How Often Do Dogs Need to Go Outside?

Trying to meet the needs of your canine bestie when they don’t communicate the same way you do can be hard. When you’re balancing work, exercise, and puppy parenting, how do you know what’s fair to ask of your dog when planning bathroom-break timing into your busy daily life? Below, you will find help to determine a good schedule to follow.

Main takeaways

• All estimates for how long a dog can wait between bathroom breaks are estimates and vary by age, size, medical needs, and personal doggie preferences.

• Puppies can generally be expected to wait about one hour for each month of their age between potty breaks, for up to six hours.

• Adult dogs need to go out every four to eight hours to maintain a healthy urinary tract and stay comfortable.

Understanding a dog’s urinary system

The canine urinary tract is a sophisticated multiple-organ waste-management system that works to filter toxins and regulate hydration.

• It starts with the kidneys, which filter water, electrolytes, toxins, and more out of the bloodstream to create urine. The goal is to keep a dog’s blood healthy, clean, and circulating well. 

• The next step in the urinary system is the bladder, which stores urine that the kidneys make until a dog is ready to pee. To get from the kidney to the bladder, the urine flows through a small connecting “pipe” called a ureter. (Each kidney has one ureter connecting it to the bladder.) 

• Once a dog is ready to pee, they open the flood gates — also known as the bladder sphincter — and the urine flows into the urethra. This is the tube it travels through to exit the body. 

A dog knows they need to pee when stretching of the bladder wall tells them their bladder is full. The larger the stretch, the more urgency they feel.

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The real risks of infrequent urination

Although a stretched bladder wall lets a dog know they need to pee, this does not tell the kidneys to stop making urine. Remember that the kidney’s only priority is keeping the bloodstream in tip-top shape — urine is just a secondary by-product of that job. 

If a dog cannot go pee when they need to, the bladder will continue to fill with urine and can become enlarged and overstretched. In emergency cases, where a dog physically cannot urinate due to problems such as urinary obstructions or nerve damage, the bladder can fill to the point of bursting. If this happens, urine leaks into the abdomen, and that is a life-threatening emergency. 

When urine spends too much time in the bladder, some of the following problems can develop.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs)

Urine that sits around for too long in the bladder is more likely to collect bacteria, which can lead to an infection. If the urine is too dilute, is not acidic or basic enough (has an abnormal pH), or has sugar in it due to stress or diabetes, that makes a UTI even more likely. The lower urinary tract (like the urethra) depends on urine at a certain pH to regularly wash out the area and prevent bacteria from spreading. 

Urinary crystals and bladder stones

Urine that is at an abnormal pH and sits around in the bladder for too long can start to develop crystals. These crystals can even stick together and grow into bladder stones, which may get stuck in the bladder and require surgery for removal. The longer the urine sits in the bladder, the more likely the pH will shift, and stones will form. 

Bladder atonia

Bladders that become overstretched can have trouble contracting to empty again. Trauma or nerve damage are the most likely causes, but chronic overfilling of the bladder (in dogs who frequently wait too long to go to the bathroom) can lead to this complication as well.

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How long can a dog go without peeing?

Many important factors determine how long a dog can go without peeing. For most adult dogs, six hours is a reasonable time to go without peeing during the day. Some dogs may be able to wait as much as eight or even 12 hours, while others may develop UTIs or other complications if they wait more than four. 

Health conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, hypothyroidism, previous urinary crystal or bladder stone history, or Cushing’s disease can all impact how long a dog can go without peeing. Some medications, such as steroids, can also change a dog’s urination frequency needs. 

Generally speaking, while dogs are sleeping, their metabolism is slower, and they can wait longer before needing to pee. Depending on their sleeping habits, this usually means you can have a longer stretch overnight without potty breaks. 

A dog’s size, breed, age, health, training, and life experience can all change their needs. These guides are just a starting point in determining how long your dog can go without peeing. 

Age factors into a dog’s ability to hold in urine

Here are a few that’s that impact a dog’s ability to “hold it.”

Puppies

The general rule of thumb is that a puppy can hold their bladder for about one hour for every month of their age. So a four-month-old puppy can hold it for about four hours, give or take an hour. After about six months, most puppies can hold it about the same amount of time as an adult dog, which is six to eight hours. 

Adults

Adult dogs need to pee about every six hours to maintain good urinary health. Some will be just fine for eight hours or so, but although they may be capable of holding it for longer than that, it isn’t considered good for them.

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Seniors

Senior dogs often need to go pee more frequently than adult dogs. This is because they can develop health conditions or take medications that cause them to need to go more often. How often depends on their health conditions. 

Seniors with arthritis may have trouble squatting long enough to fully empty their bladders, and thus need to go out every four hours. They also may try to put off going because it hurts, so you may be the one insisting on that schedule. Medications such as steroids can cause a dog to drink more and pee more, meaning they may need to pee every two to three hours to avoid accidents. 

If you’re seeing changes in how often your senior dog needs to go pee, talk to your vet about it, and see if there’s anything you can do to help. 

Why small dogs need to go out more often

In simplest terms, smaller dogs have smaller bladders. But smaller dogs also have a smaller blood volume and smaller kidneys that make a smaller amount of urine. So what’s really happening when small dogs need to go out more often than large dogs?

Smaller animals, like small and toy breed dogs, have a higher metabolism. This means that for their size, they need to drink more and pee more than you’d expect. 

How often do small dogs need to pee

You can safely shave one to two hours off the estimated time a large dog can hold it, to estimate how often a small dog needs to go pee. That means about every four to five hours.

How to manage a small dog’s potty schedule

Having a dog who benefits from potty breaks every four hours, even when they’re adults, can be a lot to handle. Smaller dogs are also at a greater risk of predator attacks, so having a doggie door isn’t always a safe solution (or even possible if you live in an apartment). 

Some ideas to help meet both you and your small dog’s needs include:

• Pee pad training

• Dog walkers

• Litter box training

• Protected yards combined with a doggie door

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Signs your dog needs to go out now

Although dogs can’t tell us they need to go out, they do alert us in their own language. Here’s what to look for:

• Pacing

• Circling

• Sniffing the ground

• Moving out of your line of sight

• Walking to the door to the outside

• Whining

• Barking

• General restlessness

• Episodes of play and waiting, but not sleeping in between

• Soliciting eye contact

Commonly asked questions

How many times a day should a dog pee?

Dogs usually need to pee about four to five times a day. 

Can a dog hold their pee for 12 hours?

Although some dogs may be capable of holding their pee for 12 hours, especially if they’re in a kennel, that doesn’t mean that they should do that — or that there won’t be consequences. Holding their pee for 12 hours can cause pain, UTIs, bladder wall damage, or irritation. 

Does diet or water intake change the frequency they need to pee?

Yes, dogs who have eaten (especially wet food) or had water in the last hour are more likely to need to pee soon. 

References

The Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center. "Indoor Pet Initiative: Dogs." 2023. https://indoorpet.osu.edu/dogs.