Carrying & Potty Schedule

[Hamad]

I live on the 2nd floor and therefore carry Bertie up and down the stairs each time we go out, I was wondering how much longer will he have to be carried?

He's also nearly 5 months old now and goes out at 6 am, 11 am, 3 pm, 5 pm, 7 pm, and 11 pm - it's been working well so far but I've noticed he doesn't 'go' when taken out at 3 pm and would like to know if that means he doesn't need to be taken out at that time?

[Mandy and Teddy]

All I can say really is wow you are getting some exercise weight bearing a big puppy up and down the stairs every four hours.
Luckily we have our own fully fenced garden and it's spring now (yay!)

[twiceover2]

I would try to avoid having him going up and down stairs for at least another couple of months, especially so many and so regularly.  If he's not doing anything at 3, I would be tempted not to take him out then, maybe bring the 5pm forward a bit if you can to compensate?  You've obviously got him in a good routine.

[Hamad]

Forgot to mention that additionally he's also taken out for a few minutes before each meal! 

Twiceover2, I remember reading that a 5 month old puppy can hold it for 6 hours - does that mean 4 visits a day will become efficient soon? We feed him 3 meals a day (Royal Canin puppy food) and I'd like to go with a schedule such as this:

7:00 am: walk / meal
12:00 pm: walk / meal
06:00 pm: walk / meal
11:00 pm: short walk

Is that alright for a 5 month old or still too soon?

Mandy, you're really lucky! We do have a shared garden that's really nice and he loves playing in it however I wish access to it wasn't tedious!

[twiceover2]

I would think he'd manage with the schedule you suggest.   Many moons ago when we got our first dog and I was sometimes working, he had a similar routine from a very young age, I think about 4 months, so I should think that would be fine.

[Hamad]

Thank you twiceover2 that is great to know! I'll start to slowly change his schedule and see how it works