Dog toileting in the house at night

[BenWyatt]

We have had our lurcher for 4 months (he is almost 2, we got him from a shelter), and he is still going to the toilet at night inside.

Last night he did a wee and a poo before bed about 10:30pm and by 6am he’d gone again inside.

We’ll have a few nights where we feel we’ve cracked it but then it happens again several nights in a row. We’ve sectioned off a small area for sleeping (open plan house), during which time he’ll cry if he needs to go out. But as soon as we expand the space he is back to toileting inside.

We have another dog who is absolutely spot on toilet trained but we had him from a puppy. We’ve followed all the advice with our lurcher, and worked from scratch taking him out regularly etc etc and during the day he seems to basically have it.

We’re really getting to the end of our tether, is there any thing else out of the ordinary we can try? What are we missing? We are really not looking forward to waking up to this every morning for the next 10+ years!!

[BenWyatt]

He’s just pooped again at 7:30am after 6am breakfast.... is it normal for lurchers to need to poo so often?

[fedupandlookingforchange]

Try a really massive crate for him at night then at least the mess is contained. That what I did for my elderly whippet.

[Snufflesdog]

What are you feeding him? Have you tried different food?
Has he had a vet check?
Maybe he just can’t always hold it that long?
When we got our puppy we were told to crate and not make the crate too big as that would create an ‘en suite’
Perhaps that’s what’s happening when he gets a bigger space?
If he sleeps in a smaller penned off area happily and doesn’t have an accident, do you need to make the space bigger if that seems to be the problem?

Also are you using an enzyme cleaner in the spots he’s been? Is he always going in the same place?

Does he cry and try to tell you he needs to go and you can’t hear him?

[adaline]

Some dogs just need to be crated or kept in a small space to avoid accidents.

Is there any reason why you can't keep him in the small space where you say he doesn't toilet?

[adaline]

My dog normally poos around 90 minutes after he's had a meal - plus first thing in the morning. I think that's relatively normal.

[Mummaofmytribe]

I think it could be a lengthy process when you're not starting with a puppy, but I think crate training is the answer. Big enough for him to stand, lay down, turn around, but no bigger. He needs to sleep in a spot with no spare room to foul, so he has to use his voice when he needs to toilet because otherwise it's in his bed. Cover the top, back and sides with something breathable so he really feels secure and also he won't try to pee out the sides..This is from experien e with an adult rescue Dalmatian years ago. It was the only thing that worked

[BenWyatt]

He eats Arden Grange (what he was on at the shelter) we tried him on the food our other dog used to eat for a bit but he did absolutely massive farts all day so we switched them both back. Admittedly we haven’t tried anything else.

The ‘crate’ area is in an awkward place for us, due to various factors, but the best place for the dog. So we’d ideally like to ditch the crate but we could keep it up for about 5 months now.

We have been using Tesco’s pet odour cleaner thing, plus dettol - perhaps there is something better we can use?

We don’t think he is crying at all. When he is crated we can hear him. Our other dog taps on the back door if he needs to go out in the night and that wakes us. There is just 1 door between our bedroom and the rest of the house, which we have been leaving open so I think we would hear him - although we are going to get some baby monitors to see if we can rule that out.

[TheyAllFloat]

A few suggestions:

• definately look at what you're feeding him because the volume of poo seems a bit high and can suggest the wrong food or too much food (if you reduce it by 20% does he lose weight?)

• set up a camera to try and find out what time he's going overnight. If it's a regular time then you could try setting an alarm for about 1 hr beforehand and getting up to let him out. Then, over a period of time creeping the alarm back to a more civilised time in the morning.

• a doggy doorbell that he can ring if he needs to go out (e.g. www.amazon.co.uk/Tebrun-Wireless-Doorbell-Communication-Super-Light/dp/B07P5M4CKQ/ref=asc_df_B07P5M4CKQ/?hvlocphy=1006745&linkCode=df0&psc=1%29&hvnetw=g&hvadid=309874391962&hvpos=1o2&hvdev=c&hvtargid=pla-666207339346&hvrand=15805949239489742007&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[BenWyatt]

Thanks @TheyAllFloat

We have upped his food since he came to us as he was losing weight. It might be that we can try reverting back to original portions. Can you advise what food might be good to try? There are so many options I feel a bit lost to be honest. We wondered about raw feeding but I'm not sure about it at all?

The baby monitor we have ordered has a camera so we will be checking the video for sure!

We have a doggy doorbell which he does sometimes use during the day. Actually I encourage them to go out regularly anyway so he doesn't often have to ask - should I avoid doing this during the day, to help him get into the habit of asking?

[TheyAllFloat]

allaboutdogfood.co.uk is a great site for good food recommendations but some of the higher ranking ones include:

• Orijen
• Eden
• Forthglade
• Lilys Kitchen
• Aatu
• Akela
• Barking Heads
• Canagan
• Carnilove
• Millie's Wolfheart
• Wolfworthy

Take your pick

Whilst many people feed raw and swear by it, I am not sure I would choose to make that change right now unless raw feeding was something you were otherwise keen to do. Only because it's even more change to have to consider.

If you don't want to reduce food amounts, can you weight it so he gets more in the morning? Perhaps in two breakfasts? That would make sure he wasn't digesting so much overnight? An option, maybe.

I think I might reduce the times I let him out during the day that had not been triggered by the doorbell, yes. Just to help encourage the link between needing to go, ringing the bell, and going into the garden.

[Keepsmiling1]

We are having the same problem with our pup. He is 6.5 months old and was lasting all night but the last week has been pooing at night. He always goes in the bathroom so I have started putting a puppy pad down and he goes on that. He doesn't sleep in a crate - either next to us in his bed or downstairs so we can't confine him. No advice but just so you know you aren't alone!

[BenWyatt]

Thanks everyone!

@Keepsmiling1 when our older dog was a puppy he pood inside literally once, the first day we got him home because he couldn’t figure out how to get out of the back door. We got very lucky with him!