Dog Pooping on Floor at Night

[BigBlueHen53]

I wonder if she had a difficult birth and was oxygen-deprived, perhaps. You did mention the breeder seemed in a hurry to get rid of her ...?

 

[StinkyAcres]

This will do no good. The dog does not know she needs to go. She just poops, as if she has no control over it. If she won't ask verbally, as is natural, you are not going to be able to teach her to ask by ringing a bell, turning handsprings, dialling 911 or any other unnatural method.

I agree it's probably caused by a health issue. But I wouldn't assume she can't learn to ask to go out.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

She may know she needs to poop, but shr does not know she needs to ask to go out.

 

[Evadig]

IMO you probably can't. I'm sorry. I did suggest diapering her.

She’d take a diaper off the minute I turned my back. When she got spayed she even took her e-collar off!

I wonder if she had a difficult birth and was oxygen-deprived, perhaps. You did mention the breeder seemed in a hurry to get rid of her ...?

They did seem that way, from what my family says. I wasn’t there.

I agree it's probably caused by a health issue. But I wouldn't assume she can't learn to ask to go out.

When she goes to the vet to get her next shots I will ask them. Actually, I’ll just call them Monday and see if they can tell me anything.

Until then I guess I will just have hope this doesn’t become a nightly occurrence. Once every two months is bad enough!!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

What do you feed?

 

[NatJ]

This will do no good. The dog does not know she needs to go. She just poops, as if she has no control over it. If she won't ask verbally, as is natural, you are not going to be able to teach her to ask by ringing a bell, turning handsprings, dialling 911 or any other unnatural method.

I was wondering that.

Does the dog not know she needs to poop?
Or does she not realize that there is anything she can do about it?
It looks like she has no idea she can communicate with people.

If she knows she needs to poop, I would expect her to act a bit agitated if she needs to poop and would rather do it somewhere else. Maybe set up a camera to see whether her body language changes before she does poop? I'm thinking something like those game cameras that people use to "see" animals in the dark.

Or leave one door of the house open for one whole day, so the dog is free to go in and out, and see if she takes herself out that way? As in, a way to see if she would notice her need and choose to go out?

I will try tying her to my bed so she has to stay on her pillow…maybe that will help, though I seem to remember her doing it anyway. I could be thinking of her puppy days, though.

Does she usually sleep on the pillow, but poop away from it? She may be a little bit aware of trying to keep her own space clean, even if she can't hold it until you take her out in the morning.

I guess I could set an alarm for 3 or 4 AM and take her out…

That sounds like it could work, depending on what time the pooping actually happens.


General thing about training dogs:

A healthy puppy will cry and fuss in the middle of the night when it needs out to keep from soiling its crate. This wakes you up....

The dog does not know she needs to go. She just poops, as if she has no control over it. If she won't ask verbally, as is natural

Not every dog will ask "verbally" to go out.

I knew one family with a labrador retriever that would go stand by the door when she wanted out, but never barked. Someone would notice and let her out. It worked.

I have had two adult dogs that didn't ask, because they always had a dog door. As puppies they were crated at night, and I would take them out if they whined, but each one could hold it all night really soon (like only one or two night-time potty breaks in the entire first week and then never again.) From that point on, they just took themselves out as needed during the day. On rare occasions when the dog door was unavailable (bad weather, or visiting someone else), they would just hold it until a person happened to take them out. They generally didn't get to the point of desperation, so I'm not sure if they would have made a fuss or not. One of them, one time, pooped diarrhea on the living room floor during a night when the dog door was closed (she usually slept next to a person's bed, this time she went out into the living room and pooped there. I don't know if she gave any kind of signals that the person slept through, or if she did not.) Those dogs never learned any "natural" signal for going out, because they never needed it. But they WERE aware of their needs and took themselves outside when they could, or generally waited when they could not go out.

If the dog is not giving a signal, it may be able to learn. The idea of ringing a bell is based on something a dog can do, just like a dog can paw at a door. If you make it happen (move the dog's paw to ring the bell before you open the door), some dogs will make the connection and start to do it on their own. I do not know whether this dog would figure it out or not, it just seemed like a relatively simple thing if it works, and relatively harmless if it does not work.
Here is one example of an article suggesting it:
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/teach-dog-ring-bell-go-outside/
But I have seen it suggested several different places, over quite a few years, including at least some anecdotes of dogs that really did learn it.

 

[cassie]

Thanks everyone for your continued help!

She did it again last night…just a big mushy pile.
I did not feed her last night.

I can’t use the crate right now, even if I wanted to, because my sister’s cat is in it recovering from an injury.

The dog door is not an option, and the vet might be a possibility if I can convince my parents it’s a medical issue.

I will try tying her to my bed so she has to stay on her pillow…maybe that will help, though I seem to remember her doing it anyway. I could be thinking of her puppy days, though.

It would be worth it to just buy another crate. Maybe a collapsible wire one. They aren't very expensive. If her poop is mushy and smelly, it is an indication she is not digesting her food well. What are you feeding her?

 

[NatJ]

What are you feeding her?

From a post two days ago:

She’s eating Blue Buffalo again because “it’s healthier”.

Currently I’ve been feeding her 2 cups in the morning but admit I have still been giving a handful at night when Eva eats.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I have always taught my puppies to ask, verbally, simply by not letting them out of the crate in the morning until they DO ask, with a whine or some kind of little noise. I always respond IMMEDIATELY, with a verbal response of my own, like "Good boy! Want OUT? Ready to go OUT? Let's go OUT," emphasizing the key word OUT and repeating it several times all the way out the door. Over time I will respond a little slower, which encourages the dog to make a bigger noise, up to, eventually, a little yelp or a bark. I'm teaching the dog to talk to me, to ask. To communicate verbally. Then when he's reliable in his crate, I leave the crate door open but the bedroom door closed. Now he's learning to keep the room clean as if it is an extension of his crate. And he should still bark to be let out.

When he's older and has learned to keep the whole house clean (one room at a time), he will ask at the door when he wants out. You have to teach him to ask.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm going to recommend switching her to Taste of the Wild, bison/venison formula and see if that helps. I've been amazed at how well my dogs do on z remarkably small amount of this. Jenny, my Golden, gets 1/2 cup of this twice a day and holds her weight beautifully. And has small, firm poops. I feed at 7 am and noon but you could certainly feed once a day.