How can we stop our puppy crapping in the house at night???

[Sammo123]

Morning

We have a nine month old French Bulldog who we adopted around three months ago. He's settled in well with our Pug and is generally a very good boy, although a little boisterous when the mood takes him. We take him out for a walk every evening and then he has his dinner when we get back. Nine times out of ten he won't poo while we're out for the walk. On the rare occasion he does he gets fussed plenty to try and get him to understand that that's where he's meant to be doing it. The rest of the time he goes in the back garden which isn't ideal but manageable, however he does occasionally poo in the house at night. He will wake me up if he needs to go out in the night which is fine, but sometimes he doesn't bother waking me up and just goes and does his business on the floor in the living room. We put puppy pads down in there but he usually goes next to it rather than on it.

Can anyone suggest a way we can start getting him to go while we're on walkies or just generally stop him going in the house?

Cheers,

Sammo

[Tigerj]

Stop waiting for him to tell you. Set an alarm and go out every night to let him go. Each night you go down and he’s not gone inside the house move the time 10 mins later. If you go down and he has gone, move the time back half hour. I would suggest starting with like half 3.

Get rid of the pads all they do is encourage them to go inside.

[Rh14n]

What times are you taking him out "in the evening" and then feeding him afterwards? We feed ours at 5pm and take him for a 'last walk' around 9 - 10pm so he will usually do what's needed during the walk. Perhaps adjusting your timings might help?

[Jamescrs]

I would always walk my dog last thing at night before bed, usually 9:30-10pm to let her clear out for the night.

It sounds like taking the dog out then feeding it after maybe the issue.

[xstian]

Might not be a popular answer, but I would put him in a cage at night. He can obviously hold i for the duration most of the time, just needs a bit of encouragement to get out of the habit. I would do it for 2-3 months and go from there.

Personally, i think setting an alarm to let him out, might stop the poo, but what's the end game. I know of people having to do this and there dogs are middle aged. I don't fancy that.

[Shuff4]

Reiterate what others have said,
Feed then walk, I feed around 5.30pm walk around 6pm and again around 9/9.30pm, usually they will poop on the 6pm walk.

Mornings same also, out the garden to wee, feed then walk out to poop.

[Sammo123]

We take the dogs out for a walk around 7ish and then feed them around 7.30 as a general rule, however this can change depending on what time I get home from work. In the hot weather recently they've been eating around 7.30 but not going for a walk until 10pm due to the heat. Even with that routine he hasn't been going during the walk and has then been getting up in the night to go instead.

[liner33]

I don’t agree with puppy pads as they tell the dog that toilet in the house is permitted .

We did use them for the first few weeks with our lab but he quickly learned to wee and poo on command

[BoRED S2upid]

Why is he in the living room? Use baby gates to keep him in say the kitchen.

[Far Cough]

Yep ... Answers above will sort you out. Puppy pads not required. Cut access to living room and feed him well before his final walk so he can expel what he has eaten. Doing it the other way round is loading the gun and then locking him inside !!

Im a fan of a cage , you can look into that also. It's not about caging them in rather than giving them their own safe space provided certain boundaries are adhered to.

[glennjamin]

He's going to want the loo if your fed him after a walk. We feed our spaniel at 5pm and she goes out between 6-7pm never needs to loo until the next morning. Try that and possibly let him out last thing at night to give him a chance to go....

[Zetec-S]

Another vote for crate training, they don't like to st where they sleep.

Make sure it's a safe, fun space. Plenty of treats when they go in, etc. Don't use as a punishment.

[LordHaveMurci]

Another vote for crating, both my rescues love their crates & the doors are rarely closed.

However, the westie went through a phase of messing so got shut in for a while until it became habit to be clean.

They get fed, let out straight after then go out again at bed time.

Don’t start getting up in the night, you’ll end up always having to do it.

[Sammo123]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

So we're going to go with;

1. Feeding him as soon as I get home from work.

2. Leaving walkies until later in the evening so he's hopefully ready to poo!

3. Shutting the living room and spare bedroom doors at night so they're not an option.

4. Not putting out a puppy pad so he doesn't associate them with going to the toilet.

5. If he does go when we're out for walkies then I'm going to also give him a little treat just to reinforce that it's the place to go!

I'll report back and let you know if any of this has done the job

Edited by Sammo123 on Wednesday 24th August 15:31

[liner33]

Solid plan , best of luck .

[Challo]

Sammo123 said:

Thanks for the replies everyone.

So we're going to go with;

1. Feeding him as soon as I get home from work.

2. Leaving walkies until later in the evening so he's hopefully ready to poo!

3. Shutting the living room and spare bedroom doors at night so they're not an option.

4. Not putting out a puppy pad so he doesn't associate them with going to the toilet.

5. If he does go when we're out for walkies then I'm going to also give him a little treat just to reinforce that it's the place to go!

I'll report back and let you know if any of this has done the job

Edited by Sammo123 on Wednesday 24th August 15:31

Depends what time they go to bed but you could always stick him outside in the garden just before bedtime.

Ours actually walk then eat, but never had an issue with them going to the toilet in the house overnight. They always poo on walks once or twice a day.

We always stick them in the garden right before bed for a wee which helps.

[Sammo123]

Challo said:

Depends what time they go to bed but you could always stick him outside in the garden just before bedtime.

Ours actually walk then eat, but never had an issue with them going to the toilet in the house overnight. They always poo on walks once or twice a day.

We always stick them in the garden right before bed for a wee which helps.

Yeh ours go out in the garden for a wee before bed too. They both have a wee and then go to bed. He just seems to get the urge for a poo in the middle of the night!

[Sammo123]

I suppose I should show you what we’re dealing with!

This is Rocco the Frenchie and Phoebe the Pug

[Mr.Chips]

Our pug/French bulldog cross, Owain, goes for a walk between 7am and 8am in the morning, usually does a big poop. Gets his breakfast when we return. We take him out again, usually between 2pm and 4pm, most times he will poop again, although not always. He gets his dinner between 5pm and 6.30pm. Take him out finally around 10pm. He seldom poops then, but usually has a good pee. He is crate trained and has only ever pooped in his crate if he has a poorly tummy. One thing that we feel is remarkably important is being consistent. Any problems we had with him when he was a puppy soon disappeared when we had got him into a routine. Good luck!

[Far Cough]

Sammo123 said:

Thanks for the replies everyone.

So we're going to go with;

1. Feeding him as soon as I get home from work.

2. Leaving walkies until later in the evening so he's hopefully ready to poo!

3. Shutting the living room and spare bedroom doors at night so they're not an option.

4. Not putting out a puppy pad so he doesn't associate them with going to the toilet.

5. If he does go when we're out for walkies then I'm going to also give him a little treat just to reinforce that it's the place to go!

I'll report back and let you know if any of this has done the job

Edited by Sammo123 on Wednesday 24th August 15:31

Great plan but point 5 .... I would just make a fuss and congratulate the action. Even reinforce with a word you can use in the future so the dog knows what is expected of them , like " empty" or " hurry up" or just "pooh" !!!

Don't keep feeding it ! It's a tiny dog and easily filled up .... !!

Deffo report back , we are dog people and want to know