Night time toilet

[Excitedannie]

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?

I would make her final meal later and see if she can wait until morning for her poo.

It does sound a bit of anxiety though. If she was waking at 4.00 in the night in her crate she is still doing the same thing but it able to move around and so wees.

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 ) This is quite an interesting viewpoint on her behaviour.

Are you showing any kind of frustration when she does not wee or poo outside?

Thanks - interesting thought about eating later. I'll give it a while before I try that

No I never get frustrated with her not doing her toilet - she doesn't understand and I only have to look at her little spaniel face and I melt! She rules this house and has us besotted! She's just a very independent minded lady who knows what she wants - and it's not cuddles!

Hmm, personally I think you need to look at why she originally started howling in her crate at 4am and what you did to deal with that.

So, your logic is that because you removed the crate and the howling stopped, the crate must have been the problem. But all that's happened is that the howling has been replaced by toileting on the floor - so whatever caused the howling (likely anxiety or loneliness) is probably the reason behind the toileting too.

At 14 months she should be physically capable of holding it for eight hours overnight - but just as anxiety can cause humans to need the toilet more frequently, the same can happen in dogs.

My theory is that she's not actually very happy sleeping downstairs alone - she moves to the sofa because it smells of her family and is therefore comforting to her, but the toileting still happens because that alone doesn't give her enough comfort, iyswim.

So I would probably start looking at her sleeping arrangements. Can she sleep somewhere closer to you in her crate? That way if she wakes up and howls, you can take her out to the toilet and then bring her back to her crate to sleep.