Urination: How many times a day?

My friends say it's a bit odd that I have a record of every pee and poop my dog has taken since she moved in, but I am all for collecting and analyzing data to understand patterns and spot problems. Unfortunately, I have nothing to compare my data to, so I need your help!

A bit of background - my Rigby is just over 5 months and has had some issues with seizures (she's had every test imaginable including a spinal tap and MRI and nothing obvious is wrong) and she's had two recent UTIs (both treated with antibiotics). She is on very low doses of phenobarbital to control her seizures (no seizures in 45 days!). On average she pees 9 times a day (was up to 14 at the start of each UTI). Our neurologist and regular vet warned us the pheno would likely make her drink and pee more often, but from my records she averages about the same numbers as before the medicine (granted she is older now and should be starting to hold it longer!). She pees most often in the evenings, between 6 - 11pm, and often holds it for 6+ hours while sleeping (in our bed). She is housebroken (as much as a 5 month old dog can be) and she uses pee pads on our balcony (we live in an apartment), but will pee/poop during a walk on grass or pavement (though she prefers the pee pads).

SO! How many times a day does your doggie pee? *And I know everyone doesn't keep crazy records like me, so averages are fine - I simply want to get an idea of the norm(s).

*My apologies if this is covered elsewhere - I scoured the boards and as you can imagine there are loads of discussions about pee!

I dont think it is odd at all that you keep a log of your pups "business" especially since she has had some health issues. Good for you for paying attention, it is important in general for all of us to because you can tell so much about how a dog is feeling based of thier potty habits and if you know what is "normal" you know when something is not right.
As far as how many times a day....I am pretty sure when Brooklyn was that age she was going every few hours so that would be about 9 times a day! She is still so young...every dog is different too, so know what is normal for your dog, and if anything changes, you know something is wrong. Brooklyn (10 1/2 months) can now hold it for 6+ hours. Though, if I am home, she will go out more often...probably because I am there. If she is home alone, she will hold it. So on days I am gone more, she probably goes 4 times a day and on days I am home...she might go 6?? Or maybe even more. She like showing off like "look mom I peed in the grass!" when I am home but I know she can actually hold it longer if left at home alone.

Oh, and I'm sure we all pay too much attention to poos and wees anyway...yesterday I was inspecting Brooklyn's poo with a stick because it looked different and I just started laughing to myself because if my neighbor walked out at that moment I would be taken for a nut!

Lets see here.... Coco is 13 months old now. We take her potty once in the morning around 8:30am, our walker takes her out again at 12:30pm, I get home and take her out around 5pm, and then two more times before bedtime. So Coco has around 5 potty breaks a day, and she is doing great on this schedule.

I don't think there is actually anything that is normal. A dog that has access to pee whenever it wants will very likely pee far more frequently. In other words, if you have a dog that either has access to something like your pads on the balcony, or which can go out into a garden to go whenever it wants, will probably go more frequently. As they get older, dogs will also mark on top of where other dogs have gone, so you can have dogs that go more often simply because they are more prone to marking (and this can be males or females).

With dogs that spend their time indoors, they generally will go whenever they have the opportunity to go out with their owner. If they are only walking outside briefly, they might go once and come back in. On a walk, where they encounter lots of places where other dogs have gone and lots of interesting smells, you might have a dog go a dozen times or more, especially males.

Because my dogs are indoor dogs, they have walks on average 4 times a day. While on walks, three out of four would typically go many times, especially the males, although I have one female who marks and I have one male who marks far more than the other male. The way adults go, therefore, is going to be a bit different from puppies but isn't necessarily going to be less. Mine also go a lot more when we've been away for a week and they haven't had a walk in the area–on return, there are a lot of places that they like to sniff and mark! They haven't had the chance to check out all the new smells in days, so there are a lot more places that need to be inspected. :lol:

A sleeping dog can generally hold itself for quite a long time–once beyond puppyhood, they really don't need to go until they have woken up and are moving around. They will easily last 8 hours or more overnight. During the day, I always think a comparison with what a person would feel comfortable with is probably a humane way to approach toilet breaks. In general, I usually get my dogs out every 4 to 6 hours.

I've talked to vets about the issue of frequency, and really the variation in how many times a dog goes every day is vast. All can fall within a completely healthy regime, depending on the dog. The best point of comparison is really to just keep track of one's own dog's typical behavior and habits. Owners generally recognize when their dog suddenly is needing to go a lot, or is not going with regular frequency, and either situation should probably be checked out by a vet. What is normal in one dog might well indicate a problem in another dog, so comparison with other dogs shouldn't really be a reference point, although it can be a point of interesting discussion!

Thanks for the info! I think I knew that I was searching for something that just doesn't exist, with a norm; it's my lack of experience that always has me searching for consensus and/or something to compare to. I will stick to my "wee" long for now!

Brooklyn (10 1/2 months) can now hold it for 6+ hours. Though, if I am home, she will go out more often...probably because I am there. If she is home alone, she will hold it. So on days I am gone more, she probably goes 4 times a day and on days I am home...she might go 6??

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A dog that has access to pee whenever it wants will very likely pee far more frequently. In other words, if you have a dog that either has access to something like your pads on the balcony, or which can go out into a garden to go whenever it wants, will probably go more frequently.

Click to expand...

Also, thanks for the similar and important points Karlin and BrooklynMom about dogs peeing more frequently when they have access to do so and when we are around. I often felt bad leaving her alone or asleep for longer than a few hours since I had observed her peeing so frequently, but I am learning that she is able to hold it quite well when she has to. Now if only she could hold off on the chewing...