My 15-week old puppy has gotten on an inconvenient (but very regular!) pooping schedule that I’d like to shift a bit. He is currently pooping every morning at 2:30 nearly on the dot, 6 am after we’ve been up about 30 minutes and had breakfast, 3-4 pm, and around 8pm. Any ideas how to go about shifting this so we can avoid the 2:30 wake up? He sleeps in our bedroom with us and lets out a small bark to be let outside and then goes right back to bed and passes out again, so I don’t think it’s an attention seeking behavior since he does his business quickly and walks himself right back to his crate and lays down.
Instead of jumping up immediately, push it forward 15 minutes before you jump up. Gradually keep adding 15 minutes to the time. When are you feeling him?
What time do you feed his last meal? When they are young they do tend to need to go more, but as they get older they hold it for longer. At 15 weeks he's still very young. It's good that he goes straight back to sleep though - lots of pips don't
We feed him his last meal around 6 pm. I’m very pleased that he does go right back to sleep since I recall my last dog crying for hours after I would let him out. He doesn’t love the cold, so he does his business and books it back to his warm crate before I can even get back inside. I’ll try waiting a few to slowly push it back. He’s definitely gotten great about holding it for longer and longer, especially during the day when I need to leave for a few hours for work.
Hi @melissathelabmom , if it were me I wouldn't try and make pup wait to go and poo during the night. He is letting you know that he needs to go, it may be an inconvenuent time as far as we are concerned, but he is asking to go and when a pup wants to go they want to go. Leaving him could have him becoming more barky and distressed as he gets more desperate to go with the risk that he will have to go in his crate. The need to poo and/or pee during the night does pass as our pups get older and as the number of meals are reduced together with maturity to be able to hold for longer
I agree with JoJo - I would probably say just lump it right now, it will improve - its not ideal, but he obviously has it down pat. (can I say that the title of this thread is somewhat ..... tricky.... on my tongue )
So the last time he goes out is 8 PM? What is his potty schedule for the outside? And does he get a reward for “go potty”?
We phased out the reward for going potty outside once he was regularly asking to go out and we hadn’t had an accident for several weeks. He’s a pretty happy little guy and enjoys praise and pet after going outside these days. The last time he goes out it around 10 pm, but he will only pee at that point. In the mornings he goes out at 5:30, 6 (after breakfast) and then will ask to go out around 8 am. I usually take him out around 8:30 before he goes in his crate until 11 with his when his dog walker comes for about 45 minutes for playing in the yard and more potty. After that I get home around 1:30 and take him out before I feed him lunch, then he goes out after lunch. He usually chews a bone for a bit and takes an afternoon nap near me until 5 when my husband gets home and he goes out again then. Dinner at 6 and outside again, then at about 8 pm he will ask to go outside. We take him out one more time at 10 right before bed. We don’t mind taking him out in the night as long as necessary and don’t want him to suffer discomfort from having to go. It’s been about 10 years since I potty trained a puppy and have totally forgotten what I did to help my last dog sleep through the night eventually! Granted that puppy was the pickiest eater and didn’t eat with the gusto of this puppy! We will just keep taking him out and look forward to the day he can hold it through the night. At this point I’m just thank my lucky stars that he potty trained super fast and politely asks to go outside instead of having accidents!
Yes, it will phase out in time. Once he’s about six months old ish And on two meals a day his poos will become more infrequent.
I’m not sure from your reply whether your puppy gets to sleep with you or whether he is isolated. If its the latter, it is possible that he really doesn’t have to “go potty” but that he simply wakes up scared(since dogs are pack animals), and is looking for reassurance. If his crate were in your BDR then he would smell you and hear you breathing, and it might not be an issue. My training book says that is toilet training regresses then one needs to go back to training to outside along treats for going potty. You should also note if anything has changed in your environment such as anxiety, new family members, new pets, new cleaning products, new bedding, or just the 4 month old puppy stage where they tend to start challenging you.
The OP has stated that her pup sleeps in the bedroom and pup is crying because he needs to go poo, not for attention or any other purpose. Once he has toileted he is happy to go straight back in his crate and go back to sleep. I certainly wouldn't treat during the night for a successful toilet trip - least interaction the better and there aren't any problems during the day. Pup is happy being rewarded with words and fuss and treats have been phased which is normal practice. No 4 month old puppy begins to challenge you, it's carer and only source of all necessary resources - unless you subscribe to the 'dominant' dog trying to rule the household. Puppies start becoming more independent but not consciously challenging.
