Hello every one. I have a 5 month old Lab named Whiskey. He sleeps in the garage at night. We have him on a 4 foot chain in lieu of a crate (which is the ONLY time he's chained up). He's done really well with the potty training up until now and is having poop accidents at night all of a sudden. He's on a feeding schedule of 7:30 am and 4:30 pm, and will poop before he comes in at night usually at 8 or 8:30 pm. This seems early, I know, but the door is left open for him all day and he usually goes in and lays on his bed when he's ready to go in. The only thing he has a couple of hours before bedtime is his rawhide chew so I know it's not a food issue. (At least I hope so.) He's pooping 2 feet away from his bed. I get up at 5:30 in the morning to take him out but he's already done the deed by then and won't look at me. (He knows and is embarrassed it think). He makes no noise at night to let me know he has to go out. We've had 2 other labs we've raised the same way and they always gave little noises at night to let us know if they needed to go. Not this one. He's a very quiet boy. Should I shorten the chain a little? He's not peeing at night, just pooping. I know he feels bad about it and just want to get this straightened out. Any ideas?
Hello and welcome to the forum. I don't think you should shorten his chain, no. I think you should get up earlier to take him out, and then start building the time back up again. Dogs don't feel embarrassed by having gone to the toilet, so I'm afraid you're anthropomorphising there. The looks of "guilt" or "embarrassment" you see on dogs' faces are almost always nervousness because of their owner's reactions. Even if you're not telling him off, but have a little sigh to yourself and roll your eyes, some dogs can find that body language quite disconcerting. A door that's left open all day doesn't toilet train a dog. It means that he doesn't have to ask to go out - but when the door is closed, he finds another solution, which is to just go anyway. So I think you need to start toilet training from the beginning again, with a closed door. I would say he's too young to be fed only twice a day, as it's a lot of volume for him to carry in his stomach at one time, so I'd split that back into three meals. Good luck!
You're right. I am anthropomorphising. My dogs have always been my family and I treat them just as I treat my grand children. Right or wrong, there it is. And you're absolutely right about the open door not toilet training the dog. I just meant to say that he's got the run of 10 acres and always does his duty in the weeds and not in the garage or yard. He comes and goes from the open garage door when he feels the need to nap or to come out and play with us. We're outside all day until dark and I work with him the better part of the day. He's a tired happy puppy by the end of the day. It just concerned me that after 5 months he's begun having accidents only at night, especially when he does his duty right before he goes to bed. I was hoping I wouldn't have to start over, but I have no problem with doing that. He's a work in progress and worth every minute. Thanks for your help!
Some ideas: It 's getting colder at night, he might just be more comfortable inside. Of course it's not very cold this week. As it cools in the fall we hear the coyotes howling at night. You might be hearing them, or wolves, they wake him up and he's afraid to go outside? Specially this week we are hearing them with that great big moon at night.
Most of us here are the same, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it, in my mind, as long as you're aware that the embarrassed/guilty/cheeky/rebellious behaviour is probably something else entirely
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. There are so many great articles on this site I just keep bouncing around reading little bits here and there.
Their songs are special and we count ourselves lucky to hear them. We do hear timber wolves sometimes further north on canoe trips. Funny, we say the coyotes sing and we love to hear them. But when the neighbours' dogs bark it's anything but pleasant.
