Dog holds her wee

I adopted a Jack Russell x chihuahua a month ago.  She’d didn’t have a great start and was not house trained at nearly 5 months and was eliminating in her crate.  She had not been vaccinated so we had to puppy pad train until she was fully vaccinated.  She’s nearly six months  old now and we started going outside a week ago.  she’s picking this up quickly but what worries me is that she holds her wee for a long time even though I take her out frequently.  For example I took her out at 6am and she went, I took her out at 12pm and again 12.30pm she did nothing and then I took her out at 1pm and she went.  I have taken her out at 6pm 7pm and 8pm and she hasn’t gone.  She often doesn’t want to go out at all and I have to force her even though she likes going to the park (we go to the park 3x a day and she poops there but won’t wee).  She does wee three times a day at least and sometimes four but she’s sometimes holding up to 8 hours during the day and once 12 hours overnight.  Should I be worried?

Sorry I should add that I don’t think she’s having accidents in the house in between because I can’t find any.

Hello - that's an excellent question.  The amount that a dog urinates is related to  1) how much they drink and eat (how much water is in the food, for example)  and 2) how much water they use e.g. in running around, breathing and keeping themselves cool (panting).  This obviously varies a lot from dog to dog.  Water that is not used by the body is lost through urine and a healthy dogs' kidneys control the strength of their urine much as ours do, so that when a dog is dehydrated, they will often urinate less in order to preserve body-fluid - and if they have drunk excessively, they will often urinate more.  This does not hold in cases where the kidneys are damaged - the urine from damaged kidneys is usually too dilute and usually associated with excessive water intake, but not always (this can be checked).  Most of the time, if a dog has free access to water, then they will simply feel thirsty and top up with what they need.  However, if you are concerned, there may be the option of a catching a little urine and taking it to your vets.  Your vet can examine the dog to check that they are adequately hydrated, or use something called a refractometer (it measures the concentration of urine) to ensure that the urine isn't worryingly concentrated at the far end.  A sneaky trick that some owners do at home, particularly if their dog is e.g. known to be suffering from kidney disease or similar, is to add a little water to the food in order that more water automatically flows through the dog.  Another tip - more frequently associated with cats who don't drink enough - is to experiment with water dishes because some animals really do have a strong preference regarding water bowls.  However, for the most part it has to be said, that dogs usually do a reasonable job of regulating their own water intake and I have rarely worried that a dog is deliberately refusing water in the face of a suitable water supply.  I hope that something there helps.