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The doghouse

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Original poster

Night time toilet

28 replies

Excitedannie · 31/07/2023 22:07

She's driving me mad!!!!! 14 month of cocker spaniel who suddenly flatly refuses to wee after about 6pm!!!! I go to bed around 9.30pm because I start work at 5am and she WILL NOT do a night time toilet. I've tried everything but she just won't go. She's currently outside starting at me through the patio doors. I've been sat out there with her and nothing. For 45 mins. This has been going on for a couple of weeks and it's driving me mad. Sometimes I come downstairs to one; sometimes not.

What do I do?

OP posts:
gogomoto · 31/07/2023 22:13

I put ddog on a lead as he can't resist lampposts

Original poster
Excitedannie · 31/07/2023 22:25

It's times like this I wish I'd got a boy 😂

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cinnamonfrenchtoast · 31/07/2023 22:28

Take her for a walk,

Tulipvase · 31/07/2023 22:28

We got into a habit of a biscuit when I say bedtime, and then we go out to do a wee, she gets a biscuit afterwards.

Mine is quite reliable and normally does 2200 to 0630 give or take. But she does sometimes do a wee. I know my toilet habits change so I don’t mind really.

YourWinter · 31/07/2023 22:30

Take her out for a walk, lots of female dogs loathe going in their own garden.

Original poster
Excitedannie · 31/07/2023 22:35

Tried taking her out for a late night wee walk - nothing!

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cinnamonfrenchtoast · 31/07/2023 22:46

I guess if she doesn't need it, you can't force it. 9.30pm is quite early for a last wee (I know you can't help that) but my dog often won't do his final wee until midnight and even then he has to be bribed half the time 😂

FastFood · 01/08/2023 10:53

Does she toilet inside at night if you don't take her out?
Sometimes my pup doesn't want to go out, fair enough, as long as he doesn't pee inside, or lets me know if he needs to go. But he just sleeps through and doesn't seem in a massive rush to pee in the morning and would happily wait for the walk at 7am.

Original poster
Excitedannie · 01/08/2023 22:12

We're here again - just staring at each other through the glass doors..... she didn't wee overnight last night but I did come down to a pop. And I've just taken her out for a quick walk but I don't live in the kind of area where I feel
Comfortable walking at night alone

Oh well - I'm going to give in - again

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cinnamonfrenchtoast · 01/08/2023 22:17

Ultimately you can't make her go.

I'm not a fan of them normally but could you use a puppy pad or something to protect your floors?

Original poster
Excitedannie · 01/08/2023 22:18

I'm hoping it's a phase as she wasnt always this bad!

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Alittlelost0 · 01/08/2023 22:27

I'm following this as my 9 month old puppy is the exact same but with poops.
He will be woken up to go out before we go.up to bed and literally go and lie down and go back to sleep in the garden! I have to chase him around to keep him up! 🤣

bingohandjob · 02/08/2023 12:41

Is she happy to go out the front of your house at night time? I only ask as our dog had a real scare one evening from a very loud car exhaust going RIGHT past him and it took us months and patience to tackle his fear of nighttime/darker evening wee trips. Has anything spooked her in the evening/night? Our dog very clear showed this with his body language - tail tucked under, shaky etc. Do empathise! You just want them to be comfortable and happy and I used to worry so much about him when he was so spooked by evening loo trips. (He now happily trots out and has a big ol' bedtime wee at both 8pm and 11pm. His bladder capacity ASTOUNDS me, he is a big boy (black lab) but bloody hell, it's like he's pulling a pint of lager sometimes).

HappiestSleeping · 02/08/2023 15:48

If you take her out for a night time walk, do you turn around and go home as soon as she's had a pee? It might be worth carrying on a few minutes after as she may well have learned that holding it in gets her a longer walk.

Original poster
Excitedannie · 13/08/2023 10:36

Ok so a little update. We've tried a late night walk - sometimes a wee, sometimes nothing. But she's now started pooing in the night. The other night, she did a late night poo so I assumed we were good as that would have been "dinner", but I came down at 6am to another BIG pile.

When she was crated overnight, there was nothing. She's too big to be crated again IMO but I'm out of ideas!

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cinnamonfrenchtoast · 13/08/2023 10:38

Why do you think she's too big to be crated?

I would just crate her overnight if it stops the accidents.

DarkForces · 13/08/2023 10:41

I train mine with a word that tells them to go to the loo. You can use whatever you like but every time they wee tell them the word and how good they are. Pretty soon they learn that when you give the instruction you want them to pee.

Original poster
Excitedannie · 13/08/2023 10:52

cinnamonfrenchtoast · 13/08/2023 10:38

Why do you think she's too big to be crated?

I would just crate her overnight if it stops the accidents.

To be honest I'm not sure. I stopped with the crate when it got warm here a few months ago but maybe you're right - something to consider.

Yes I'm trying the keyword thing at the moment - she literally looks at me with such resentment!!! She's not in the slightest bit affectionate or loving so I think it just adds to her general dislike of the world and me (or at least that's how it feels Sad)

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cinnamonfrenchtoast · 13/08/2023 10:57

Honestly, if she never toileted in the night before you got rid of the crate, I would just put the crate back.

Lots of dogs see the crate as their "safe space" - you've taken that away from her which could be why she's toileting overnight now. Many night-time toileting problems are down to anxiety rather than a genuine need to pee/poo.

fullbloom87 · 13/08/2023 11:08

My female dog is like this. I either have to take her for a walk or Sometimes just going out with her into the garden works. I think my dog is afraid of the dark and the end of the garden is very dark.

caringcarer · 13/08/2023 11:18

DarkForces · 13/08/2023 10:41

I train mine with a word that tells them to go to the loo. You can use whatever you like but every time they wee tell them the word and how good they are. Pretty soon they learn that when you give the instruction you want them to pee.

Why didn't you train you dog like this? When they are pups they pick it up really quickly. If I'm walking my dog and I say 'toilet' my dog will try to wee for me. Then I make a big fuss of her. I'd try training the dog.

Original poster
Excitedannie · 13/08/2023 12:14

I did train her in the beginning with the keyword but then didn't need it because she didn't toilet overnight. I'm starting again now

Troubke with the crate is that as she got past the early puppy stage, she would howl about 4am to be let out of it. Not to toilet, but to go and get in her other bed, hence I thought it was time to stop

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cinnamonfrenchtoast · 13/08/2023 13:53

This is starting to sound like a timing and/or location problem than anything else.

What time is her final meal of the day?
How often do you try and take her for the toilet between her final meal of the day and bedtime?
What time do you get up to take her out in the morning? Does she ever try to wake you in the night if she needs to go?
Where does she sleep at night?

DarkForces · 13/08/2023 13:54

If the dog's howling to be let out I wouldn't push the crate. If you restart with the key word she should pick it up again pretty quickly and I'd go out with a torch at last wee time too in case it's a confidence thing. Good luck

Original poster
Excitedannie · 13/08/2023 18:14

Her final meal was usually at 6 but I've bought it forward to 5 today. At the moment, the back door is open because of the time of year, but if it's not, she always rings the bells to go out and is very good at that. We do a final let out about 10pm but it's hard to get her out - we have to carry her! Then I'm up at 6am. She starts off each night in her bed and then she'll invariably end up on the sofa - I like her having the freedom to roam as she had clearly become unhappy with the crate

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