Night pooping

[Blueant59]

I need some suggestions please! This is my second week with my 4month old yorkie. He does ok with potty during the day because I watch him close but at night. His last meal is at 3 pm and water at 6pm, bedtime is 10 pm. He always poops and pees before bed as well of course during the day but he ALWAYS poops in his crate every night! How can a 3lb dog have so much poop and how can I stop this, thanks!

I don't think you have to set your alarm an hour earlier, but for example if he goes to bed at 10pm try setting it for 1am, 3am, 5am so he has chance to go outside. You can reduce the frequency after a week or so if he stops messing in his crate.

Dogs should have access to water 24 hours of the day, taking water away is absolutely not something that's required to crate train.

Think about it, what you're doing is making your puppy dehydrated to try and stop it peeing when it's not convenient to you... that's the only way that would work.

Does that actually sound ok to you?

I am at the belly bands and nappies. I had a doubly incontinent dog and used them but I would never in a MILLION years put one on a healthy dog. They can cause all sorts of issues and irritation and they are for incontinent dogs not for people who can't be arsed to see house training through.

Housetraining can take months and months. It's just part of having a puppy

@Blueant59 as the others have said, the best rule of thumb is an hour per month of age for toileting. 5am is no use as an alarm. If the pup went to bed at 10, your alarm should be going off at 2am. Better to be over cautious and then lengthen the times than working backwards. Leaving him until he's absolutely desperate won't help.

Those that are saying it is wrong to take the water away are wrong. Puppies, like humans, do not need water during the night. Their bodies naturally slow down into sleep mode and if they have had access to water during the day it is recommended to take their water away an hour or so before their bedtime. Paticulary while toilet training. Those that are feeding your dogs at 930 at night at night are also wrong it is too late and they will have trouble digesting it when they are asleep - as humans do. Best to feed their last meal at least three hours before bed so they have time to digest it properly and poop before bed. It is also unrealistic to get people to get up every three hours every night for a puppy for six months so stop being so smug and cut this person some slack.

So at 4 months old he has no food between 3.00 and I'm guessing maybe 7-8.00 in the morning? That's just not fair. Read any basic puppy book/website and you'll learn puppies of that age need to feed 3-4 times a day.

And nappies on puppies wtf

A dog will not usually knowingly mess in their crate and definitely think the solution will be getting up in the night to let out so hope that works for you. How did getting up at 4am work?

Also am with the others in spreading out his food more in the day into smaller meals more often. At that age I was feeing my pup at 8am, 1pm and 6pm with some of his food allowance also fed through treats so each meal was pretty small. Mine have 24 hour access to water - it's not in my room at night (where my dogs sleep) but my dogs have been known to go downstairs at night and have a drink. My pup also woke at night sometimes just for a drink when he was tiny - yes he had to wake me up to do this but I'd prefer that than a dehydrated dog and it's very rare that they want water in the night.

My pup is now 17 weeks and he has his last meal at 6pm. We tend to be out for a walk until 8/8.30pm where he has treats and quite a bit to drink when we get back. He sleeps from about 9pm and I wake him about 11pm for a last wee etc and he sometimes has a bit more to drink then and he sleeps through now until 7.30/8am - he's a whippet so not a huge dog.

I've never used pads or anything - I basically resigned myself to waking in the night and watching like a hawk all day so that every toilet incident would be outside as consistency is key in their learning. He had a crate in my room and I'd hear him get unsettled or cry if he needed the toilet and I'd carry him downstairs and take him outside with no interaction at all - just toilet and back to crate.

A baby monitor could help you as that way you'll hear him as he gets unsettled and needs the toilet Usually a dog will never want to mess in their crate so will cry first before going to the toilet in there. That way as he's ready to sleep through longer, he will and you won't be waking up unnecessarily.

However, now he's got used to a nappy/pad etc, you might have some work first to undo this so his natural instinct to not mess in his crate kicks in again. I think just getting rid of all the pads and never let him use one again should work for this. Every toilet incident should be outside. I didn't treat for going outside as the treat can interfere with their fully emptying their bladders - they learn to look for the treat as soon as they start going. Just a good boy and I'd say the word I wanted as the cue word for going to the toilet. I treat a lot for everything else and say good boy too so that he definitely got the idea it was a good thing to go outside.