Posey's doing very well with the potty training—we haven't had any accidents at all for several weeks, and she's great about using the jingle bell we have tacked next to the door (she even quickly adapted at my mother-in-law's house over Thanksgiving—we brought the bell along, and no accidents all weekend!).
The problem is, she's asking to be let out at about 3 am every night—she sleeps in her crate in our room, and she taps on the crate door just loudly enough to wake one of us (no whining, no crying, just a polite rattle). One of us takes her downstairs, she does her business, and she's back in her crate (and us back asleep) in about two minutes flat—there's no playing, no talking, no fun stuff that would encourage her to wake up for attention. She goes again when she wakes up for the day, at about 7 am.
We've had middle-of-the-night potty breaks every night since she came home at five months old—at first, they were at 1 am and 5 am, so I guess we have made some progress. I thought she'd outgrow them as she (and her bladder) got a little bigger, but now she's eight months old, and no dice. I'm thinking the issue is that she's very small—just nine pounds right now, and our vet is predicting she'll top out at about 10... maybe 11.
But if she isn't going to physically get much bigger, will she still outgrow this? Is there anything we can do to help it along, besides patience? We haven't restricted her water intake in the evening, but she tends to settle way down at about 8/9 pm (it's cuddle on the couch time), and it's rare that she goes for a drink after that. She goes to the bathroom before we put her in her crate, too (somewhere between 10 and 11 pm). Four hours seems to be her capacity, regardless.
Any ideas or words of wisdom? Thanks everyone!
The problem is, she's asking to be let out at about 3 am every night—she sleeps in her crate in our room, and she taps on the crate door just loudly enough to wake one of us (no whining, no crying, just a polite rattle). One of us takes her downstairs, she does her business, and she's back in her crate (and us back asleep) in about two minutes flat—there's no playing, no talking, no fun stuff that would encourage her to wake up for attention. She goes again when she wakes up for the day, at about 7 am.
We've had middle-of-the-night potty breaks every night since she came home at five months old—at first, they were at 1 am and 5 am, so I guess we have made some progress. I thought she'd outgrow them as she (and her bladder) got a little bigger, but now she's eight months old, and no dice. I'm thinking the issue is that she's very small—just nine pounds right now, and our vet is predicting she'll top out at about 10... maybe 11.
But if she isn't going to physically get much bigger, will she still outgrow this? Is there anything we can do to help it along, besides patience? We haven't restricted her water intake in the evening, but she tends to settle way down at about 8/9 pm (it's cuddle on the couch time), and it's rare that she goes for a drink after that. She goes to the bathroom before we put her in her crate, too (somewhere between 10 and 11 pm). Four hours seems to be her capacity, regardless.
Any ideas or words of wisdom? Thanks everyone!