# Taking food/water up for the evening



## Delilahs Mommy (Nov 22, 2009)

Since Delilah is potty training and I want to remain consistent, though she is doing pretty well going on the p'pad. I have pretty much letting her free feed/drink. Is there a certain time when I should take her food/water up for the eveing before she goes into her crate for the night. I don't want her to soil her crate, though I know that is unrealistic at her age for her to hold it all night, or is it?


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## SugarBob62 (Nov 9, 2009)

Well we pretty much free feed Nelson, even up to bedtime. Sometimes I cover it at night, because the cat will munch on it while everyone is asleep, ahha. And we never pick up water. Aren't dogs supposed to have water available at all times, even in the crate?


We have a water bowl in the kitchen, a gerbil water bottle attached to his crate in the living room, and a little hamster one attached to his crate in my parents bedroom. He eats such small amounts of food, and small amounts of water throughout the day. I would never pick it up. Sometimes when he pees before bed he'll nibble a few kibbles. I mean just like us right? When you're hungry, you're hungry. When you're thirsty, you drink...


He's never had an accident in his crate overnight. If he has to go, he whimpers and my mom gets up and takes him to the pad, he goes, then goes back to bed. He's only had like 2 accidents in his crate, when no one was home.


Now Andy on the other hand...the crate/peeing thing didn't work for him. He had accidents in it a lot my mom said. But this one seems to hold it really well...surpisingly well. So I guess each dog is different.


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## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

She's still very young, Laura. I don't think I would keep food from her. You can take up her water maybe an hour before
going to bed. Since she's under three months you don't want her to have a sugar drop, especially during the night.


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## Delilahs Mommy (Nov 22, 2009)

Thanks ya'll I have been leaving her food and drink out all the time. I just got her new dish with the bottle attached, went right to it and then she has her water bottle attached to her crate.

That is my biggest worry, is making sure she don't get LBS. So I have been constantly making sure she has food.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

How old is Delilah? If she is younger than 12 weeks (like a few people seem to think), I would not limit her food intake at all. Her water can be picked up an hour before bedtime. The big key is making sure she does not get locked up for the night until she has gone pee.

Expect to get up once or twice during the night to take her potty IF she barks/whines. If she sleeps through the night, then great! When I got London I had to get up in the middle of the night for a month or so to take her out -- Preston has always slept through the night and hasn't had an accident in his crate ever. I used to take their water up before bedtime, but I don't now that they are 2yrs and almost 1 year old. I feed 2 meals per day, morning time around 8am, and again at 4:30pm. Until she's around 4-5 months old I would feed her 3x per day or free-feed her (like you're doing), and then switch to 2x per day once she's 5 months old or so. Feeding meals will help her potty training as you will start to be able to predict when she will need to poop.


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## Delilahs Mommy (Nov 22, 2009)

QUOTE (LJSquishy @ Feb 12 2010, 12:01 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=884794


> How old is Delilah? If she is younger than 12 weeks (like a few people seem to think), I would not limit her food intake at all. Her water can be picked up an hour before bedtime. The big key is making sure she does not get locked up for the night until she has gone pee.
> 
> Expect to get up once or twice during the night to take her potty IF she barks/whines. If she sleeps through the night, then great! When I got London I had to get up in the middle of the night for a month or so to take her out -- Preston has always slept through the night and hasn't had an accident in his crate ever. I used to take their water up before bedtime, but I don't now that they are 2yrs and almost 1 year old. I feed 2 meals per day, morning time around 8am, and again at 4:30pm. Until she's around 4-5 months old I would feed her 3x per day or free-feed her (like you're doing), and then switch to 2x per day once she's 5 months old or so. Feeding meals will help her potty training as you will start to be able to predict when she will need to poop. [/B]


Lisa, she is right at 12 weeks. Since she is so little, 2.25 lbs when I took her to the vet on Monday. I do worry about the LBS, after reading so much about it. Honestly I was never even aware of the hypoglycemia prevalent to small breeds. I am thinking that is partly what happened to Dixie, linked with also the parasites, eventually caused her demise. So hence I watch Delilah's food/water intake very closely. I fed her up to 10 last night, she had a treat of a little baked chicken. She loved it! Then commenced to go poop on her pad. So overall, she is doing exceptionally well with no problems.


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## CloudClan (Jan 31, 2007)

QUOTE (LJSquishy @ Feb 12 2010, 12:01 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=884794


> How old is Delilah? *If she is younger than 12 weeks (like a few people seem to think)*.[/B]


Not sure where this came from. Her birthday was 11/16/09. LOL, I remember it well.  

This means she is 12 and a half weeks now.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

QUOTE (CloudClan @ Feb 12 2010, 10:16 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=884923


> QUOTE (LJSquishy @ Feb 12 2010, 12:01 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=884794





> How old is Delilah? *If she is younger than 12 weeks (like a few people seem to think)*.[/B]


Not sure where this came from. Her birthday was 11/16/09. LOL, I remember it well.  

This means she is 12 and a half weeks now.
[/B][/QUOTE]

I gathered that she was younger than 12 weeks because of Brit's comment and I believe someone else said she "looks younger than 12 weeks" or something to that effect. I was pretty sure her baby came from a reputable breeder so I wasn't sure why people thought she was under 3 months old. I hope no one thought I was being condescending, I wasn't.


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## CloudClan (Jan 31, 2007)

Lisa, I didn't take it that way.  

I just wasn't sure where the question was coming from and since we know that this baby came from a very reputable breeder I just wanted to make sure there wasn't any confusion.


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## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

I was going by her ticker. She looks very young too.


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## CloudClan (Jan 31, 2007)

Since I saw the babies a month ago when they were just 8 weeks old, I can assure you she looks like she has grown up a lot in the last month.


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## PreciousPrince (Feb 27, 2006)

I wouldn't expect a 3 month old to hold it through the night. Perri was crated at night for the first few weeks I had him and he wouldn't wake me up, I had to set the alarm. Even if she can hold it and doesn't soil her crate that's a long time for a puppy and if it were me I'd take her out at least once during the night for awhile.


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