioning.
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