“When in doubt, let them out.” – Joseph Bianca
Perhaps I was not the originator of the statement above, but I can say with complete honesty that to my knowledge, I have never heard it spoken by another nor have I read it anywhere. Even a Google search yielded results of a similar nature but all pertaining to parents letting their children play outdoors, not their pets. No, this is something I declared to my Wife the other evening regarding our three dogs. More specifically, it pertained to one dog who also holds the distinction of being our biggest troublemaker, Hayden.
The phrase while not earth shattering, is none the less cute and rather catchy. The event that prompted my statement was one which involved a pee pee accident in the house by, you guessed it, Hayden. As the primary professional pet sitter in the house, the care of our furry children mostly falls on my shoulders. Ordinarily we (usually me) let our three dogs (Cujo, Basil & Hayden) out into the backyard for an early evening potty break prior to dinner. On this particular evening however, I did not let them out because I had just done so a couple of hours prior. Instead, I simply fed my babies dinner. They did not seem to object. Next I went to walk dogs for one of my client’s thinking that surely my Wife would let our dogs out sometime after dinner and prior to returning from my appointment. Well, she did not, and Hayden decided to pee. Fortunately, he did it in the room we have for our dogs which has tile flooring.
When I arrived I was informed of the accident that my Wife had to clean up. After discovering she had not let the dogs out while I was gone and after she stated she was not sure I had already done so, I said, “When in doubt, let them out.” Since she found my insight funny and informative, I decided it would make a decent blog.
The bottom line is that if you ever doubt that your furry canine friend(s) need(s) to go potty, then let them out into the backyard. If you happen to not have an enclosed space in which you have to walk them on a leash to do their business (been there, done that for seven years, so I fully understand the commitment and the occasional hassle), then take them for a potty break walk. In general dogs should be let out at least three or four times per day depending on their age and health. Even though most dogs can hold their bladder for many hours, you never want them to be in pain. It also has the added benefit of preventing a mess you have to clean up later.
