poo training...big problem

[monterosa]

Having read endless articles and advice on potty training, my puppy is not getting the idea at all. She is a 7 month Maltese Bichon puppy. I’ve had her since 2 months. Weight 2.7 kilos. We live in a house with a medium-size garden. I take her outside at intervals so she can do her things in the garden, and praise her effusively when she performs. But if she needs to go while inside, she’ll just do it where I can’t see her. She cannot last the night. I put down newspaper, one for pee and one for poo. She’ll do pee on the paper, which is ok, at least she knows what its for. But the poo is a real problem. I let her out for the last pee and poo at around 11 or 12 at night. Even if she does poo, by the time I come down in the morning, there are 4, or 5, or 6 “fingers” of poo on the floor…maybe one on the paper and the rest all around. How does something so small have room for so much poo!!!???

Everything I’ve read says dogs will poo half an hour after eating. That would be fantastic!! Tsuki poos HOURS after eating…and then some more. She eats 100g of dry food a day, split into two feeds…one around 9 am and the other around 5 pm. Some hours after the first feed, she’ll do poo. With the last-thing-at-night outing she’ll sometimes, not always, do poo again. And possibly she’ll do at other times during the day, outside, that I don’t see. But however much she does or doesn’t, its as if she saves it up for doing overnight, because EVERY morning I come down and there’s a considerable amount of it on the floor.

I’ve considered changing her eating habits, and giving her the 100g in the morning only. That way, in theory, she should be all poo’d out by the night. I don’t know if she’ll eat it all at one sitting, or whether she’ll be satisfied with one feed during the whole day. From what I read, puppies should eat twice a day.

Any advice on how to help her to get her act together, know where its supposed to be done, not do it overnight, or even “ask” me to let her out (my other dog “asks” by going over to the terrace door and sitting there till I let him out) would be greatly appreciated.

While on the subject of where to do it, although obviously I’d be more than delighted just with her doing it outside, from the point of view of aesthetics and smell, if both the dogs could be encouraged to it anywhere in the garden other than in the middle of the lawn, that would be even better. How would I achieve this….??

Many thanks in advance for any help.

[Freedom]

That is the Bichon in her! Bichons are notoriously difficult to train, and rarely "get it" until 14 months of age. But they are delightful doggies!

Keep her confined to an area which is easy to clean up - like the kitchen. Keep setting out the paper, she will eventually get that bit. Keep taking her out every 3 hours during the day.

What do you feed? You need a high quality kibble; the grocery store brands will generate a LOT of poop as they have so much filler in them. Things the dog just can't digest and use. So out it comes!

What time of day do you feed? A good half hour walk 3 hours after a meal may help a bit.

[Seravieve]

Maybe you could crate her at night so she has a much more limited area and would be less likely to poop. I too wondered what type of food you feed. Our dogs only poop twice a day, after breakfast and dinner. Pretty regular... but it takes time to set up a schedule.

[monterosa]

I feed her Affinity, by April, chicken flavour, for puppies. Neither the cheapest or the most expensive on the market.

She sleeps with the other dog in the kitchen, either in her own bed or cuddled up with him in his, and generally poos as far away as possible from where they sleep.

last night I let her out for the last time around 12.30. She did a pee and came running for praise, then went off and did poo and came running for praise, and then off again for another poo, and I thought great! In the morning there were 2 fingers of poo on the floor, and she was with her 'I've-done-something-you're-not-going-to-like' expression and posture, which normally in the mornings she doesnt have. When I picked her up to clean her eyes, I smelt poo, I checked her paws, and saw nothing, but she smelled. When I looked under her tail, there was a squashed, dried finger of poo, matted into the hair, where she'd obviously sat/slept on top of it in the bed. So I had to cut it off, there was no other way, and wash her.

This is the first time she's done it where she sleeps, so I'm thinking is the crate idea going to work?? Would I get a crate just for her to sleep (small) or a larger one so they can both sleep together?

[Freedom]

If you do a crate, it is just for her BUT it is large enough for her to have her bed and then papers. So she can get up, use the papers, and return to her bed. The bed should be next to the door, so when you open it she can get out without walking in her mess.

Even without a crate, you can corral her or gate her in a small area. This will start to paper train her. Once she has that, you start moving the paper closer and closer to the door, then right outside.

It sounds like she IS getting it, if she runs to your for praise! Praise, praise PRAISE. And if she knows she did something you won't be happy about, that is a good thing as well. Hard to do, but don't scold her when she has gone in the house. Clean it up, you can make noises of disgust, they DO understand that.

Oh, you had asked if you can train them to use one area in your yard. YES! They return to where the scent is to pee and poop. So you need to hose down the rest of the yard and not the area you want them to use. Again, if you paper train her, then you can move the paper to the section you want her to use.

[monterosa]

If I put paper next to her bed, in the crate, Im telling her its ok to poo over night, which is what I want to discourage. Moving the paper closer to the door and then outside, is ok for during the day, but I can't leave the door open at night.

What you refer to as the yard, is in fact grass, so its not a question of being able to hose it down. Ideally it would be great if both the dogs would do it round the back of the flowerbeds, rather than all over the grass.

She feeds around 9 am and then at 5 pm. If I give her the second feed later, do you think the poo that is coming out during the night will not be due until the following morning?? What would be the maximum hour that a puppy should feed at night?

[Freedom]

I don't think she is old enough NOT to poo overnight. In your initial post, you had mentioned she will pee on the paper, but not poop. So I was addressing that bit. Sorry if I confused things!

When I say moving the paper, I eman it stays in one place for 3 or 4 days, then it move 3 inches. Stays there 4 days then moves. Always moving in the direction of the door. When it moves outdoors, no, you don't leave the door open. At that point, the "ideal" is that she lets you know she needs to get to that paper!

Grass holds scent. My dogs go outside and I tell them, "do your busies!" (business) They will sniff around to find a scent and pee. So you need to remove the scent from all of the area except where you want the dogs to go.

They also see "pee poles" which are like a stake. You put that in the ground and the dogs will only pee around the area of the pole. It is another training tool for outside. Or you can make one. Get a sturdy stick / branch, rub it with some of the urine from the newspaper to transfer the scent, and put that in the ground where you want them to go.

If the pee is killing off the grass, another option is to go around and pour 1 point of water on the spot they pee on, immediately after they pee. This will dilute it enough that the grass won't die off. With 4 dogs, I can't do this. But I have 2 friends, with 1 and 2 dogs and they do this - their grass is always green.

So there are many ways to get to the point you want.