A couple general puppy quesions

With the kibble, I think most people who feed puppy food at all switch around 6 months to a year old.

As far as the mid-night potty runs, I'm no help. Ozzy goes potty around 11 p.m. or 12 a.m. and is fine until 5:30 the next morning. Good luck!

If you are pulling up water an hr or two before bed, a 4 1/2 mo old should be able to hold it for 8 hrs or so through the night. Give it a shot one night and see how it goes.

We don't feed puppy kibble. Adult only.

I switched to adult food pretty much as soon as I got her. One month after I got her she was on adult food.

However, as for the peeing. Indra hasn't had any accidents past the age of five months and I never had to pull her water. She always had access to water because I REFUSE to pull water and now with 7 (almost 8 months) she is completely housebroken and can almost hold it as long as the other two and she is not crated either.

Instead of crating I chose to actually teach her manners. She knows what she is allowed to do and what not and even if she is trying to go for a shoe all I have to say is "leave it" or "aus" and she will leave it.

Same here, never fed puppy food went straight to adult the day I got them home at 8 wks old. Others say stay on puppy formula until a year- so I guess it's up to you. Since you just switched and she's doing well on it, you'll probably want to wait to switch her again. As far as water, once they were as old as Abby I never took up the water. She should be able to hold it all night now, especially if you're up until about 11pm. I'd skip it, she might appreciate an entire night's sleep and I'm sure you would too.

At that age Zoe was crated at night and would wake me up if she had to go but it usually wasn't until 7 in the morning or so. At 5 months she was trustworthy all night and just licked me awake at 7:30 to 8:00 which is my normal wake up time anyway

I like to sleep, so I NEVER wake a puppy up at night to take them out to pee, I let them wake ME up. I've had puppies only have to go during the night a couple of times (Dena - exactly 3 times from 9 weeks old), and I've had puppies who had to go out once or even twice a night for weeks. At 4-1/2 months old she can probably hold it all night, and if there are nights where she can't I'm sure she'll wake you up by whining. You keep her crate right next to your bed, right?

If you just use adult food when they are puppies will they still grow to be as big or will it just slow down them growing so big so fast

I did the same as Debbie. Had the puppy crate in the bedroom and when she whinned to go out, took her out. I dont recall how old she was when she didnt ask to go out any more at night.

you can feed puppy food until they're 2 years old but most people switch them anywhere from 6 months old to a year if they even feed puppy food. We're in the process of switching our animals from purina to 4Health. I returned the bag of purina LB puppy chow to petsmart this afternoon (unopened of course) and went and bought the 4Health in the 15lb bag because Shasta refused to eat the remaining purina i had for her so it worked out. She'll be on puppy chow until she's 8 months to a year. We'll see.

As far as potty training goes, Shasta is 5 months old and can go up to 10 hours without needing a potty break at night as long as she's crated. I think if you have to wake your pup up to go potty, then its probably not necessary anymore. They'll usually wake you up when they need to go out. When out of the crate during the day, Shasta waits patiently at the backdoor until we noticed she's there.

It really depends on the brand of food. Some brands have an entirely different formula for puppies that limits certain ingrediants that are not ideal for a healthy growth rate. Certain brands, however, only increase the size of the kibble in adult food.

As far as holding it, he should be old enough to hold it for more than 4-5 hours. The bladder by this point is decent sized so he should have no problem. You don't have to hide the water before he goes down. Instead, maybe limit his activity for the last hour or two before bed. If he's not running around, he will probably be drinking less.

I had the crate next to the bed for the first few weeks, then out in the kitchen together after that. I guess at about 5 mos, Stosh had the run of the kitchen and tiled areas of the house, we don't allow dogs on carpet. Somehow I don't think Abby would follow that rule! But I say give her a try and let her sleep all night. You could use the rest too. Keep us posted!

Cassidy's Mom said:

I like to sleep, so I NEVER wake a puppy up at night to take them out to pee, I let them wake ME up. I've had puppies only have to go during the night a couple of times (Dena - exactly 3 times from 9 weeks old), and I've had puppies who had to go out once or even twice a night for weeks. At 4-1/2 months old she can probably hold it all night, and if there are nights where she can't I'm sure she'll wake you up by whining. You keep her crate right next to your bed, right?

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Well I have to get up during the night to pee myself. So I just
started taking her out then. She usually would wake up when I
got up. But the past couple of nights she was zonked out.

Yes...she sleeps right next to my bed.

You're such a good doggie dad!

Stosh said:

You're such a good doggie dad!

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I try very hard but Im not as good as I should be.
I still get annoyed and angry with her too often.
I hope she can forgive my lapses...

Abby will always sleep in my room right next to
my bed. Thats right where my old Shepherd Mikey
slept for 13 years. Ive gotten used to having someone
there.