What time does DDog eat and poop?

[HangingOver]

Wise Dog house.

I have absolutely had it with my dogs night time poop walks. DDog currently eats at 8am and 5pm. He has an early morning walk, a big one in the afternoon then a very short poop walk at night. He refuses to toilet in the garden.

The nighttime walks are AWFUL. We used to walk around the block but when it's dark he is really reactive to other dogs and now it's warmer there are cats everywhere which turns him into a whirling screaming kangaroo. Also he'd get so worked up he's often forget to poop anyway.

So I started driving him to more secluded places where we wouldn't see other people e.g walking round empty sport fields, but the problem with that is there are mice and rats in the grass so he's lunging and plunging and wailing in all directions and I've come perilously close to going a over t trying to hang onto him when the grass is wet or the ground is uneven.

Basically there is no such thing as a quiet sniffy walk when it's dark. It's always, always mental.

SO I'd be very interested to hear from anyone whose managed to get their dog to go for the last time around 6pm and what your feeding schedule is. He's on a combination of GI and HA food.

Thank you thank you, picture of the loon for tax.

Oh he’s beautiful, just as well for what he puts you through! Our dog is walked at 8.30 and 2.30, fed approx 9.30 and 3.30. Poos on both walks and that’s usually it. He will poo in the garden if he needs though, tends to be if we walk a bit later at weekend for example. He’s never had a bedtime walk and just goes in the garden for a wee before bed. I’ve no idea if that’s of any use to know but there you go.

What would happen if you just didn’t do the last walk? Like what happens when he’s gotten worked up and forgets to poo?

He is adorable. Looks very innocent.
Our 2 are fed 3 times a day ( supper introduced on vet advice)
They poo whenever but usually just a wee at bedtime in the garden. They will poo on walks too but that’s morning/ early evening.

What surfaces are in your garden? There are stones at the side of our shed our youngest dog likes to go there. Garden is wrap around so mainly flagged in the area they use ( easy to clean) and lawn is through a gate.
Could you try a different surface or have you tried the lead?

My girl goes out for a garden wee betweeen 8-9am, we walk about 10am for 1-2 hrs, normally poops during this and she eats first meal when we get back, has got fussier with age. Generally another walk after 4pm, may do another poop, dinner between 6-7, garden wees at bedtime11ish and 2 biscuits before bed. Sleeps all night on our bed.
She does prefer not to poop in the garden.

So if he doesnt go on his walk or I don't take him out he gets progressively more noisy and horrible. I did try for a long time to work the "if he's out there long enough he'll go eventually" theory in the garden but it's never been concluded due to the unholy amount of noise he makes while he's panicking about needing to poop. If he's on a lead in the garden he's a bit less noisy but will start ragging the lead within 5 mins so it's pointless. It might be back when he was new he had giardia and was popping his guts out out there so perhaps some sort of residual poop trauma.

Perhaps also it's that he enjoys his nighttime walk tremendously it's me who's fearing for her life lol

Out of interest what was the vets reasoning behind three meals a day?

When my mother had dogs there wasnt much problems. But some dogs are more relaxed than others. I guess time tells. Maybe the dog needs extra training. Its a guess.

Maybe the dog needs extra training

Eureka.

Was your mums dog a rescue by any chance? Or from puppies? And if a rescue how significant were their behavioural issues when she got them?

Because I’m 99.9% sure this one is, and frankly the sheer amount of time and dedication OP has put into Pod (I think it’s Pod due to the glorious ears) is commendable. Most people wouldn’t have put in half the amount of time. You might not have realised that, but a blanket ‘train more’ in situations as OP describes is not helpful in any circumstance (and particularly not without any actual suggestions to back it up). Some dogs do have funny quirks and no amount of training will ever help - it can be managed at best.

OP - if your boy is who I think it is. Just give him more time. You might never get to a position where it’s easy (but where’s the fun in that) but he’s also been through a lot. If he’s not Pod then ignore me 😂

I feed mine at 16:00 now and last walk at 17:00. When my youngest was very young we used it as a training walk - so eyes on me, lots of being told to wait or sit or down etc. Is there a particularly high value treat he will take every time? Might be worth trying it with a bit of basic training to get him focused? How old is he now?

If that won’t work then I have no advice - it’s not something I tend to see in my breed (I take mine intelligent but biddable and too lazy to give me a headache because I am lazy), so one to wait on and see if someone with more breed specific advice can help!

I give our DDog one meal larger than the other. It’s taken a while to work out that this keeps her at the perfect weight for her.

We used to give her the larger meal at teatime but recently swapped it to breakfast time because she was wanting to poop more in the evening.

Would that be worth a try?

@HangingOver in answer to your supper question vet advice
We have Cockers and one was frequently being sick in the early hours ( bile) and she said he couldn’t go from tea time till morning without food and that’s what was causing it. Worked a treat and they love supper.

You da best Landsharks ❤️

Tonight he's eaten later and had a very good walk in the afternoon so I'm attempting to give him a couple of garden breaks before bed (he will sometimes wee in the garden if he thinks I'm not looking) but not a scary hazardous death walk. Will report back. He may sleep, or I may be up in a standoff til 4am. Genuinely don't know which at this stage.

That is a brilliant idea! Why did I think of that??

I don't think there is any magic formula for feeding v pooping as every dog is different. My two labs eat at the same time (also 3 meals a day) and eat the same food but have totally different poo schedules.

My dog won't poo in the garden either as he is too fastidious, not even the time he had the runs and he made me get up and walk him half a mile in my pyjamas multiple times throughout the night. Anyway, he gets fed at 7ish and 5:30, and taken out for his last poo at maybe 7:30 when the kids are in bed. But if I took him earlier, he probably would poo. What happens OP if you just take him earlier? Or could you try just shifting it gradually slightly earlier till he gets used to it?

Midnight.... Standoff continues.

Actually I know I sound like a drip but I have a connective tissue disorder characterised by bone fragility and dislocations and after the last two nights poop walks both nearly ending in my face being rearranged I have decided it really is only a matter of time until I seriously hurt myself and then I won't be able to walk him at all.

Maybe I literally keep giving him his dinner half an hour later each day until he no longer needs to go before bed.

I completely forgot to feed him dinner once and he didn't eat till about 9.30 and he didn't go out that time. 12 hours feels a long time to go without a meal though.

We get around the bile problem by giving her a cube of dried fish around 9.

Standoff ended with Pod very reluctantly pooping in the garden at 2am. I'm not sure who won but we're both tired.