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Puppy pooping in crate. Help!!

28 replies

Cornishgirl18 · 10/10/2019 14:09

So, our 8 week old cocker has been with us 6 days and I am absolutely exhausted, emotional and thinking what the hell have we done. From past threads I know this is normal!!! I honestly wish though we'd opted for a fourth child instead of the puppy right now. Hoping you guys can help with a few issues...
Toileting in the day not going too bad. I'd say 90% of wee's are outside (I literally take him into the garden every 45 minutes which is exhausting in itself)... Poo's however.... Arghh. He has a crate but keeps soiling it. He seems happy enough to go in there in the day and also at night .... But just poo's. I'm wondering if its anxiety. His poo's are very soft so we have been using Pro kolin. I have made the crate as small as possible, just enough to lie down and turn around. Should I be setting my alarm in the night to take him out. The first few nights he whimpered so took him out to the garden (crate door closed) . Night 3 he soiled his crate 3 times (door was closed), so since day 4 we have left his crate door open with a puppy pad outside. We actually had a full night's sleep last night but found 2 poo's in his pen (crate is in pen in the kitchen). Not sure what is the right thing to do?

He is fed at 7am, 12 noon and 4...should I change this to help with the night pooing issue? He is on eukanuba puppy food which is what the breeder had him on.
On a positive he has already learnt to sit and come on command. He is very bitey during his hyper periods, which usually coincides with kids coming home from school.

I've been leaving him in his pen with crate door open for short periods in day e.g school run (he doesn't seem to like his car crate and poo'd in it on school run on Monday hence why I have left him at home. ). Any advice re pooing in crate much appreciated.

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Cornishgirl18 · 10/10/2019 14:15

Should also say things weren't helped last night when my friend told me her puppy NEVER had an accident indoors!! How is that possible?

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BiteyShark · 10/10/2019 14:16

I took mine out in the night because he simply could not hold his pee or poo for that long especially as he was being fed three times a day.

I also didn't use pads because I didn't want him to think toileting in the house was ok at all.

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BiteyShark · 10/10/2019 14:17

As for your second post ignore all comments about how other people's puppies never had an accident.

It isn't helpful and if you read the puppy threads on here it isn't uncommon for toilet training to take many weeks.

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Cornishgirl18 · 10/10/2019 14:22

Thanks @BiteyShark... I'll set my alarm tonight for every 2 hours... I'm convinced its anxiety related though. I popped her in her pen at lunchtime today as she kept biting me whilst I was eating my lunch (she didn't like the alternative chew I was trying to entice her with)... Anyway next thing I know she has done a squitty poop in her pen and walked through it. I could have cried...

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heatseeker14 · 10/10/2019 14:25

@Cornishgirl18 pay no attention to your friend Hmm. It sounds like you’re doing a fab job. It’s exhausting to begin with, but you will soon find a pattern emerging.
Could you put the crate in your bedroom instead of the kitchen? Perhaps you didn’t hear him on night 3. Our puppy only poos in his crate when he is gets worked up. He stopped doing it when we put his crate next to our bed and covered it over with old towels.

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BiteyShark · 10/10/2019 14:26

I think I initially worked on the principle that mine would be ok at night for 1 hour per month of age plus 1 which I had read somewhere so at your pups age that would be around 3 hours. You could also use a baby monitor and wait until he stirs if you can get there fast enough.

As for runny poo I would keep an eye on that. Again it's not unusual for them to have upset tummies with the stress of moving to a new home but you might want to change foods or if it gets worse a vet check.

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Cornishgirl18 · 10/10/2019 14:29

Pic of crate attached... Hopefully you can see the divider

Puppy pooping in crate. Help!!
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Booboostwo · 10/10/2019 14:35

Puppies are tough, but they grow out of the difficult stage a lot sooner than babies/toddlers.

If you've had him 6 days it has not been long enough to crate train him and she may well be pooing in the crate because he doesn't like being in there. It takes a few weeks to crate train most puppies, so until then, door open and many positive associations in the crate, e.g. food, treats, chews.

If his poos are runny you and/or he poos very often you need to take him to the vet. He may have worms or a health problem. Puppies need veterinary attention sooner rather than later.

Your friend is being silly. Puppies are as different as babies, some pick up toileting habits really quickly, others take a while. I do think you need to set the alarm and take her out during the night and just be patient.

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BiteyShark · 10/10/2019 14:36

I used a massive crate.

Whilst I had read about using dividers I didn't bother because I was happy to get up in the night and let him out so didn't want to restrict his space other than for him to be in a safe place.

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Cornishgirl18 · 10/10/2019 15:09

He had his puppy check a few days ago and vet wasn't concerned re poo's and said it was quite normal for puppies to have unsettled tummies at first. Breeder has been giving him advocate (I watched her give a dose when we picked him up) and he has also just finished a course of panacur... which the breeder also insisted we gave him.

I'm just so on edge all the time. I'm sat in my car waiting to pick kids up from school worrying about the state of his pen when I return! Like I mentioned I tried bringing him in car crate earlier in week and he just cried then poo'd in it. Maybe I should try the car crate again?

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tabulahrasa · 10/10/2019 15:12

Is he actually crate trained?

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MissPepper8 · 10/10/2019 15:24

I used a massive crate

No don't do this, crate should be big enough for dog to turn around in and lie down, any bigger and he will section a place for toilet behaviour.

Feed, think we did 3/ half hours before bed and last drink an hour before bed and remove all food and water. Tell everyone not to treat or feed puppy.

Does puppy cry during the night? Crying sometimes indicates toilet, trouble is you don't want to be letting him into the habit that if he cries you will come or he'll think its a game. So if you do go down, do not talk to him (other than go toilet once) or play with him, let him out and if he doesn't get the idea, say go toilet/wee/ect but keep it limited. Then back in crate and goto bed (i tried to keep lights off ect)

If you do 3 hours with food and 1 hour before bed with water, then walk in garden 45 mins after they've eaten (you should notice now how soon after they've eaten or drink they need to go) they will go.

If he's loose this is easily fixed, rice and ham or scrambled egg can bind him. Did you change the brand from the breeders brand of food? If you change food brand quickly it can do this. If you give him just scrambled egg or plain rice it will help him.

It's only day 6, hes been on his own pattern with the breeder so try not to worry. He is settling in to your life now so as long as you keep a strict feeding schedule you should get this pooing business sorted at night (also if it's due to diarrhoea too with keeping it bland). We had crate accidents but only when we fixed the feed times did it start a pattern for our dog.

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MissPepper8 · 10/10/2019 15:28

So I forgot too, 8 weeks is young, if you Google you can see there's a certain age like a toddler how long they can hold it in for.

If timing the feeds doesn't work, you might need to get up an hour/2 hour after bed to make sure he goes as he's so little and then up at 6/7am to let him out again. Good luck x

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Cornishgirl18 · 10/10/2019 15:51

... and I've come home from school run to find another bl**dy poo and wee in his pen. Left him happily in his crate with door open. I was only 20 minutes. I give up ffs

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Cornishgirl18 · 10/10/2019 15:54

He is on same brand as breeder. I gave him plain chicken and rice for few days but vet said to go back to eukanuba as it will help move stuff through his system.

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MissPepper8 · 10/10/2019 19:52

@Cornishgirl18 um had he had jabs recently? That can cause bloody poos. Sounds a bit like hes either hiding it or it's the diarrhoea going through him.

Keep going xx give it a few days he will get more in his pattern and hopefully it will clear up. I know its frustrating x

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Cornishgirl18 · 10/10/2019 19:59

Had his first jab last Thursday so maybe that has something to do with it. Just have to keep thinking this will pass. Easier said than done though. Might need a glass of wine tonight!!

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billhubbard · 10/10/2019 20:10

All sounds stressful op .
When we had our darling pup we followed what our daughter did and took pup out for wee before bed then took him to bed with us and we all slept until 6 o clock which is my usual get up and then I carried him out for a wee .
He has never been dirty in our bed .
He's now 6 and he chose himself at about 1 years old to sleep on bed in spare bedroom .
I wouldn't have done it if hadn't worked for daughter but we have never had any issues at night

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Pringle89 · 10/10/2019 20:33

Early puppy days are so hard!

I can only advise what worked for us!

First week we slept on the sofa with the dog bed in the crate but door open next to the sofa, every time pup moved or woke we took him out the toilet, then the next week we did the same with the door closed.

When we had a rough idea what time he woke for the toilet we slept upstairs but left the crate downstairs in the same place and set our alarm for the time he usually woke, then each night if when we got up he was asleep when we went down the next night would put the alarm back 30 mins until eventually he went from 11 - 5/6.

Yes the lack of sleep is a killer early on but it lasts a much shorter time then kids (my daughter didn’t sleep until she was 4!).

Other people I know do the same but have the pup next to their bed but I couldn’t be bothered going up and down stairs all night.

I promise it will improve. Xx

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Nettleskeins · 10/10/2019 22:07

jabs and worming gave our puppy a very unsettled stomach for a few days.
He may have decided that the crate is where he is meant to toilet.
This happened to me with our pup in one of the crates (kitchen one) which he unfortunately began to associate with "accidents", possibly because it was against the wall and far from where we all sat - so not really "daily living" territory from puppy's point of view ifysim.

The puppy hasn't got any association with outside yet being the right place to toilet, so he will just choose where is familiar, and smells of pee/poo.
White vinegar is your friend - you need to rinse the entire crate with white vinegar and put some in the washing machine with the bedding too.
Personally I would stop using the crate for a bit, get him settled somewhere else cosy and social (your bedroom?) at night and put lots of newspaper down until he is more comfortable in his new surroundings.

Then start again with the crate in a week when he has lost the association with toileting in it.
We used a fabric travel crate in the first two months, quite a big one, with fabric mesh and zips and he loved that. He actually disliked the wire crate. After three weeks of sleeping next to me, outside, near me and slowly moving him into the crate overnight with my hand on him to reassure when he whined, he was happy to sleep downstairs by himself, and never ever peed or pooed in his crate going 11-6 at 12 weeks.

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Nettleskeins · 10/10/2019 22:12

They will often toilet when you aren't there as well. It is hardwired to be discreet, so you have to convince them that every time they toilet (in the right place)it is the most wonderful sight you have ever seen, reward reward praise, but otherwise ignore all accidents completely, don't even clear up in front of them (I was told this by some guru) in the wrong place, as they will associate the fuss with something "good". Whereas you want only outside to be the place where something "good" happens, unless you are going to continue with puppy pads.

Fwiw, I don't think puppy pads are such a bad idea to get you through the first few weeks of familiarisation sleep deprviation, but the problem is that your puppy will see all warm white fluffy surfaces as an invitation (which is what ours did, initially coming from breeder who used pads)

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Nettleskeins · 10/10/2019 22:17

I wonder whether what is happening is that he thinks the bedding is a puppy pad and is choosing to settle in the pen instead. Have you seen where he is literally sleeping overnight? My pup used to move around a lot at that age when he wasn't confined, and chose all sorts of random places to toilet overnight but never his actual sleeping area (in this case it was the sofa and a mattress next to it when he first arrived).

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Nettleskeins · 10/10/2019 22:19

the sleeping area was the mattress and sofa.

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Cornishgirl18 · 11/10/2019 06:31

So I got up at 3am and he was still dry and clean. Didn't do poo in garden. Settled down fine. Go up this morning at 6 to find 3 poo's in his pen (left the crate door open so he could get out). If today is anything like last few days he won't do another poo now until after lunch.

Shall I give him a bigger breakfast then a small lunch (12) and even smaller dinner (4pm) to try and encourage a poo earlier.? He has plenty of exercise in the garden in the morning so that's not an issue.

I've been using a pet enzymatic cleaner but will try a white vinegar solution today and wash the floor of his pen with it.

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Egg · 11/10/2019 06:57

Our puppy is 13 weeks so a bit older. He has a puppy pad on one side of his crate and blankets on the other. I go to bed about 11 and set my alarm for 6 or earlier and some days crate is clean and dry and some days not. I’m keen for him to try to get through the night and he doesn’t cry so the pad is there in case he needs it. During the day I have to close the crate or he would choose to go in there to wee / poo! Generally he goes to the back door if he needs to go out but doesn’t “ask” to go so unless one of us spots him he will just go by the back door as he can’t hold on. I gave up having a puppy pad apart from in the crate or he’d just choose to use that and not even bother trying to go out.

For a puppy so young I would be expecting him to soil the crate, but agree it’s very annoying when it’s only for a short time and he’s just been out before you left him. Is it worth trying him with crate closed so he’s just in the pen if you leave him during the day? Mine would definitely go into the crate just to wee or poo while my back is turned if he could get in!

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