Question about free feeding my 4mnth old puppy?
 

Okay, ya'll this is kind of long but I need some advice.

I've been debating on getting the "puppy apartment" for Chico. We have been having the hardest time with potty training and from what I've seen the puppy apartment looks like a good concept. Modern Puppies - Potty Training a Puppy

Right now he sleeps in a small crate with the door open and has access to his play yard only, which holds food, water and potty pads so he comes in and out throughout the night if he has to potty, gets, hungry or thirsty. The only problem is he doesn't always potty on his pads and just eliminates in any area of his play pen **LOTS OF CLEANING for me in the morning before work**

The only concern I have with the puppy apartment is if I crate him in there at night it means no more freedom to get up and eat or drink during bed time. He'll be 4mnths at the end of this month. Can he go 6-7 hours (throughout the night) without food? Or does he need to free feed 24hrs??

I would try withholding his food that long during the day when you are home with him and can monitor him (say on the weekend). This way if he starts displaying signs of low blood sugar, you can get his food to him. If he seems okay during the day, he should be fine during the night. Although my pups always have access to water - 24 hours a day.

I had a problem with potty training but I'm going to tell you what I did and maybe it can work for you, too. :)

When I got Chloe, I was given a crate but I only kept her in there for 2 days because I felt it's too small and I felt guilty keeping her there. I got her a play pen which I set up in a square shape which had her potty tray, her bed, food/water bowl and some toys. I kept her in the pen for 2 months when I wasn't home and at bedtime. She would also have a pee pad in the living room when I was home so she could go potty there.

In her pen she would always pee on the pad but not always on the pad in the living room.
At 5 months I decided to let her be without a pen completely and as soon as I did that she became much calmer and goes to potty all by herself on her potty pad in the living room. This happened all at around 5 months, it just takes some practice for your baby until they learn to associate the pad with potty. I also gave her treats a couple of times when she went potty on her pad.

About the free feeding, I do fill Chloe's bowl with 1/4 cup of her dry food in the am and she eats that portion throughout the day when she gets hungry. She doesn't eat at night but I do leave a little amount of dry food during the night just in case.. and she does have water all the time.

I'm the last person to be offering potty training advice! :rolleyes:

But I would put down more puppy pads, so that if she gets a little ways from her bed she can't help but hit a puppy pad. And when you put a new one down, soak up a little urine so she recognizes it as a potty spot. I know they're supposed to have a smell that tells them it's where to go, but not sure how good that is.

Yes, at 4 mths your kiddo should be okay going 6-7 hours w/out food overnight.

I really think that 4 months old is still way too young to be expected to always make it to the potty pad. I also believe that your baby should have access to food through the night. I would much rather have a pup that still has occasional accidents than risk hypoglycemia in the middle of the night.