How Often Should You Take Your Dog Out? A Guide to Optimal Bathroom Breaks

I have the pleasure (and curse – when you work from home, you’re always at work!) of working from home, so taking my dogs out regularly has never really been an issue for me.  Maybe it’s because they’re small dogs, or perhaps I’m not the best puppy trainer, but both Kit and Fen were pains to potty train.  Luckily, now that they’re older, they’re both awesome at only going outside.  My dogs rarely actually ask to go out, unless it’s really an emergency.  They normally wait until I take them out to use the bathroom.  How often do you take your dogs out for bathroom breaks?

What I Do With My Own Dogs

I take Kit and Fen out, on average, once every 5 hours or so during the day.  They go longer than that overnight.  I don’t like making them wait too long between trips outside.  Holding pee too long can lead to heath issues such as urinary tract infections, bladder, and kidney problems.  Holding poop for extended periods of time can cause constipation, which isn’t fun for anyone!

How Often Do YOUR Dogs Need Bathroom Breaks?

Kitsune patiently waiting to go out.

The answer can depend on a lot of factors, including (but not limited too) your individual dog, his/her age, diet, activity level, and general health.  A general rule for puppies is that you can take their age, in months, and add 1.  That’s how many hours they can be expected to be able to hold their bladders for.  So an 8 week (2 month) old puppy can generally go around 3 hours between bathroom breaks.

A general time frame I’ve seen for adult dogs is anywhere between 4 – 10 hours between bathroom breaks.  I do wonder, though, if the higher estimate is based more on people’s work schedules than it is on maintaining pets’ comfort.  Both of my small dogs can go 10 hours without using the bathroom, but I really don’t like making them wait that long and would only do so under rare, extenuating circumstances.  Bathroom breaks every 5 or 6 hours seems to really be the sweet spot for my duo.

I understand that not everyone has the luxury of being able to work from home.  People who work long hours can, and do, make awesome dog owners too.  Often this entails enlisting the help of a dog walker, doggy daycare, family members, neighbors, etc, to ensure their dogs get not only regular bathroom breaks, but attention during the day.

Comment below!  If you have a dog, how often to you take him/her out to use the bathroom?  What do you feel is an acceptable amount of time between bathroom breaks for an adult dog?

Post last updated: 1/18/2022