Any Tricks To Get Them To P/p On Their Last Trip Out At Night?

[Guest DMBFiredancer]

I can't figure out if this is the issue with my new problem of 1am barking

Some days she will only poop on that last out right before bed, other times only pee.

So when the barking starts, I take her out the one time to do whichever business she did not do at last out (assuming that is why she is barking?) just to play safe....but then the barking starts up again.

 

I have been ignoring the barking after that first time I give in for p or p, but I'm wondering if giving in at all is the problem.

 

So, I'm wondering if you guys have any tricks for training them to go both poop AND pee on that last out so they are completely emptied before bed.

 

The night barking really needs to stop....School starts next week - a tired teacher is a cranky teacher and I cannot do that to my students

[Batmom]

I pay mild attention to what potty they've accomplished during the day. If a dog normally poops twice, in most cases we're not going to bed until I see that 2nd poop -- we stay out in the yard until it's done.

 

Everybody has to pee shortly before bedtime. No exceptions there.

[PrairieProf]

Well, you could leash walk like those of us without a yard do every single night.

[Guest DMBFiredancer]

Well, you could leash walk like those of us without a yard do every single night.

 

I do take her for a leash walk at about 9:30pm but she doesn't always p/p on that. Right before I go to bed (usually 10:30-11ish) I take her out in the yard for that last try.

[Guest Rhea]

Dane did this last night! As far as I could tell, he'd decided it was playtime. I let him outside, by himself, but he came back in pretty quickly, so I don't think he needed to go. I ignored him for a few minutes while he barked and whined it out. (I sat up and put my head in my hands, actually XD) I'd brought in his new rope toy, in the hopes that he'd chew on that, instead of barking, but he decided to toss it around and take it out to the living room I guess. Then he came back to whine some more, but he flopped down on the bed with a big, horse-lip sigh pretty quickly. After a few minutes of silence, I quietly praised him, then I fell asleep.

 

(also note: We'd taken two walks yesterday, our second walk was at 11PM.)

[Guest PiagetsMom]

I find that my girl, Maya, goes longer between her business breaks than Mirage does. And, she's never been quick about going out in the yard. The only thing that's helped is that we have a pretty strict schedule for our evening outs, and they know that when they are out, it's a business break.

 

My pups usually poop 3 times a day - first out, morning walk, and, then usually around 7:30 pm. We'll do a last pee break around 10:30 pm, and we don't come in until they've both gone. For Mirage, that's lickety split, for Maya it varies. I'll be honest, I've spent 15-20 minutes sitting outside with her waiting for her to go. But, she has to go.

 

I'd read somewhere to try a clicker and treats to encourage and teach them to go, and after sitting outside with Maya for long periods of time, decided to try it. I tell her to "do her business", praise her for venturing into the grass, and continue to periodically tell her to do her business until she does. When she does, immediately after she finishes, I click and treat. She's still not as quick as I sometimes wish she were, but it has helped.

 

Good luck - I know the 1 am barking has to be really frustrating.

[Sambuca]

The trick is to not go in until they've done their business. The other night I had to do our normal walk twice because Bu wouldn't poop.

[Guest DMBFiredancer]

I'd read somewhere to try a clicker and treats to encourage and teach them to go, and after sitting outside with Maya for long periods of time, decided to try it. I tell her to "do her business", praise her for venturing into the grass, and continue to periodically tell her to do her business until she does. When she does, immediately after she finishes, I click and treat. She's still not as quick as I sometimes wish she were, but it has helped.

 

Good luck - I know the 1 am barking has to be really frustrating.

 

I've never tried a clicker, but I do give her a small treat EVERY time she poops or pees outside (I haven't stopped doing that since I got her 3 weeks ago.) She actually has made the association - she comes running to me, expecting that treat after doing her business.

 

I really needed that group hug - thank you. I was very very frustrated last night and I am getting so nervous with school starting up again next week...and my husband returning from his overseas business trip next week, too. He needs his sleep even more than I do.

The trick is to not go in until they've done their business. The other night I had to do our normal walk twice because Bu wouldn't poop.

 

 

I'm going to try that tonight. I'll sit out there until she goes. Perhaps I will bring my ipad out there and watch a movie if needed .

When she DOES go for that last out, everyone please send good vibes, prayers, whatever that it will only take a few days max to break her of this night barking.

 

I assume I just need to ignore, ignore, ignore as frustrating as that is.

 

Man, my neighbors are going to hate me

[ramonaghan]

This might be a long shot, but has she found a specific spot yet that she gravitates to for doing her business? I can walk Sweep around the grounds of our complex for 20 minutes and she won't do a thing, but as soon as I lead her to the monkey grass edging the property, it's like insta-poop. If I'm in a hurry, we head there right away.

[Guest DMBFiredancer]

This might be a long shot, but has she found a specific spot yet that she gravitates to for doing her business? I can walk Sweep around the grounds of our complex for 20 minutes and she won't do a thing, but as soon as I lead her to the monkey grass edging the property, it's like insta-poop. If I'm in a hurry, we head there right away.

Yes, luckily she has one spot in the yard for pee, and another for poop.

I want to put her on a leash and just stand there in the yard until she goes, but I have such a hard time getting her to accept the leash as it is. I am torn on forcing her to put it on for that last out for fear that she will start to not want to go out AT ALL for that last out because of her leash issues.

Arrrgh!!!!!

 

PS- That pic of Sweep in your sig always makes me smile - what a cutie!

[ramonaghan]

PS- That pic of Sweep in your sig always makes me smile - what a cutie!

 

Thank you! No other advice from me, as I really lucked out with Sweep on the leash front and she's pretty bombproof in general (but she didn't get the memo that she's not supposed to get stinky or shed much, if that makes you feel better ). Just sending encouragement and positive vibes your way!

[a_daerr]

It sounds like Gracie has learned that holding it = more time outside = more time spent with mom, and both of those things are self-rewarding for her. This is something that might be hard to break because she already has free reign of the house and can go off and have accidents in the middle of the night with no real consequences.

 

The only surefire training I know to remedy this problem is some type of crating or confining method. If you read Puppy Housetraining 101, the protocol is this. If you "know" they have to go, take them out on leash for a few minutes and encourage them to go with whatever command you use ("go poop" or "go potty" whatever). If they don't go, bring them back inside and put them in the crate. Try again in fifteen minutes. If they don't go, back inside and into the crate. Repeat as necessary until they go, then reward, reward, reward. Here, the crate is not a punishment. It simply acts as a "holding zone" because dogs typically do not mess in their crates.

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

 

 

It sounds like Gracie has learned that holding it = more time outside = more time spent with mom, and both of those things are self-rewarding for her. This is something that might be hard to break because she already has free reign of the house and can go off and have accidents in the middle of the night with no real consequence

 

This might be part of it. When I first got Jayne I built a potty yard for her. Originally it was just to keep land mines off my lawn. One positive side affect was to create a different mindset for her when we're outside. She learned pretty quickly that when she was shut into her little yard it was time to do her business, when she's let in the rest of the yard it's time to play.

 

Her yard is where I can see into it from inside. I watched until she went, then let her back in. Some nights it was frustrating, because she would sit and sniff the breeze. Eventually, though, she would get bored and get down to business. It only took a few weeks for her to be consistent with the routine.

[Guest Waterdog66]

We are still going through proper house training for Audrey but here is what we have done so far:

 

Separate the idea of a "Walk" and a "Potty Break" in that walks are around the neighborhood and potty breaks we stay close to the house (Where she usually goes).

 

We use the word "POTTY" whenever she goes and are very good about giving her lots of atta-girls and strokes when she does her business where she is supposed to. We are almost to the point where just the word POTTY will get her out of bed and heading for the door. (She is always on leash in the front yard for potty breaks and we never turn her out into our backyard for that although we don't discourage her from going in the yard when she is out there)

 

It mostly seems to be working so far but a recent issue came up that she has started to mark on our walks and seems to not want to empty her bladder entirely when she goes. (It might take 2 or 3 stops to be sure she is on empty)

 

We also take up her bowl of water after last call which is 1 to 2 hours after dinner.

[WalterWallerson]

I can't figure out if this is the issue with my new problem of 1am barking

Some days she will only poop on that last out right before bed, other times only pee.

So when the barking starts, I take her out the one time to do whichever business she did not do at last out (assuming that is why she is barking?) just to play safe....but then the barking starts up again.

 

I have been ignoring the barking after that first time I give in for p or p, but I'm wondering if giving in at all is the problem.

 

So, I'm wondering if you guys have any tricks for training them to go both poop AND pee on that last out so they are completely emptied before bed.

 

The night barking really needs to stop....School starts next week - a tired teacher is a cranky teacher and I cannot do that to my students

 

 

This is going to sound a little wacky but just read it all the way through. I'm also a teacher and I live in an apartment and sometimes I need Walter to just go out and do his stuff QUICKLY. That being said, I taught him to go sort of on command. Every time he p/p I would say, "Walter go potty!" or sometimes just, "Go potty". I do it in a sing song type voice and at first I did it EVERY SINGLE TIME he p/p. Now that he's pretty much trained, when we go out at night, I say, "go potty" and he does the "poop/pee walk", goes and then we are done. It works especially well when it is raining/extremely cold and neither one of us want to be outside. I tried teaching him with the poop bells but he was not interested. Its the same concept but you jingle bells until the dog puts bells ringing = need to go potty. I still have the bells but the phrase worked so much better (and I looked like less of a lunatic).

 

I hope that helps. Let me know if you need any other info.

 

 

I wanted to add that if Walter whines before I'm ready to get up, I give him a very firm NO. That works very well unless I slept late and he has to pee really bad (this has happened). Walter also sleeps in my room, on his bed, but he is prone to having very loud nightmares. He's woofed and whined LOUDLY in his sleep before and did so a lot when he first came home with me. Is it possible that she is having nightmares? I just wanted to throw that out there. I also think that your hound just has to get used to your schedule, and she will. Honestly, I think being adopted by a teacher was the best thing to happen to Walter. He really loves my schedule.

Edited August 5, 2013 by WalterWallerson

[Hubcitypam]

May sound crazy (as I am) but when I had 6 fosters at a time they'd go out and I said "go out go potty" at last call I said "go out go potty go to bed". The seemed to get it.

[Jerilyn]

Obviously, you can’t make a dog potty but I’ve found sometimes Lila needs to be reminded about what she needs to do. I put pee and poop on separate cues (go pee, go poop) right from the beginning. She normally poops twice a day and if it’s bedtime and she’s only gone once but comes running in after only pee I’ll remind her to “go poop” and she’ll trot back out. The neighbors must think I’m nuts yelling, “Lila, go poop!” out the door but I’ll take that over her waking me up in the middle of the night.

[Guest Scarter55]

A few have already mentioned this, but I was going to say to make sure that playtime/walk time doesn't end immediately after she goes. That can lead to some bad habits. If I know that Lady still needs to go but isn't, I just try to get her in a spot in the yard that she likes to go. If she still doesn't go, she goes into her crate. I go up and get ready for bed (about 5 min) and come back down and try again. This has the added benefit of getting her in the right mindset. Ever since she was a puppy, if she is in her crate and we let her out, that means it is time to go out side and potty. Even if she is in there for just a short time, it can still work.

[Guest giantsfan]

Obviously, you can’t make a dog potty but I’ve found sometimes Lila needs to be reminded about what she needs to do. I put pee and poop on separate cues (go pee, go poop) right from the beginning. She normally poops twice a day and if it’s bedtime and she’s only gone once but comes running in after only pee I’ll remind her to “go poop” and she’ll trot back out. The neighbors must think I’m nuts yelling, “Lila, go poop!” out the door but I’ll take that over her waking me up in the middle of the night.

This is us exactly, along with being certain the neighbors think I am whacko for chanting "go poop" at 11pm. We use both words, pee and poop, and it works great.

[Roo]

In addition to the other great advice, can you make the final potty a super rewarding experience with a tasty treat that she ONLY gets after she's completely empty of p/p? When she does both (and you're satisfied that she's not faking either!) call her over and give her an awesome yummy treat that she only gets after that last business is done. Make that last out worth her while

[Guest DMBFiredancer]

Thanks for the advice! I KNOW my neighbors are going to think I am nuts for saying "Go Pee" over and over but....oh well, right?

I've started doing that. Last night she got the hint to go on the last out - that it was business and not play time. She got a cookie after, which will be her special treat only after last out.

 

I am not sure if this helped her 1am barking or not but I had my first quiet night in a few days!! WOO! Praying this continues!

 

PS - It amazes me that both "Go pee" and " Go poo" work for some of you as separate commands....I might have to give that a whirl!

[ramonaghan]

I want to put her on a leash and just stand there in the yard until she goes, but I have such a hard time getting her to accept the leash as it is. I am torn on forcing her to put it on for that last out for fear that she will start to not want to go out AT ALL for that last out because of her leash issues.

Arrrgh!!!!!

 

Something else occurred to me after reading this and your latest blog post (nice blog, btw). Have you tried leaving the leash attached to the martingale? If she does okay with your slipping the collar over her head and only freaks out when you clip the leash on, would omitting that latter step help? That's what I do, since I only ever use the martingale with the leash anyway.

[a_daerr]

That's a good idea, or Debbie, you can try positive reinforcement training with the leash. I'm working on that now with Truman, who is leash reactive. I clip the leash to his collar, give a treat. Unclip, then clip again, give a treat. I do this five times or so a couple times a day without going anywhere. I also will put the leash on my lap and let him take treats from on top of it. Sometimes I just clip him and let him drag the leash around the house. Try to counter condition the thought that leash = going out into the big, bad, scary world.

[dante2zoe]

I will tell the dogs to go potty and they go outside and do whatever. However, if I tell them Cookie Potty, they know there is a treat involved after they go and that they had better keep their knees together for a good long while because I am either going to work or going to bed. Over time, they learned that Cookie Potty meant last outs and they are really good about running outside and doing their business.

 

On a lighter note, I was outside one evening and Goose was being a PITA. I finally told him to "Go potty NOW." I heard a voice over the fence reply, "can I go inside first?" I busted out laughing - gotta love my neighbors!

[Guest Scarter55]

Thanks for the advice! I KNOW my neighbors are going to think I am nuts for saying "Go Pee" over and over but....oh well, right?

 

I know you are joking, but you can always use a different word for it. That might be appealing if you are trying to get her to go out in public and don't want to be walking around a park asking for poop.