Pooping at night

[Chinchi]

Hugo is only 9 weeks old so I don't expect him to be able to hold it all night, but he is pooping every night. I seem to recall Darla doing the same at such a young age too. I feed him his last meal at 6pm and put him to bed at around 10-11pm. I get up again at 6am and there will always be poo. He's absolutely super during the day about going outside to poop, so I just guess he can't hold it for that long. I always put him straight outside after every meal but he never poops, it seems to take a long time to work it's way out again.

I just want to check that this is all normal for such a young pup, or should I be feeding him earlier and exercising him more round the garden after his last meal to stimulate him to poop before bed?

[mellie]

Hugo is so young...I think a little walk to the toilet area has always helped to uh move things along for Sally. A romp sounds like too much fun to me and you might not want to do that every night bfore bed. Hugo's bowels are still in training since he is still a babe. We leash walked Sally most of the time while training and that seemed to help-don't know if that is what you are doing now...

[Chinchi]

No, we are just letting him out into the garden with Darla and when he goes potty we praise him. He has pooped tonight, but there always seems to be more stored up for overnight. We are currently feeding him 4 times a day. Would that affect it?

[mellie]

Probably would see better results if you take out on a leash for eliminations so he can stay on task,when he goes big party and treats,then turn him loose to play. 4 meals a day probably is playing a part too. I think you can expect better results as he ages and you drop down to 3 meals then 2 a day. For us walking on a leash really helped. Enjoy his puppieness cause he will be grown up before you know it.

[BarbV]

I agree with the advice so for. Movement after eating seems to stimulate the bowels.

Also are you crating your dog? And if so, is the crate perhaps too large? A dog generally will not pee/poop in their crate, if the crate is small enough. If the crate is too large, they'll poop in one corner and sleep in another. 9 weeks is still young. Is the crate near you? If not, it should be so that you can hear the dog in the middle of the night. If you don't keep the crate near you at night, then you must consider setting an alarm to let him out.

If you aren't crating your dog, then I have to ask why not.

[corbinam]

I agree with mellie.

But, my recommendation would be to help Hugo be successful. I wouldn't want him to get used to pooping in his crate. The idea behind crate training is that dogs don't like to sleep where they eliminate. But if they learn to lay in it, it becomes less of an issue and a less effective training tool.

I would try to figure out what time he is pooping (I bet there is a pattern). I'd do that by setting an alarm for 2 hours after going to sleep and checking to see if he has gone. If not, set it an hour later the next night. Once you figure yet what time he goes, I would continue to set my alarm for prior to that time and take Hugo outside. Throw him a little party when he poops outside and go back to bed.

After about a week of that, set the alarm about 30 minutes later. Then the next night, an hour later etc. until he was getting up at a regular morning time to poop.

[Chinchi]

Thanks all, I have tried out your suggestions and Hugo hasn't had an accident for almost a week now! I also cut him down to 3 meals a day and I think that has helped him too.