I am at my wits' end. My 4 months old (17 weeks) Miniature Schnauzer has started to soil his crate. We have him from 11 weeks and he is still housetraining. While very full on during the day, we were counting our lucky stars as he took to his crate straight away and was dry during the night, going through from about 10.30pm to 6am when I was taking him in the garden.
About 2 weeks ago I woke up to find poo in his crate. This continued on and off every night. I put a partition in his crate so he only has space for his bed. I went to him at 5am this morning and he had soiled his crate again, and was lying in it. It was all over his bed and his fur. No loose stool but obviously squished ( sorry, TMI). I gave him a shower which he hates.
Generally, everything is a struggle with him. I love him but I don't enjoy him at the moment as nothing is easy: washing, brushing, house training. He wriggles a lot and he started growling and nipping my hands whenever I have to do something he doesn't like (taking him out of the car, in the garden sometimes, wiping his paws when we come from a walk, etc. ) He is walked twice a day, I socialize him, he is not neglected but things like grooming him are non negotiable and they are a source of stress for both of us. Now this soiling issue, I can't help thinking we bought a perfect puppy and turned him into a stressed one. The thought of waking up at 3am to take a sleepy pup out of his crate is filling me with despair because as I said he gets very nippy and growly. He is a very deep sleeper and I'm wondering if this is part of the problem? Help!