12 year old lab 💩at night

[AgeingLabMum]

My lovely lovely labrador is getting old but doing well in general.

However the past few weeks most mornings when I come downstairs I am greeted by 💩

We have reduced portion sizes as he exercises less these days and we have brought his tea forward by 2 hours.

Do I need to accept that this is the new normal? Or is there anything else I can do?

Thank you

We have the same. As does a friend with her lab. I think it is just an age thing. Ours refuses to go out and do his business in the dark so we are taking him out down the street for pre-bedtime emptying, which helps. And if we are religious about walking then we don't tend to have accidents. But what is noticeable is that both labs are increasingly riddled with arthitis which I think is impacting their ability to intentionally crouch so am not sure if it is partially down to just not being to empty fully.

@Thingamebobwotsit thank you for replying. I’m sorry your DDogs have similar issues.

I’ve been reluctant to start a pre-bedtime walk as we’ve never done this, but I will think about it.

In a dog that age, I think it is just one of those things you have to accept. You could ensure his diet results in solid poos which are easy to pick up. And give him breakfast, half lunch and half dinner. And ensure he’s sleeping in a room with hard flooring so your carpets don’t start to smell.

I think the weather doesn’t help as mine are certainly very reluctant to go out in it.

A last walk would probably help. It needn’t need to be too long but if it works might be preferable than cleaning up in the morning

Is he on any pain medicine? As @Thingamebobwotsitsaid, a lot of labs (and most older dogs) suffer with arthritis…
just a quick vet visit might help x

It is pretty common. Our old lab cross had something that I think was called degenerative myelopathy which affects the nerves in the rear end so she couldn’t feel when she needed to go.

It started off with her pooing at night but then she would randomly poo in the day, sometimes whilst just standing up. I dealt with it for quite some time as it was always solid but then her rear end started to fail altogether 😔

Yes he is on daily Metacam and had his annual check up a few weeks ago. The pooing has started since then.

we have a 14 year old retriever who’s doing well but we’ve noticed the same. I think because she doesn’t have as much exercise now her digestion has slowed. She has 2 meals a day, & 2 walks but we’ve also started taking her a short walk instead of just letting her out for a wee & quite often she’ll poo. At night we get up 3 hourly to let her out. But she also has some pants which are very good at containing wee & poo accidents. I’ve tried to copy & paste link.
https://amzn.eu/d/6uSzMfY

Thank you so much for replying.

My old Labrador had this problem for his last few years. I fpthen fed him his main meal in the morning, then the remaining third in the evening. His quality of life was very good until the end of his life at nearly 16. I don't think they know they are doing it as it didn't distress him. Vet said the removal of his spleen and a huge tumour (3.5kg), a couple of years before, had exacerbated any reduction in control caused by aging. It's not pleasant for us but I wasn't having him PTS for a matter of my convenience, though others may reach a different decision.