Quote Originally Posted by HVani View Post
Keeping them crated at night should help reduce accidents. I haven't had a puppy in a long time but I have had a lot of rescues and for them, in the first few weeks I take them out in the middle of the night when I wake up to go pee.

Some remove water, some don't.

For food take the amount they should be getting per day and cut it into meals. For a young puppy I think a lunch is important. For example, if you puppy should have 1 cups of food, then feed 1/3 cup per meal. Once they are a little older you can switch to 2 meals a day. It's easier on their digestive system. Stay consistent with your feeding times and you should be able to time potty breaks with them.

I am a firm believer in taking food up if they don't finish it within a certain time period. Many times free feeding leads to obesity in adulthood. And like I said above it's easier to predict when they will need to potty.
Thanks so much for helping me and bearing with my newbie questions!

So then taking them out in the night once should be done for the first few weeks?

Is a schedule like this good for a puppy 8 am, 12 pm and then 6 pm?

How long should you leave the food out? Around 30 min or less?

And when the dog becomes around 1 year of age, how often should you take them out to use the bathroom? Is it okay to leave them for a class day? (6-7 hours or so?)