At wits end with dog pooping multiple times a night. Please help

[Autther]

For the last month or so our 1 year old cockapoo has been pooing multiple times in the night. Sometimes she wakes us by barking or shaking when she gets out of her bed (in our room) then I have to go and stand in the freezing kitchen by the back door, but sometimes we don't wake up so she poos in the house. Usually three times and then she seems to poo again in the morning when we're up, at the usual time she would go out to the toilet.

They are normal poos, not loose. No idea how she is producing so much shit as she is a small dog.

She is not pooping at all during the day.

Tried so far-
Changing her meal times. She used to have breakfast and then dinner between 5-6pm, we've moved her second meal to a small meal at 2 or 3pm but no change.

A worming tablet

Yesterday I got some digestive food from the vet that has worked for her in the past when she had a poorly tummy. We will see how this goes.

Evening walks.

All with no change.

I don't believe she is ill, it is like her digestive cycle is back to front and not sure how to fix this. She no longer poos during her walks or anytime in the day really.

She is walked for an hour everyday.

We are tired. It's like having a puppy again. Last night I was cleaning shit in the house at midnight, half asleep, couldn't find poo bags, kitchen roll all out. Bloody fed up

If its been since she was dogsat it is maybe that, her poop signals were ignored and obviously withholding. Is she a chewer? Could you put dog pads down so she can go on them

My 12 y/o collie x has been going through this so I feel your pain (prob different reasons as she's aging/got TA and probably early stage dementia, but the net result is the same).

The only thing that has worked is ensuring she is walked at 7ish, a little ball chasing/off lead for about 15 mins to get her blood pumping, but then then back on the lead so she's not distracted and recognises her poo signals. Home and fed immediately afterwards, walked again at 5pm on lead only so she'll poo then, and fed once home. Then a 10:30 on lead walk for her final poo.

It's taken about a month to get her system back into a daytime routine and it's a bit of a drag going out at night but it means I'll (mostly) get a full night's sleep knowing she's 'empty'!

Thank you, DH is going to walk her this evening. He doesn't mind as he stops by the pub

I’d switch her to raw food. Raw fed dogs notoriously only poo very small poos, usually just once a day. Try chicken as she’s used to that. You need one that says ‘complete’ on it.

It will also help her diet to switch to that as at the moment on cooked chicken she’s not getting everything she needs (ground bone for example) but will be getting everything in a complete raw.

Thanks, I note there are subscription services for raw food diets, are they worth it?

Our spaniel turned out to be allergic to fish!

If you’ve got the freezer space and you don’t have anywhere local to buy it from then it can be. But at the stage you’re at right now I’d just get one or two tubs. Something like Natural Instinct or Naturaw, but there must be a hundred good brands.

How many times a day are you taking her out on walks? Your description sounds like once (long) and sometimes twice?

Ours doesn’t like going to the toilet in the garden, so we take them on multiple walks a day.

Morning, lunch, late afternoon and before bed.

If we deviate from this, they have accidents.

We feed our spaniel his big meal in the morning (6-7am). He has a smaller meal at 11am and then a bonio before bed to stop the wretching. This seems to mean his poos come during the day.

I imagine it's a habit she's got in to for whatever reason - probably something to do with your MIL!! I would make a massive fuss of the dog when she manages a poo not in the house in the meantime and definitely change her mealtimes to see if it helps.

Most days one long but second walks several days a week. She has no issues with shitting in the garden, at the moment she only poos in the garden never out on a walk

I would imagine it's a reaction to her diet. Chicken as the main ingredient of the diet won't give her the vitamins, minerals, fibre, etc. that she needs. It's also quite common for dogs to be allergic to chicken and also for them to begin reacting to certain foods at about one year of age. I'd definitely change to a good quality dog food without any chicken.

Exercise may be an issue as well. One hour-long walk may not be enough for her. Brain games and mental stimulation are important, but for many dogs they can't replace physical activity.

Potentially a stupid question but would a dog intolerant to chicken also react to turkey? I am reluctant to make a massive change to red meat as it took us a long time to settle on a food that didn't give her diarrhea as a puppy

My dog is sensitive to chicken but can eat turkey with no issues. He can also eat salmon and other types of fish. Of course, it depends on the individual dog, so it may involve some trial and error.