Pooping at night...

[Bobbi123]

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I have a golden retriever pup, nearly 7 months old.. we've been toilet training since we had her at 2.5 months and she's been amazing for at least 3 months. We crate trained her to start, as we read it was helpful with chewing and toilet training. But now we want to trust her more to be out. Starting with nighttime. We've had her out on/off for about 2 weeks now. The first couple of nights she was absolutely golden!! She was a dream, slept under the bed or on hers and no accidents. But she had an upset stomach from something she ate in the garden, and had a couple of accidents. We decided to put her back in her crate till she was better. But we had no accidents in the crate (and we never have) so we let her out again and she was good for a few more nights but now she's pooing again in the night. We don't want to put her back in the crate cause we think this is confusing her. So how do we deal with this?

She happily goes to the door to go outside during the day to go to the toilet and we have started treating her again when she does poo outside. But is there any other way we can stop her pooing in the house during the night?

Any advice would be appreciated

 

[gypsysmum2]

You are doing all the right things. Rewarding the correct behaviour outside is top of the list. Do make sure the treat arrives instantly. Any delay and she may think she got if for coming towards you.

Tummies can take a while to settle after an upset and the need to toilet, even though not diarrhoea, can be urgent.

Is she empty when you go to bed? Some dogs feel vulnerable when toileting and will avoid doing it in the scary, dark, garden. Sometimes a short walk can solve this.

Dogs will not foul where they sleep. This is why crates are so effective. Can you find a small area for her to sleep in where she would not want to poop because she would have to lie in it?

If you don't mind having her in your bedroom could she sleep there for a short while so that you wake up when she needs to go out? Perhaps in her crate with the door open? Then you can wean her back to your chosen place when she can manage through the night again.

 

[Bobbi123]

We are trying, but she seems to go to the toilet and walk away from us (she likes to walk in the bushes) so we are saying 'good girl' in a happy voice but she doesn't seem to want the treat /:

We take her out a few times before bed cause sometimes she can be a little jumpy in the dark. But she doesn't always go for a poo and I think that's when we have accidents...

In saying that, we kept her in our room last night and she whined at 3 this morning, I thought she wanted to go out so got up, opened the door and she went Straight in the spare room and lay on the bed. So I pinned our door back and went to bed and she woke me up whining next to me at 7.40, so I took her out in the garden and she went for a wee and poo. I praised her big time but she walked away from the treat..

So I'm just a little confused as to how she is thinking... if she knows to tell me at night, why doesn't she?

 

[gypsysmum2]

She did tell you last night didn't she? Well it was early this morning! This would point to her wanting to go outside but, for some reason not making herself clear.

What a shame she refuses the treat. Keep trying different kinds to see if you can find one that tempts her

You could try making a big fuss about opening the door, each time, so that she gets really wound up about it. Then, during the night, when she wants the door opened she might copy that behaviour and make a big fuss at the door or go to you to get you to open it.

Some dogs just look at the door and we open it for them. This is not good in the middle of the night!