Changing A Puppy's Pooping Schedule

[andrewang]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if you could change your puppy's pooping schedule.

Caesar does really well in the day but he always poops in the middle of the night and I'll have to wake up to a mess with half the poop eaten.

My schedule for Caesar goes like this:

8am: Breakfast for Caesar (1/3 of a chicken carcass) while I clean up his half eaten poop.

10am: A run about in the park which he will poop.

2pm: :Lunch for Caesar. (Usually chicken mince mixed with Advance puppy growth kibble)

5pm: Another run in the park which he will either poop in the park or after we get home in his pet loo.

730pm: Dinner (same as lunch)

Caesar will not poop for the rest of the day. No matter how many times I bring him to his loo, he simply will not go.

I cannot bring him out to poo on the grass as it gets too dark and cold here at night.

I'll keep waiting till about 1am till I go to bed and wake up to a pile of half eaten poop.

Is there a way to "make" him poo after his dinner?

Or should I change his schedule and feed him dinner earlier?

P.S. I tried waking up in the middle of the night to encourage him to poop but he's too tired to even move a muscle so I end up putting him back to his bed again.

[kelpiecuddles]

Could you bring all his meals forward by a couple of hours? Or, if he is old enough, move to doing two meals a day at morning and lunch.

[persephone]

I cannot bring him out to poo on the grass as it gets too dark and cold here at night.

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He is a dog ...

cold and dark is something he needs to experience and learn to enjoy :) (YOU TOO!)

rain, noise, grass, cold, wind, darkness...all these are part of life and NEED TO BE experienced/made an everyday thing...so you don't end up with a 'precious' dog ..who is scared of the dark/won't get feet wet .. etc . These things are our responsibilty ....

Also , start NOW ..associating a word with toileting . pick a word you are happy to use in public ..and start saying it when he starts to toilet ..not loudly, or excitedly .. but as a command... followed by praise .

The idea will catch on ..then say it as you see him think about toileting ..... then, when that seems to work ..

start saying it when he goes near a place that encourages toileting , etc .... and eventually (within reason - they can't poo if there's nothing there) you will have a dog who can be asked to toilet in certain places, at certain times.

perhaps give kibble in the morning ..and carcass at night? That gives all that biscuit time to move along befor the middle of the night , maybe?

[Rebanne]

I cannot bring him out to poo on the grass as it gets too dark and cold here at night.

Put on a coat and get a torch. I have a big backyard but always go out with a pup to make sure it goes before bed time. Sometimes I need an umbrella.

[Dogsfevr]

Agree with other is never to cold or dark .

I think what you need to decide & train for is whether the pet loo is always going to be the main source for toileting or whether going outside is & then you need to train accordingly .

But you need to do a latter toilet run

[Jumabaar]

I agree with the others about going out in the cold and dark! I also dont feed dry food over night because I found that I had to get up at 1am for a puppy poop run (as my puppies have all whinged to go out when they needed to go) but giving the dry for breaky instead of dinner solved that.

Also where is he being left overnight? Can he alert you to the fact he needs to go. Also are you crating or confining him to encourage him to keep his sleeping area clean?

[disintegratus]

I second getting him used to toiletting in all sorts of environments. There's nothing worse than standing in the rain for half an hour on a coldy windy night with a dog just staring at you because she doesn't know that it's okay to wee when it's dark and raining and doesn't want to get her precious tuccus wet!

[Christina]

I would make the 5pm feed the last one & see what happens.

He won't die of starvation without food until the next morning.

If you are worried about cutting to 3 feeds either increase the size of them or leave dry food out in between unless he is a piggy, eat all the time breed.

[Bjelkier]

If my 11 week old Havanese (tropical dog) can go to the toilet in the dark, freezing Canberra nights your Cocker Spaniel will be fine. You have to remember they're bred to work in pretty cold climates after all.

If you can try moving the puppies dinner to around 5

[Salukifan]

How old is Caesar?

[andrewang]

Thanks for all the swift replies.

I think I should explain myself clearer. I did bring him out into the darkness and cold every night for 2 weeks but none of those times ended with him pooping. I live in an apartment, so I do not have a backyard or a garden Caesar can do his business in. I use to bring him out on a leash to a nearby park for a 20 mins night pooping session at about 930pm, but no poop.

Caesar actually pees on command, pooping is not so reliable yet but he does have a way of telling me he needs to poo. I made a confinement area for Caesar about 2M by 2M in the living room, with a PP50, food and water bowl and the largest commercial pet loo. He spends most of his time with me in my room though. He'll scratch at the door when he needs to release himself and I'll bring him to his loo and give the go ahead command.

My problem now really is the fact that he doesn't poop his dinner until he is all alone in the middle of the night in his confinement area. I tried waking up at 3am, 5am to at least try to get a rough idea what time he usually poops but to no avail. The poop is usually there when I wakes up at 8am, half eaten....

So I'm really wondering if I could make him poop earlier so I don't have to wake up to that mess everyday. I know I'm sounding selfish here but I really have no idea what to do.

P.S he is about 4 months old

Edited May 7, 2013 by andrewang

[Salukifan]

4 months?

Cut him back to two meals a day. Feed him at 8.00 and again at 4.00 and take him to the park afterwards.

Remove his food and water from the area near the loo. Dogs have a natural inhibition about eating and drinking near where they toilet. I suggest you feed him outside that area.

However, you may simply have to learn to live with some unwanted poos in the middle of the night. A dog that cannot access outside must go where it can.

Or sleep him in his crate in your room and take him to the loo in the middle of the night if he needs to go. that way he won't be able to access the poo and you can dispose of it immediately

Frankly I think a very quick walk before bed time would help. Activity stimulates the gut. However he is very young so he doesn't have the control of an older dog yet.

Edited May 7, 2013 by Haredown Whippets

[Rebanne]

I would cut him down to 2 feeds a day.

[andrewang]

4 months?

Cut him back to two meals a day. Feed him at 8.00 and again at 4.00 and take him to the park afterwards.

Remove his food and water from the area near the loo. Dogs have a natural inhibition about eating and drinking near where they toilet. I suggest you feed him outside that area.

However, you may simply have to learn to live with some unwanted poos in the middle of the night. A dog that cannot access outside must go where it can.

Or sleep him in his crate in your room and take him to the loo in the middle of the night if he needs to go. that way he won't be able to access the poo and you can dispose of it immediately

Frankly I think a very quick walk before bed time would help. Activity stimulates the gut. However he is very young so he doesn't have the control of an older dog yet.

Pooping in the middle of the night is ok. Eating it is not!! LOL

I tried playing fetch at home with him when I stop the 930pm poop walk. It will work some times but not too often. Caesar is such an awesome companion but he is literally one dirty SOB. :D

I might just try feeding him twice a day like what many of you suggested. Let's just hope for the best.

Edited May 7, 2013 by andrewang

[andrewang]

I would make the 5pm feed the last one & see what happens.

He won't die of starvation without food until the next morning.

If you are worried about cutting to 3 feeds either increase the size of them or leave dry food out in between unless he is a piggy, eat all the time breed.

Caesar's a cocker spaniel, he IS a piggy, eat all the time puppy.

[kelpiecuddles]

Piggy, eat all the time puppies need to be moderated though lest they become piggy, porky dogs as adults, eating twice a day won't hurt him at his age. Personally I'd be sleeping him in the crate, I think that would be your best shot at breaking the night pooping thing altogether and if he doesn't poop he can't eat it so it solves that problem anyway.

[Dogsfevr]

2 weeks at the pup is nothing ,he has a routine now ,poop over night & if you wish to wake up at 8am then its going to happen.

If you don't start re establishing a routine now it won't stop.

My 4 month olds go all night without toileting & i don't wake up at set times either,they are taught to ask to go out & when we go it its all about toileting .

I have stood outside freezing my butt off for 30 mins or more & feel like a zombie the next day but its worth the effort.

I prefer to teach the dogs to wake me up than me wake them when they obviously don't want to go .

I think Caesar may be a tad confused over what his "toilet " world is,one minute outside but if that doesn't work then its fine to go inside .

If the dog loo is part of his life then the people i now place it somewhere very specific to it being a loo (balcony.laundry somewhere that defines it .

If going outside is the plan then you need to go out more often & stand there until pup truley gets what you want.

Instead of standing outside for ever come back insie ,play with dog & then go out again .

As for feeding some dogs will eat for ever,the more you feed it now the more expects,dogs learn quickly about setting the rules but you need to set the rules & stick with a plan

[piper]

I would go to 2 meals a day with the latest 1 being 5 to 6pm and confine int he crate overnight. In the crate he will most likely whinge to be let out when he needs to go or you can set your alarm to get up and take him.

[becks]

I;d suggest just getting up earlier for a few weeks so the pup can be taken out to toilet before he wakes, poos and feels like a snack while waiting for breakfast!

I would also just do a toilet stop in the afternoon and take him for a walk in the evening just before you go to bed

[dancinbcs]

Feed the last meal later, not earlier. It takes about 9 hours for the food to go from one end to the other in a puppy that age so if you feed at 7 pm they need to poop around 4am. I always give last meal one hour before bed.