To adjust feeding schedule to help with night time toiletting?

[TheWayToDFS]

After 3 months DDog (adult) has settled in very well and is enjoying life but there's still some toileting in the house most nights. We get up to him if we hear him whine and let him out but usually its too late.

He's fed at 6am 12noon and 4pm - kibble and canned food. Wondering if it's worth adjusting the timing or content of his food to help reduce the night time toiletting. How does it work with your Ddogs?

I split my older dog's food so he had two thirds about 6a.m, then the remainder about 5.30. I took him round the block about 7.30/8.00 for a final emptying.

Thats really helpful muddyford

My 4 month old puppy's last meal is at 5pm and he doesn't toilet overnight.

It may be relevant that we let him into the garden at 9pm for a last opportunity to toilet. Also he is crated overnight and dogs apparently don't like to toilet in their crate.

The timing & content of your dog's food will not be the problem. He needs access to somewhere to toilet before bedtime. If he is being given this, I would seek advice from his vet (in case a physical problem) or a dog behaviourist.

Mine get fed at roughly 8am and 8pm, a mix of wet and dry.

This is not a criticism, and probably not relevant, I’m just kind of thinking at you 😂 but…why does he need lunch, but then is going 14 hrs between dinner and breakfast? Why 4pm? It seems awfy early. Unless you’re going to bed at like 7, I’d definitely space his food out more, but it may or may not make a difference.

But your most likely issues are going to be one of…

he’s not fully housetrained - was he housetrained when you got him? What’s he like through the day? Are you cleaning it with something that’ll remove the scent properly? (Not for you, for him)

His overnight is too long for him - what time is his last walk and last chance to go to the toilet? Does he maybe need an evening stroll? (Some dogs do) is there a particular time he’s going through the night?

Stress - is he ok by himself through the day? It’s real common for rehomed dogs to get a bit of separation anxiety for a while.

Something is waking him up and then he needs the toilet - which is where the feeding timing might come in, he could be waking up hungry, or there’s a noise from outside or he’s cold… something like that.

Type of food/ medical issue - is it normal amounts/ consistency? Or loose? (Though stress can also cause loose stools)

Sorry, that’s just a load of questions mostly 🤣 but it’s just that why he’s doing it is going to be how you know what ti do about it.

tabulahrasa your detailed response is appreciated.

To answer:

• the rescue advised to give lunch as he was a little underweight
• has last meal at 4pm as we go to bed at 9pm
• wasn't at all housetrained when he came and had lived in outside kennel
• during the day there's sometimes some peeing- one or two incidents, sometimes none. Clean up (washable flooring) with diluted bio laundry liquid followed by Simple Solution Stain and Odour Remover
• he's sometimes left for a couple of hours and there is some separation anxiety
• he settles well at night but accept something is waking him up. We don't live in a noisy area but obviously there will be sounds. Not an overly cold house and had presumed as he'd previoudly lived in outside kennel it would be warm enough
• normal amounts of poo I'd say, sometimes loose
• he has the opportunity to toilet regularly throughout the day and in the lead up to 9pm is taken into the garden every half hour or so. We could try taking him out for an evening walk.

Any further thoughts and guidance would be welcome

Does he actually go if he’s just in the garden? I ask because I’ve got one atm that just sniffs and wanders round the garden and doesn’t wee or poo, she has to have a brisk walk.
Also is he eating anything in the garden as mine also does this if she gets a chance and then poos in the house overnight.
You could always crate him overnight it may stop him but it will definitely contain any mess.

I’m not a trainer or anything - I know there are some posting on here, so you might get a better answer at some point

But to me it sounds a bit like he’s not quite housetrained yet and you’re kind of in that in between bit where he sort of knows he’s supposed to go outside but hasn’t worked out how to hold until it’s time to go out again. He’ll get there if you’re rewarding him for going outside and being really consistent with getting him out, but they do sometimes get a bit stuck in that stage for a bit.

If it was me I’d move his last meal to a couple of hours before bed, it might not help, but it shouldn’t hurt and potentially gives you longer at night before he’s bursting.

I’d make sure he’s definitely toileting before bed, even if it meant a wee walk round the block to get everything moving.

Then I’d think about managing night time a bit different, if he’s crate trained I’d stick one next to my bed so him waking up wakes me up, or if you know what time he’s going to the toilet set an alarm for just before it so he’s not getting the chance to have an accident - either of those would be temporary, you can gradually phase them out later on.

As a wild card - I can lend you one of my dogs 😂 both my current ones were living outside before I had them, the older one basically housetrained himself, two accidents and that was him, the younger one took about a week to get that outside was preferred but was still unreliable for quite a while after that…the older one started telling him off 🙈😐😂 not recommending it as a method - but it made me much more on the ball (even though I thought I had been) so did kind of help. Because we were still working through them getting to live with each other it was more, need to make sure there’s no accidents so they don’t have issues 😂

WittyJadeStork he does actually go in the garden. Not aware he's eating anything he shouldn't. I won't be crating him as don't see that as necessary at the moment

tabulahrasa I've taken note of all your comments which are reassuring.

Would you mind explaining that this comment, please:
If it was me I’d move his last meal to a couple of hours before bed, it might not help, but it shouldn’t hurt and potentially gives you longer at night before he’s bursting.

I was imaging feeding him early 4pm gave him time to toilet that. But you say feed later. Wouldn't that make him more likely to need to toilet in the night?

They tend to need the toilet a certain amount of time after eating, so for eg. You’re currently feeding him at 4 and he needs at say 2am, if you move it to 7 it might also move him needing to 5am.

it might not, it might just be that’s the longest he can hold for and it’s to do with bedtime and not feeding time - but I’d definitely give it a try if it was me.

I would feed later.

He goes a long time without food overnight.

He may be waking up hungry, then as he is awake wees poo. Or he poos 12 hours after he has eaten which is 4.0 in the morning.

Feed him later walk before bed then poo will wake him later and not wake up hungry.

Mine has her last meal at 9pm as she has a tendency to vomit in the night otherwise. (I don't really understand why it helps, but the vet said it would, and she was right.)

Probably not v helpful, but it's one more data point for you!

I sort of know why - I’ve fostered one and owned one that did that, basically if some dogs get too hungry the stomach acid irritates the stomach.

i don’t know why why because it seems like a design flaw to me 😂

Many thanks to tabulahrasa and others who have helped me comprehend why my early feeding is not helping. The collective support is much appreciated