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Puppy potty schedule

Pick your puppy's breed and age and your usual wake-up and bedtime. You'll get a day plan you can print or add to your phone's calendar as daily reminders.

Planned gap between daytime trips: up to 2 h at this age.

Your schedule

Potty schedule for a 3 months puppy

11 potty trips, including 1 at night · 3 meals

  1. Potty: Wake up — straight outside
  2. Meal: Breakfast
  3. Potty: Potty break — after eating
  4. Potty: Potty break — or right after a nap or play
  5. Potty: Potty break — or right after a nap or play
  6. Meal: Lunch
  7. Potty: Potty break — after eating
  8. Potty: Potty break — or right after a nap or play
  9. Potty: Potty break — or right after a nap or play
  10. Meal: Dinner
  11. Potty: Potty break — after eating
  12. Potty: Potty break — or right after a nap or play
  13. Potty: Last potty, then bed
  14. Night: Night potty — quiet and boring, then back to bed

Also take your puppy out right after:

naps, play sessions, chewing a toy, time in the crate, and drinking a lot of water. Reward them the moment they finish outside.

How the schedule works

A puppy can generally hold its bladder for about as many hours as its age in months, up to roughly 9–12 months, according to the American Kennel Club. We plan daytime trips an hour before that limit (between 1 and 6 hours apart) so your puppy goes out before it's desperate.

Trips are added first thing in the morning, about 15 minutes after each meal, and last thing at night. Puppies under 6 months usually eat three meals a day, older puppies two. Puppies of 8–11 weeks typically need two trips during the night and 3-month-olds one; keep them quiet and brief so your puppy learns that night-time is for sleeping.

Every puppy is different. If accidents happen between trips, shorten the gaps; if your puppy is reliably dry, stretch them gradually. Sudden accidents in a previously reliable puppy are worth a vet visit, since a urinary infection or another medical problem can be the cause.

Next steps

The schedule is half of potty training — the other half is rewarding every success and cleaning up accidents without punishment. Read our step-by-step potty training guide and the crate training guide, both tailored to 50 breeds.