At what age can a puppy hold it's bladder all night?


  • Been 16+ years since I've gone through this and I can't remember. About what age can a B pup sleep through the night (say 11pm-6:30am) without needing a bathroom break?

    I woke our 16 week old up at 2:30am to take her out for a break last night, but wondered if it was necessary. So far she's had zero potty accidents, and I'd like to keep it that way if possible.

    Thanks in advance?


  • Hi Craigh

    I'm a novice basenji owner, but I can tell you my little boy was holding through the night at around 10 or 11 weeks of age. I never woke him up - he always woke me up if he had to relieve himself. Although, he does sleep beside me in my bed at night, so he's never really had the chance to have an accident I suppose.


  • It will vary from puppy to puppy. If she is not waking you up then she probalby doesn't need to go out. At 16 weeks she can probably hold it through the night but sometimes they are inconsistent during teething. My mom's puppy Bella has been pretty much house broken since about 12 weeks old but about 2 weeks ago about a week or so before turning 5 months old, she jumped out of bed at 6am and before my mom could get her out she peed on the carpet. This was also when her teething was the worst.


  • I've only survived Basenji puppyhood once, and that was 8 years ago….

    At the time, I crated Jibini at night and put his crate beside my bed. He slept through the night from the very beginning (9 weeks old) and woke me up at about 6 am every night like clockwork- no potty in crate.

    At the time, I was already a member of the Basenji-L chat list, and I distinctly remember quite a few people saying they let their young Basenji puppies sleep IN THE BED with them overnight....some long-time folks saying they'd done this with ALL their puppies. No accidents- pups sleep soundly, wake up around dawn and get taken outside.

    Of course I had no Basenji frame-of-reference, I was still thinking on a "normal dog" level, and I was thinking, "NO WAY! Not possible! I'm not waking up to a piddle puddle on MY sheets!" (Not to mention I'm a hard sleeper & there's no guarantee I'll wake up when the puppy does....)

    Still, for everything else that was challenging about raising a Basenji puppy, housebreaking was a breeze. Jibini came from the breeder "paper-trained" which helped save my carpets, and the transition to outdoors was very easy. I have read that some breeders have female dogs who will actually HOUSEBREAK THEIR OWN PUPPIES by leading them outside for potty breaks once they're able to walk. And as a result 8-9 week old pups go to their new homes already understanding what to do. You don't see this in many other breeds. Now I actually BELIEVE a young pup could sleep in my bed through the night without a problem. 🙂

    Danielle, Fred
    Jibini & Tana


  • Craigh - I have a puppy who is also around 16 weeks. She was potty trained by about 12 weeks, and she has been sleeping through the night without a potty break for as long as I've had her, since she was 10 weeks. The 11 to 6:30 stretch you mention is very possible for her. If she sleeps in where you sleep, just wait until she wakes you up. You may be very pleasantly surprised. Sometimes when I get up at 7:00 she is still not ready to go out, and wakes up only because I'm up. We go to bed at 10.


  • Guess I should have posted an update sooner. I've got her sleeping in a pet bed next to our bed. She has absolutely no problem whatsoever going 8 hours. The one chance I've had to sleep late, she went 10 hours before waking me up to go out.

    This has been the easiest to potty train Basenji pup I've ever encountered! She'd never spent time indoors (stayed outside 100% of the time at the breeders) before we got her. After 2 weeks, she's only had two pee accidents and no poop accidents. The pee accidents were our fault for not seeing her sniffing around by the door. I NEVER thought we'd get through potty training this easily - especially with carpets that had been pee'd on repeatedly by our now deceased male / female pair.


  • Maya was able to hold her bladder all night right from about 10 weeks. I used to take her out last thing before bed and then first thing in the morning. If i sleep in on the weekends she doesnt wake me up to go out for a wee, she will just sleep for hours 😃


  • When Zest was a puppy she could hold it through the night if she slept in the big bed, but woke up much ealier if she was in the crate. :rolleyes:

  • First Basenji's

    Well Kenji is only 11 weeks today, but we get up at 3:00 every morning just in case and he goes pee. But he doesnt poop every time. We have had some accidents in the apartment. I think its cause he hates his crate when we are out.


  • Rule of thumb is 1 hour per 1 month of age for urine. It has caused a lot of harsh words toward me that I won't place puppies with people who can't be home or have someone go to the house at least every 3 to 4 hours until they are a good 4 mos old or older. If you are out a lot, consider a BIG play pen area with litter box. Not ideal but beats teaching the pup to relieve himself in the apt or his crate.

    SOME pups can hold longer, especially at night. But day time… they do need out more. Cara hasn't had an accident since her first week here, but she was 13 wks old and I took her out after eating, play time, naps... Before you go out, play with the pup, get it to potty and you have hopefully a few hours window. Try to leave toys for chewing to keep Kenji occupied.

  • First Basenji's

    Honestly we are trying to do two things at once, get him used to the crate and potty train. He hates the crate and I can make it home for lunch so typically that is a 4hr window. But since he hates the crate / open wire kennel, we think he speeds up the urine window by acting out and whining / screaming when we leave. He doesn't seem to play with his toys in the crate only outside. When he does play with them while he is in there, he plays out of distress and wines while chewing. He typically calms down with in 5 min but he goes to sleep and doesnt play. I'm sure it will take time for him to completely warm up to the crate. Thanks for the input.


  • LOL my dogs do not like their crates, but they do learn to tolerate them. Instead of toys, how about a kong, frozen with some yummy lining like thin coat of cream cheese. SOMEONE here posted lovely recipe which I failed to copy. But if you tire out before hand, should help.

    Wish you were closer! I'd love to baby sit during the day and give Cara a play mate!

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