My Puppy Pees A Lot…Is It Normal? [A Puppy Potty Schedule]

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Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of puppy pee pee poo poo questions here on the blog.

Of course, pee and poop go hand in hand with potty training, crate training, and puppies in general so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by all the poop I’m hearing.

QUICK RECOMMENDATION: We highly recommend crate training your puppy. We love our MidWest Life Stages Double Door Crate w/ Divider and use it with all of our puppies in training.

By the way, much of what I hear is about whether or not “this” or “that” is normal for a puppy.

Does your puppy pee a lot? Check out our Puppy Potty Schedule
Does your puppy pee a lot? Check out our Puppy Potty Schedule

For instance, the other day someone emailed me saying: “My puppy pees a lot…I mean a lot, a lot…Is that normal?”

Unfortunately, that was the end of the question and I have no idea what “a lot” actually means.  Please define “a lot”

QUICK ACCESS: If you’re having puppy training problems then you should join our Puppy Training Tips email list and get instant access to our New Puppy Owner Checklist PDF. To get started CLICK HERE.

Does My Puppy Pee “A Lot”?

As defined in the Free Dictionary:

a lot [noun]

  1. a lot or lots Informal
    1. a large, extent, amount, or number: is in a lot of trouble; has lots of friends

I know what you’re thinking: Okay smart ass (referring to Colby) we know what “a lot” literally means, but obviously when it comes to the statement “My puppy pees a lot…” we are looking for more detail.

If you don’t have exact numbers on when your puppy normally pees and poops then consider keeping a puppy potty schedule.

Puppies need a potty schedule. Just ask Archer.
Puppies need a potty schedule. Just ask Archer.

What are we looking for in a Puppy Potty Schedule?

Of course, we want details on when your puppy pees and poops, but this is not all we want in our puppy potty journal.

We also want to know when your puppy eats his meals, drinks water, sleeps, plays, works on his training, etc.  The more details the better.

QUICK RECOMMENDATION: For the past few years we’ve been feeding our puppies Wellness Core Puppy Formula.

What happens is you’ll notice your puppy sticks to routines and schedules.

Based on when your puppy eats, sleeps, drinks, plays will also determine when he will pee and poop.

QUICK TIP: Start your puppy potty schedule today and keep track for the next week. See if you notice a pattern.

Did you notice your puppy poops within 10 minutes of his morning meal?

Did your puppy pee within the first 5 minutes of playtime?

Did your puppy pee immediately after waking up from his afternoon nap?

Puppy pee and poop are very predictable when you keep a puppy potty schedule.

Here’s a hypothetical example of an 8-10 week old puppy potty schedule:

Puppy Potty Schedule

TIMEDESCRIPTIONPEE/POOP
7:00amPuppy wake up. Take to potty spotPee Only
7:15amFeed puppy (drinks water).  After eating take to potty spot.Pee and Poop
7:30amTake puppy for walk.  Pee’s before and after walkPee (2)
8-10amPuppy Sleep…YAY! 
10:00amPuppy up from nap.  Take to potty spot.Pee and Poop
10:15amPuppy training (drinks water). Take to potty spot every 5-10 mins.Pee (2)
10:30-12:30Puppy Sleep…YAY! 
12:30pmPuppy wakes up from nap.  Take to potty spot.Pee Only
12:45pmFeed puppy (drinks water). Take to potty spot.Pee and Poop
1:00pmPuppy play (drinks water). Take to potty spot every 5-10 mins.Pee (3)
 1:30-3:30Puppy Sleep…YAY! 
3:30pmPuppy wakes up from nap.  Take to potty spot.Pee and Poop
3:45pmPuppy training (drinks water).  Take to potty spot every 5-10 minsPee (2)
 4-6pmPuppy Sleep…YAY! 
6:00pmPuppy wakes up from nap.  Take to potty spot.Pee Only
6:15pmFeed puppy (drinks water). Take to potty spot.Pee and Poop
6:30pmTake puppy for walk.  Pee’s before and after walkPee (2)
 7-9pmPuppy Sleep…YAY! 
9:00pmPuppy wakes up from nap.  Take to potty spot.Pee Only
9:15pmPuppy play (drinks water). Take to potty spot every 5-10 mins.Pee (3)
10:00pmOne final chance to get it all out before bed time!Pee and Poop!

QUICK RECOMMENDATION: If this is your first puppy or if you need a brush up on your puppy training skills we highly recommend reading Puppies for Dummies. It will give you a good foundation on how to raise and train a puppy. In fact, Puppies for Dummies is the first puppy book I read before bringing home my rescue pup, Linus.

How Often Should My Puppy Pee And Poop?

Okay, folks did you total everything up?  If you’re not keeping score then I have a tally for you:

  1. Pee = 24 times a day
  2. Poop6 times a day

Does that sound like “a lot”?

Based on the last half dozen or so puppies we raised this is a fairly normal puppy potty schedule.

Every puppy is a little different and depending on how much more or less you exercise your puppy, how much more or less your puppy eats/drinks will both play factors in how much and how often your puppy has to potty.

I’d like to reiterate, that the above table is a hypothetical for an 8-10 week old puppy.

As your puppy gets older he will have better control of his bladder and bowel movements.

These numbers will slowly decrease as your puppy increases in age.

Your puppy’s potty schedule will most certainly be different than the one above, but you’ll notice as you put together your own puppy potty journal that there is definitely some predictability when it comes to when your puppy will pee and poop.

QUICK RECOMMENDATION: We recently started training our puppies to alert us when they have to go potty by using a potty training doorbell called the Smart Bell. It requires a little bit of training, but it’s a good alternative to your dog scratching up the backdoor.

What do you think?

Have you put together a puppy potty schedule?

Do you know approximately when your puppy will pee and poop?

Tell us about your experiences and let us know if you have any puppy potty training tips in the comment section below.

That brings us to the next question: How long will it take to potty train my puppy?

We have tons of great puppy training tips throughout our blog organized on our training page.

However, if you’re looking for a good book to help you with puppy training basics please check out Puppies for Dummies.

We recommended it earlier and wanted to mention it again because it’s a great puppy basics book and also a quick and easy read.

Good luck with your puppy potty schedule! Let us know if you have any questions.

little puppy going potty on gravel
My puppy pees a lot!? Is it normal? Check out our puppy potty schedule.

By the way, remember that I’m not your vet so if you think you’re puppy is having bowel problems or issues with bladder control then please visit your veterinarian for a thorough health examination of your puppy.

Top Picks For Our Puppies

  1. BEST PUPPY TOY
    We Like: Calmeroos Puppy Toy w/ Heartbeat and Heat Packs - Perfect for new puppies. Helps ease anxiety in their new home.
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80 Comments

  1. I have almost 8wk doodle. Mini
    8 15 am poop and pee out. 741 pe out 800 eat. Raw chi Ken, pureecarrot or pumpkin. 818 p out sleep 930 po and p out
    930 out
    938 house
    945 house
    10 house. Continue all day also licks after peeing. She pees in bed all night as crate has been impossible
    Took to holistic, gave holistic suffer, but no change.dang breeder over vaccinated at 6 weeks, vet thinks could be contributing. She plays with my woosy year old amstaff. I stop her and bring her out . Success comes in and pees again
    Uccsometimes succ but still comes in amd pees again. Looks like complete emptying

  2. Thanks for posting the tally. I saw another article that said an 8-week old puppy should pee once every three hours and started worrying that maybe my 8-week-old collie has a UTI. I’m glad to know that she probably doesn’t.

  3. This schedule is spot on to our new Basset pup (8weeks old), I was worried thinking she had a UTI, went to Vet for her shots, had a fecal and health check, she is perfectly healthy.
    Thank you for this article, I was going to print it out and give it to my cousin, who will be dogsitting while we are on vacation on next month.

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