Hi I'm new to the forum. I have had a gorgeous black Lab puppy called Finn since he was 8 weeks. He's doing well with most of his training - walking to heel, sit, stay, etc. He has been dry and clean in the daytime for weeks now and he never pees in the house at all but every morning I have a poop to clean up. He sleeps in his crate with the door open, because otherwise he cries for a long time and he doesn't do any other damage. Should I be concerned that he's still not clean at night? I take him out at 11pm and at 6am and he often goes both those times. He recently slept in my room when I stayed over at a friend's and woke me up to poop at 12.30. I suppose one answer would be to let him sleep in my room but I think if I start that it will be hard to go back to the kitchen. Any suggestions please?
Why not set an alarm to get up and take him out in the night? That's quite a common way to do it. Not to alarm (heh) you, but my latest couldn't go through the night until she was well over a year old, regardless of when her last food was. My other two went overnight from about the same age as Finn is now. They are all different so it's not "a problem", it's just down to different speeds of development. I wouldn't want him to be getting into the habit of pooing in the house overnight, though, which is why I suggest you get up and take him out on a schedule. In most cases (not Luna's!), you can put your alarm back by fifteen minutes each night until you can completely skip it. When you do this, it means only a few nights of disturbed sleep as the alarm is moved on each night.
Thank you for your response. I'm feeding Finn at 7am, 12.30 and 6.30pm. I think you're right. I'll just have to get up in the night for a while and see how it goes. This forum is brilliant. I live on my own and we meet lots of other dogs and people and go to obedience class for socialization but mostly it's just the two of us so your friendly advice is most welcome! Thank you!
So last night I got up at 1am and Finn went straight out and pooped and back to bed. Great! But tthen there were 2 more poops on the floor when I got up at 6am. I guess he just can't last very long. He knows what he's meant to do and he tries. I have never been cross with him about it. Hopefully it will improve as he matures. Unless anyone has any more ideas?
Sounds like his poops may be rather soft? Try giving slightly less for his meals. You could also try pro-fibre, this helps to firm up the poos. Giving the last feed at 8pm can also work well, but only with firm poos - just like us, they can’t keep soft poos in. Yes, it does get much better as they get older. Their tums settle and they sleep longer. .
That's good advice. His poos are soft and I know I'm feeding him more than recommended. He's always hungry (I know., he's a Lab!) and my vet said it's hard to make a puppy fat so I thought it wouldn't matter. I'll try reducing his food first and if that doesnt work I'll look into pro-fibre. Many thanks. I love this site. All our training is based on what I learned here and its going very well. Finn is really very good. I bought The Labrador Handbook before I got him. I had a much loved black Lab called Jack 30 years ago. I haven't had a dog since for various reasons - work, living in London. Now I'm back in the countryside by the sea and loving having my favourite dog again. I often find myself accidently calling him Jack, after all these years.
I decided that Finn's poops really were quite a lot softer than they should be. We walk on the beach every day (off lead) and its hard to stop him eating everything from dead crabs to seaweed. So I took him to the vet and he's now on an antibiotic, and something called Logic Firm and a chicken and rice diet for a few days. He has gone from about 10 poops per day to 3 or 4 and life is much easier. He is not really ill, no raised temperature, not dehydrated, still full of bounce - but obviously something wasn't right with his tummy. I'm hoping fixing that will sort out the night poos too.
I have a 18 week pup. We put her to bed at 10. We get her up at 6. I set the alarm for 2:00 AM to take her out. I am not sure how long I am going to do this.
If she is clean and dry in between times, why not try moving the night time break to 2.30. Then 3.00 then 3.30. Slowly extend it. Maybe even by 15 mins each night. They are all different. Some slower some faster. They sometimes need a step back. It seems to take forever at the time, but is just a blink of the eye
I dont know when he 'goes' in the night. If I set an alarm I need to wake him up he looks at me like I'm crazy, dragging him out of bed and outside in the dark. He lies around on the grass until I allow him to go back to bed. I have tried 12.30, 2am, 4am, 5am. Last night I let him sleep in my room. He loved that! I made him go out at 4 but he did nothing. We went back to bed and he stayed clean. I think if he's next to my bed I'll hear him if he wants to go out. At the moment he is still on antibiotic and Logic Firm and pooping much less often so not a problem. I have noticed he is drinking much less now too. He was drinking a lot! I think the poor boy has had tummy troubles for a while and I didn't realise. He is still on his chicken and rice diet but I think I may have to look at changing his kibble if it gets bad again. He has Purina Optistart as recommended by his breeder.
A quick update - Finn has been clean at night now for a week! He is sleeping in my bedroom and wakes me when he needs to go out. It's a quick trip outside and straight back to bed. We were down to once a night, usually about 5 am but he had a bit of tummy trouble again this week. He's better today and I'm confident we will get there soon. He is such a lovely friend I feel very lucky. Many thanks for your advice.
He's gorgeous, good luck with him, but it really does sound as though his food doesn't suit him. Going 10 times a day is not ok. There are so many different feeding options on the market and it is not one size fits all.
I don't think his kibble is the problem. It's the rubbish he eats when I take him out. He finds everything from seaweed to dead crabs on the beach.
oh yes, that would do it. Our last Lab was a monster for eating shellfish in their entirety, as well as dead fish.
We had a similar thing with our puppy, set her night training back something! 16 weeks still waking in the night I've been promised she'll sleep eventually!
You know, I'm relatively relaxed about them. Admittedly Lilly has the digestive hardiness of a waste disposal system. I regard these as a "whole prey diet" opportunity. Just close my eyes to the rotten bits. It's the cooked chicken carcasses and kebabs and discarded human food that really get my goat.
Yes, the entire dead bird Finn ate 2 nights ago (feathers and all) doesn't seem to have had any affect what so ever!
