My almost 3 year old chocolate, after 3 years of going outside to do her poo, now wont do it outside at nighttime, for the last few weeks. This is new for her. There have been no changes to her food, home or people for over a year, so we don't understand why she just won't do it.....but she will do it in the house after we go to bed. Does anyone have an suggestions on how we should "re-train" her in this? Otherwise, she is an awesome, lovable girl. Thank you !!! Deb
Hi @Debbie Milne put her on a lead shortly before you go to bed.take her to the spot in the garden. Here comes the bad bit. You and her do not come in until number 2 happens. Yes and treat with a special treat when it happens. Make sure you clean the spots inside of any fecal material. Alernatively take her for a walk late in the evening. Waliking might loosen the back end. Yes and treat. In the long term you need to use a cue at the same time she defecates or urinates, so that you have toiletting as a cued behaviour.
Hi @Debbie Milne this does sound peculiar! Whilst I agree with Michaels very good advice, I would also consult with your vet to rule out anything medical. I would also be wanting to check there isn't an underlying anxiety issue, for example, a strange scent, something scary that happened a few weeks ago on you late night toilet break. Finally, make sure you clean the area she has defecated in with something designed for dogs, eg: simple solution. Hope you get to the bottom of this, must be very distressing for you!
I would be thinking like Beanwood that something scary has happened in the yard at night time when she has been out there. Perhaps a loose dog, wild life, fireworks.... Will she go out there if you put the leash on and go with her or is she refusing even then? Can you use treats to encourage her out and then perhaps she will get distracted once outside.... It is a bit strange that she actually needs to poop in the night though. I mean, my adult dogs poop in the morning when I exercise them and that's all. It would be slightly unusual if one then did a poop at their dinner time or before bed (but not impossible) and it would really mean they were unwell if they couldn't hold it through the night...
Thank you everybody for your suggestions. It is weird that all of a sudden she wont go at night. She always goes in the morning outside before breaky and after her dinner around 8pm outside, which can take up to a half hour. We live on a mountain with wildlife and thus she is ALWAYS on her lead. She seems healthy and is familiar with the animal scents. We have been using the term "do your thing" since she was a pup. We are going to follow Michael's advice on giving a treat after she defecates - she is very food motivated!! Thanks again.
If she poops in the morning and also poops at 8pm, and then STILL needs to go in the night - I would really think about the quality of the food you are feeding. My dogs are raw fed and do about 4 little bullets every morning and that's it... You don't necessarily need to feed raw to reduce the quantity of stool, but moving from a food with a lot of bulk and cheap fillers to a high quality food, will also reduce it greatly. It's not really normal for an adult dog to have to poop 2x a day and then also at night, and reducing the amount that needs to come out would be an easy fix to this problem you have...
