HOW OFTEN do small dogs need to go to the bathroom?

i'm not sure if my dog is using the bathroom as many times as he should. he usually goes just twice a day, both #1 and #2 and doesn't act like he needs to go more often... he is 15 lbs and one year old. he's a shih tzu.

please give me your opinion on this!
itmustbepuppylove

 

about how many xs bathroom

not sure about small dog i know by a yr old they can hold it for a long time. my yellow lab used to only go 3 xs a day. are you sure he or she is not sneeking it?

 

My 5-1/2 month old pekapoo holds it for 8-9 hours overnight in his crate and is never in a hurry to get out in the morning--but it seems like once he's out of there, he pees every 15 minutes (and usually in all the wrong places)!

 

small breed dogs are so hard to potty train and he's my first dog. at first he learned to go outside, but he would never do #1 and #2 at the same time, but in the past few wks he has totally gotten over than (even though he did it for a year! i'd take him out to pee and then he'd do nothing else until he'd come back inside for another 10 minutes or so, then he'd want to go #2 outside) hee hee! so i'm really proud that he's doing both in the same trip now. what he used to do as well, is go #2 and it seem like he was done, but then after getting back in the house he'd sometimes go AGAIN and then he'd try to eat it! :roll: he has always (after the initial puppy stage) gone once in the morning, held it all day and then goes again at night (any time b/w 5:30 and 8:30). he never seems to want to go again before bed....

should i be trying to get him to go right before bed time? or will that mess him up in the morning (which i don't want to happen since he has to hold it during day in his crate).

thanks for all the advice and discussion so far!
itmustbepuppylove