Hi, Want to see if anybody can help or has some advise with this. Vanilla is now 18 weeks old and in general training well. One of the issues we have is her toileting during the night. A bit of history; when we got her at 8 weeks old her last toilet trip would be about midnight then again about 2am then 5am. The 2am one I had managed to move to 3am by the time she was 11 weeks. We changed her food at 10 weeeks gradually, and she was OK on this for about 3 days at 100% on the new food. She then ended up with an upset tummy which resulted in her going every hour approx from 10:30pm until about 6am. We went to the wet and she got some antibiotics and was fed on chicken and rice for a a week. This resulted in her toilet training taking a step back. That was OK, and we ended up with her major last toilet trip out was at midnight for both and then gradually I got her to go by 3:30am. We then changed the food gradually with the Chicken and rice over a 1 week period. But again she ended up with a poorly tummy after one day of being on it at 100%. Again toilet trips out where every hour. We did not go back to the vet at the time, just rang and they advised to have her on Chicken and rice for a week and then gradually reintroduce the kibble again, but in small dosages. This was over a 2/3 week period. When we got to the final day of 100% she again had an upset tummy. During this period I had gotten her last toilet trip to be at midnight, and she ended up with one at 4am, and then wake up at 5:30am for her morning one. After her final upset Over the weekend we went back to the vet with a sample (as she already had day procedure due to a Urinary infection, they wanted to take a sample straight from the bladder. THis also determined that she has puppy vaginatis). They ran blood test and sent of the poo sample. It came back that she had a bacterial infection (or something I can't remember now.) This resulted in her having another course of antibiotics, and now she is on Hills I/D food, until I can swap her over to a different premium food. She is on 3 meals a day 6am, approx.12:30pm and 6pm. She will get treats until about 7:30pm/8pm depending of how naughty she is. She will sleep from about 8pm ish until about midnight, I then take her out for a toilet, which results in a wee and a poop. She then sleeps until approx 5:30 and we either have a clean night or there has been an accident of both. Problem is it is not just 5 or 10 min. earlier as I have tried to get up earlier. If I move and take her to the toilet at 11:30 or even 11:00, she will potentially have a wee, but no poop. But I can come back at midnight and take her out and she will have a poop. If she does go at the odd occasion at 11:30 or so, she will then only last the same amount of time before she has a toilet trip in the morning ie: about 5ish hours. I know there is a rule to stop feeding them about 3-4 hours prior to bed. I have tried that too, but I still get the same result. Anyone know how I can get her to go earlier and at least try and get about 6 hours +. Sorry for long post... Cheers, Sven
Hi there. It's been a long time since I've had a puppy (present dog was acquired when he was 8-9 months old and toilet trained, previous dog passed at 17) so others in the midst of all this will be along to offer suggestions! However, sounds like your pup has had a difficult time with upset stomach and what-not, so I'm not surprised she is not clean throughout the night. Is there a reason why you keep switching food? Perhaps keep her on whatever she is eating presently (assuming she is tolerating it) until she gets the hang of sleeping through the night with no poos. Also is she in a crate? Dogs don't normally soil their sleeping area so if you use a crate it can be easier to teach them this, as long as the crate isn't too big. You can use an adult-sized one and just make it smaller by partitioning it. Anyhow good luck with this, and keep us posted!
Thanks for your reply. We swaped from the breeders food to a premium one. Due to the upset stomach we then gave her chicken and rice. Then tried the premium one again, same thing happened. So back to chicken and rice. The Vet said to put her on the Hills I/D food while she is on her latest antibiotics course. She thinks it ould be GI related. We are looking at a different premium food once she is finished with her course of antibiotics. We have her in a crate, but have been relictant to close it due to her having the stomach/toilet issues. Just nervous that she would end up soiling her bed. It is big enough for her to sleep, but nothing else...
Just big enough to sleep is perfect! But as you say, it's tricky when she has stomach issues. I would perhaps stick to the food that she can tolerate for a little while longer while you start to get a handle on the stomach issues and start to get some success in toileting. It's hard to fight a battle on two fronts! And when you switch make sure you are doing it very gradually, over the course of a week or even two.
How firm are her poos? Soft ones are hard for them to hold in (as for us!). Pro-fibre really helps to firm up the poos ...
Thanks. Yes was planning on swapping gradually 2 weeks once we have a good week. Her poos where solid for over a week. But had a bad night, which we have put down to her having a pigs ear. She also finished her antibiotics yesterday. See how she goes this week and then take it from there. Thanks
