How often do you let your dog/dogs out?

[yoko]

Reading the cat threads I started to wonder this.

So many people talk about having to rush home to let their dogs out. I've never really had to worry about that. I'm gone for work all day but if I need to do something like get groceries I don't really worry about leaving Yoshi that extra half an hour/hour.

Even if I'm a little late it's not like Yoshi is busting to go outside any way. I can ask Yoshi if she needs to go out and most of the time she doesn't even want to go out for another hour or so.

From the other thread I just got the vibe that everyone lets their dogs out A LOT and thinking the dog can hold it a little longer is just out of the question.

[JessLough]

Um... when she asks to go out? Usually once or twice a day. Unless it's raining. then she just won't go out.

Though, she also goes on 3 hour-long minimum walks a day, so she does her business then too

[PWCorgi]

Frodo has a bladder made of steel. I can be gone for 10 hours and he's still not asking to go out.

[SpringerLover]

My dogs have always been the "when someone gets home we must go outside" type. And if something is off schedule (like today when I had to take Ms. Red to her eval) and I don't get home until an hour or more past normal, they say they REALLY have to go.

At this house, I just leave the patio door open while I'm home if it's nice out so they go in and out at will. But they go out first thing in the AM and first thing when I get home and if nothing else, we have last outing before bed.

[CaliTerp07]

Today we had off for Columbus day, and Lucy went outside to pee 5-6 times. During the week when we're at work, she goes out at 7:00 (when I leave), at 8:30 (when DH leaves), at 4:30ish (when I get home), goes on an hour long walk sometimes before dinner, and goes out again before bed. Sometimes there are extra outside times if she needs to go. So...yeah, easily 5 times.

[yoko]

Originally Posted by JessLough

Um... when she asks to go out? Usually once or twice a day. Unless it's raining. then she just won't go out.

Though, she also goes on 3 hour-long minimum walks a day, so she does her business then too

Yoshi is kind of like that. If it's raining she'll run outside but once she realizes it's raining she's trying to get back in.

Originally Posted by PWCorgi

Frodo has a bladder made of steel. I can be gone for 10 hours and he's still not asking to go out.

XD This is Yoshi. I know on some Saturdays we'll both sleep in and if it's cold or rainy it's a chore to get her to go out and go. Even though I'm sure after sleeping all night and playing/eating/drinking in the morning she HAS to go.

Originally Posted by CaliTerp07

Today we had off for Columbus day, and Lucy went outside to pee 5-6 times. During the week when we're at work, she goes out at 7:00 (when I leave), at 8:30 (when DH leaves), at 4:30ish (when I get home), goes on an hour long walk sometimes before dinner, and goes out again before bed. Sometimes there are extra outside times if she needs to go. So...yeah, easily 5 times.

:O that's crazy to me!

Yoshi usually goes MAYBE 3 times. But once she starts asking 4/5 times it's pretty easy to see that she doesn't have to go she just wants to play.

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by yoko

Yoshi usually goes MAYBE 3 times. But once she starts asking 4/5 times it's pretty easy to see that she doesn't have to go she just wants to play.

It's easier to put her out on my schedule than to wait for her to tell me she has to go out (which is inevitably when I'm already in my pajamas or it's started to rain or whatever else). I can't let her out in the yard anymore, because she climbs the fence chasing the squirrels, so it's all leash breaks that require a person to monitor her. Much easier to do it when I'm prepared!

Oh, and she always pees. Sometimes she even poops 2-3 times in a day. If she starts whining at the door, it means we need to go on a walk to get her bowels moving.

[sassafras]

Well it varies a lot from day to day, because we always let them out right before we leave the house and right after we get home. So that depends on how many times we come and go in a day. And when we are home we will let them out whenever they ask.

Absolute minimum on my long work days is 3 - when I get up, when I get home from work, and before they go to bed.

[Fran101]

I'm not even sure if my schedule is more about dogs needing to go out or just..my schedule lol but they go out 3 times a day.

Morning (7am), Lunch time (2 pm) and evening (6pm)

We've skipped the lunch time break and the dogs were fine.. but I prefer not to. Sometimes they pee when we go out for lunch so I always feel like if I DON'T get them out they are sitting around holding their pee lol but either way, it's never really a rushed I HAVE TO GO kind of thing. Usually they are more excited for the fresh air and off lead time then just rushing to go to the bathroom.

[Beanie]

Originally Posted by Fran101

We've skipped the lunch time break and the dogs were fine.. but I prefer not to.

Same here. Payton typically goes out and actually pees more often than Auggie (being intact does that) but he could hold it all day if he had to. I just don't really want to make him have to hold it all day. Auggie needs to be let out regularly though to make sure he pees and empties his entire bladder or we get UTI/bladder infection stuff going on again.

I do feel like I need to get home and let the dogs out, but I don't really mean out to potty, I mean out of their crates to run around and be crazies. Payton gets destructive and more obnoxious than usual if he's not out and playing and using his brain enough. =P Auggie is more low maintenance but even he has limits on how much time he can spend NOT playing, as I learned from his crate rest last year.