Dog keeps going to the toilet inside at night time

[Aismixx]

My dog keeps going to the toilet inside at night time. We have set up cameras to try and catch him.. but he is so accustomed to doing this by the time we get to him the deed is done.

I am heavily pregnant but we are pretty sure this isn't the cause. His behaviour hasn't changed at all and am pretty fed up at people putting blame onto me as the issue.

We THINK he developed the habit when the weather was bad/cold. We resolved the issue and it started all over again when the snow came back.

He won't go outside to go potty at night time. He is walked twice a day and walking him a third time immediately before bed seems to be the only thing that prevents him going in the house at night. With the baby coming soon we can't continue to do this.. I'm struggling stairs never mind waking a large dog.

He has been to the vet many times for this and he is in perfect health, is wormed, vaccinated, glands done. All the usual suspects. Seems to be just out of pure habit at this point. Have tried blocking of the area he poops on, crating, back to basics potty training etc.

Baby arriving soon and we don't know what else to do if anyone has any suggestions.

He needs a walk before bed, just whizz him around the block, doesn't need to for miles. What breed is he ?

How old is he and what breed is he? Two short walks a day don't sound very much, though I suppose they would be adequate for some smaller and/or older dogs.

I think the only option is to take him for a final walk before bed. If you can't do it, then your partner should step up. It's just one of those things that come with the territory of dog ownership.

Whether he is or isn't being walked enough during the day feels like a totally separate matter to me (and it may well be sufficient anyway).

The point is that he can only go so
long without relieving himself. You could walk a dog non stop from 9am to 5pm but it wouldn't then be able to hold needing to toilet until the 7pm next morning because that's 14 hours.

There will be a reason why he won't use the garden in the evening which you may be able to work out using some detective work. He may have been spooked in the dark previously and now associate it with fear.

It could also be the timing in that at the time you put him into the garden e.g. at 10pm he hasn't yet reached the stage of really needing to toilet so he doesn't go in the garden. But, although he's not sufficiently desperate at 10pm he becomes desperate some hours later and goes in the house.

This is different to when he toilets in the garden during the day because he will only ask to go out when he is really desperate- hence he toilets in the garden at that point.

However, an actual walk at 10pm will encourage him much more strongly to toilet than just being on the garden because sniffing encourages them to wee and movement encourages them to poo. I hope that makes sense.

Partner does a late walk. Problem solved.

Some dogs just don’t like peeing/pooing out in the garden, quickly. Some like a walk.
Is your partner able to take him?

I still walked mine when I was pregnant and shortly afterwards, it’s good to move. Throw baby in a pram and off you go.

*Not literally throw!

He/she needs walking!

Have you tried teaching a cue word for elimination? You'll need a word for pee and a word for poo. As soon as you see signs of impending activity, use the cue word, and reward after with lots of praise.

This will need doing during the day for the moment. This takes time, but eventually the dog will perform on cue (ish - bowels aren't a switch that can be turned on immediately).

You also need to work on getting the dog into the garden when it suits you. Maybe start feeding outside moving towards the time when the dog doesn't normally want to go outside?

It sounds like there are some associations that need to be broken with better behaviours taught and rewarded.