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Hi, all. We got a new puppy about three weeks ago. He is a 7-month-old Mini-Goldendoodle by the name of Winston, and he is an absolute doll. (We also have a 6-year-old female Mini-Australian Shepherd.)
Here's our problem: He is completely housebroken in terms of peeing, and is also housebroken in terms of pooping--except that he poops in the living room almost every night in the middle of the night. Now, we have two doggie doors--one that goes from the dining room into the attached garage and one that goes from the garage into the backyard. He caught on to them in no time at all and uses them just fine. We make sure he goes out before we go to bed.
We do not use a crate, but doing so would not solve the problem. Here's why: We bring both dogs into the bedroom each night before we go to bed and then shut the door. Each dog has a bed right next to our bed. When we leave the door shut all night, as we generally do, he never poops in the bedroom. If we get up in the middle of the night and let him out, he generally goes out and poops at that time. If we don't, he waits until morning and then goes out on his own and poops. (He doesn't have diarrhea. The stools are always well-formed.) It's only when we leave the bedroom door open that he goes into the living room and poops in the middle of the night. We would like to be able to leave it open for the benefit of our other dog and for our two cats who like to sleep on the bed with us for part of the night.
I don't know if he's afraid of the dark or what. Can dogs even be afraid of the dark? Should we leave a light on in the dining room and another in the garage? What could be the reason for this weird, disgusting habit? And how do we nip it in the bud?
In the meantime, put his crate in the bedroom. And when you get up in the night give him a time out to potty.
As I already said, we don't use a crate. As long as we keep the bedroom door shut at night, he's fine until morning. He never poops in the bedroom and just goes outside and does it in the morning.
YES dogs Can have night blindness & be afraid of the dark. Doggie eye Doctors are out there... have his eyes checked!
Really?!?! Possibly, I could try leaving the dining room light and the garage light on at night and see if that helps. If that doesn't work, we could look into having his eyes checked. Thanks for the info!
Does Winston leave these bountiful gifts to you in about the same spot each time?
Dogs don't poop where they sleep, so every other place is fair game. He's just waking up with the urge and says "I got just the spot!"
I'd start the potty training regimen all over again and ensure the dog is on a regular feeding schedule and as a regular a schedule for pottying that you can make. Here's a pretty standard method of advice- https://www.americanhumane.org/fact-...0there%20again.
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5. CLEAN UP MESSES THOROUGHLY
-Dogs are attracted to return to spots where they urinated/defecated previously.
-If you clean up just a little, the dog will be attracted to “refresh†the spot. If you clean thoroughly, there will be no attraction to go there again.
-Pet urine is very difficult to get out, and standard household cleansers don’t cut it.
-Rent or hire a carpet cleaner with special pet-urine enzymatic cleaner or use an enzymatic cleaner, such as Nature’s Miracle or Simple Solution, found in most pet supply stores or online.
Cleaning protocol:
-Saturate any dried spots with lukewarm water.
-Press the area with paper towels until there is no more moisture.
-Follow the instructions on the container but repeat three times.
Night blindness? Yes, very possible. You've bought a pet who has at least one parent of a breed that has serious genetic eye disorders. Which is a very good reason to buy from a reputable breeder who does genetic screening and health screening.
Try leaving the outside light on to see if it is a vision problem.
It may be a distance problem. Maybe outside is too far away from you. Do I remember correctly and you got him from a shelter? And not long ago? He might have some insecurity that he might loose you if he takes too much of his focus off of you.
Possibly keep him shut in the bedroom at night until his system matures more and he is well established in the habit of holding it until morning.
Does Winston leave these bountiful gifts to you in about the same spot each time?
No. He just makes sure it's somewhere in the living room. Of course.
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Dogs don't poop where they sleep, so every other place is fair game. He's just waking up with the urge and says "I got just the spot!"
I'd start the potty training regimen all over again and ensure the dog is on a regular feeding schedule and as a regular a schedule for pottying that you can make. Here's a pretty standard method of advice- https://www.americanhumane.org/fact-...0there%20again.
He's not peeing inside and not even pooping inside during the daytime. The only problem is that it's a lot easier to anticipate when he's going to pee than it is when he's going to poop. I think that starting the potty training regimen all over again would be kind of pointless since he always goes outside to poop in the daytime, and since we have the doggie door, he goes out on his own. There's just something about the nighttime that is messing with his brain.
Night blindness? Yes, very possible. You've bought a pet who has at least one parent of a breed that has serious genetic eye disorders.
Yikes! Which one is that? The poodle or the golden retriever? All I know about night blindness so far is that it doesn't seem to be treatable.
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Which is a very good reason to buy from a reputable breeder who does genetic screening and health screening.
I didn't buy him from a breeder.
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Try leaving the outside light on to see if it is a vision problem.
Will do.
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It may be a distance problem. Maybe outside is too far away from you. Do I remember correctly and you got him from a shelter? And not long ago? He might have some insecurity that he might loose you if he takes too much of his focus off of you.
We actually got him from someone who was trying to rehome him. We've only had him for 3 weeks, and I think his prior owner only had him for 3 months. He wasn't papered, and I didn't care about that at all. I'll be having him neutered as soon as it's medically safe, although I don't think that will make any difference since it's a pooping issue and not a peeing one. He doesn't seem to be insecure in the slightest. He doesn't even seem to have any separation anxieties. He's just a super well-behaved dog with the exception of this one issue.
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Possibly keep him shut in the bedroom at night until his system matures more and he is well established in the habit of holding it until morning.
I think that may be the best option. After we've done that for awhile, I guess we could try leaving a couple of lights on so that he can find his way outside easily.
The only problem is that it's a lot easier to anticipate when he's going to pee than it is when he's going to poop.
Not true. With regularly scheduled meals and no other snacking; you can pretty much tell when. sounds like you need to feed dinner earlier in the evening and when you go out for the last time, you need to stay out until he goes.
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