Night Time Pooping

[Guest Amber]

Hi all

not sure if this should be in the diet and food section but here goes.

 

I've had my gorgeous new greyhound 2 year old Fey for a month and nearly every night she gets me up to go out and poop during the night, more so in the last couple of weeks. As she is in my bedroom at least she can wake me up to let her out in the garden but as a result im getting tired!

 

Some nights it is 2 am, or 4 am. When she first came here she tended to wake around 5-6 am but it's git earlier! It is always a poop she needs. She goes a lot!! About 5 times a day!

 

I feed her breakfast around 8 of 150g kibble and half a nature diet (pack of wet food)

 

Dinner at 5 or 6 pm 150g kibble and 1 nature diet

 

she does get snacks, a few biscuits, bonio and a kong stuffed with kibble and pate

 

her motions are firm but lots of them!

 

I tried altering feeding times to 1pm and 8pm but she still got up at 4am.

 

It's not too bad just now as I am off work but due to return next Thursday and need my sleep.

 

At the kennels she came from she was fed only once a day at 9am and got out for 1st potty at 7.30am. She was a bit skinny, under racing weight.

 

She doesn't seem that hungry in am but in afternoons very peckish and agitates for her dinner.

 

my previous greys all had lunch at 1 and dinner at 7 or 8 pm and never had this problem before.

 

can anyone offer advice please?

[kronckew]

how often do you let her out? i take Poppy out for a final walk about 23:00 (11pm) for a final poo. i feed her about 08:00 (8am) and 17:30 (5.30pm).

 

higher protein (meat listed as the first ingredient) kibble helps reduce the poo volume & resulting urgency to defecate. as does not using cereal based kibble. (brown rice based is better)

the nature diet is a better alternative to canned, which can have very little meat in it & be filled with undigestable (for a dog) cereals as well as odd additives.

 

(watch out for any kibble that lists propylene glycol as a preservative)

Edited January 31, 2014 by kronckew

[Guest Amber]

Hi

thanks for your reply. She gets walked 2 x a day, sometimes 3. I admit, because I have been off work on sick leave since after xmas, our routine is not as set as it could be.

 

she is happy to poop in the garden and gets lots of opportunities, last thing at night too. I tried a late night walk but no toileting and shewanted out at 4.

 

Maybe would have been better to stick to nature diet as high meat but it's so expensive I need to supplement with dried food. I've just bought 2 huge sacks of dried food too! Burgess sensitive with salmon. Still, good idea, maybe upping tbe nature diet to 2 a day and reducing kibble would help.

[Houndmommy03]

I may be misunderstanding, but does she only get 2 bathroom opportunities a day? If so, that may be the problem. Try taking her out more often. It also might take awhile to reset her system.

[Guest Amber]

Hi, no she gets plenty of bathroom visits per day. 2 walks plus visits to the back garden whenever she wants. She is happy to do her business either in garden or out on walks.

 

Just wish she would stick to daytime toilet trips!

 

My mum keeps saying to feed her only once a day at 5pm but I've always fed my previous greys 2 x a day. What do GTers think?

[Guest LazyBlaze]

Hi Amber,

 

I'm in the UK too and also feed my grey a mix of naturediet and kibble. When he came to us we initially fed him Burgess (greyhound variety, as recommended by the charity we adopted him from) and he did loads of poo every day (needed around 5 or 6 a day!). I'm not sure of the ingredients of your Burgess variety but if it has wheat then I think that's what causes the increased poo. Poo volume decreased markedly when we switched kibble to Taste of the Wild (pacific stream). We are currently transitioning to Millie's Wolfheart Riverside Mix to see how that goes (it's a good quality grain-free kibble made in the UK and slightly cheaper than the TOTW. If it doesn't work out we'll go back to TOTW). Neither are cheap but you do have to feed much less of them than the Burgess to get the necessary calories, and the ingredients seem a lot better. Blaze weighs 32kg and gets half a tray of Naturediet and a heaped mug of kibble at 8am and 5pm. Usually a filled kong or similar during the day and a chew of some sort in the evening (tripe stick or moo tube or such). He poos usually twice in the morning and once later in the day/early evening. Never needs to poo outside those times.

 

I would also walk your girl until she poos in the evening/before bed, make sure she knows that she has to poo before bedtime; this might involve lots of patience on your part until she gets the message: no poo, no bed .

 

And I feel your pain re the early starts. If you can get the toileting requirements consistent with waking hours though, then that should help a lot (you'll get to know that she's not desperate for the loo during the night). Then you can start training her to sleep a bit longer. We have got our heating coming on for half an hour at 4.45am at the moment as Blaze was starting to wake up then and agitate for his walk (usually he gets walked at 6am). This has fixed the problem, he must've just been getting a wee bit cold, even with his fleecy jammies on. So that's something to bear in mind too, that Fey might be feeling a bit chilly at 4am, and then just deciding she's awake and needs a poo.

 

Best of luck anyway, hope things settle themselves down soon.

 

 

Hi
thanks for your reply. She gets walked 2 x a day, sometimes 3. I admit, because I have been off work on sick leave since after xmas, our routine is not as set as it could be.

she is happy to poop in the garden and gets lots of opportunities, last thing at night too. I tried a late night walk but no toileting and shewanted out at 4.

Maybe would have been better to stick to nature diet as high meat but it's so expensive I need to supplement with dried food. I've just bought 2 huge sacks of dried food too! Burgess sensitive with salmon. Still, good idea, maybe upping tbe nature diet to 2 a day and reducing kibble would help.

[Roo]

Is it an option for you to take her on a longish walk at night? I used to take my boy on a quick jaunt (more of an "opportunity" than an actual walk) and think if he didn't poop he didn't have to. Then I realized he was pooping in his crate at night and, uh, "cleaning up" after himself, thus making himself sick. The vet said I should add a LONG walk at night - walk until he poops, then turn around and go home. Sometimes these were an hour, sometimes less (they became shorter once I started giving him a treat after he pooped - he realized that the sooner he goes, the sooner he gets a snack ). That solved the pooping at night problem. Might be worth a try for you!

[Guest Amber]

Hi Lazyblaze and Thanks for your great reply. I think I have been overfeeding her so im going to cut it down a bit.

 

The burgess supersensitive has no wheat in it , its 26% rice, 26% salmon and the rest is chicken meal and beet pulp. So yes there are fillers in it but now I have 2 sacks of the stuff I'd like to use it up. I think maybe if up the ND and reduce the dried I will use it up eventually!

 

After that I may try a grain free, CSJ do one called no grainer but I couldn't afford to feed that in addition to nature diet, so it would have to be kibble only if I change to a really pricey one.

 

Oh I'm all confused lol.

 

I think you're definitely onto something about the quality of the food producing so much waste though.

 

Ps wherabouts in Scotland are you? I'm in Aberdeen.

 

she wears a fleece at night and if she is in bed with me she sleeps better but I kind of would like her to stay in her own dog bed and not get up early doors.

[Houndmommy03]

Hi, no she gets plenty of bathroom visits per day. 2 walks plus visits to the back garden whenever she wants. She is happy to do her business either in garden or out on walks.

Just wish she would stick to daytime toilet trips!

My mum keeps saying to feed her only once a day at 5pm but I've always fed my previous greys 2 x a day. What do GTers think?

I figured she was getting walks and had access to the outdoors at other times but thought I'd mention it just in case. Good luck - those late night potty calls can really take their toll on a person!

[Guest LazyBlaze]

Hi Amber, I'm in Glasgow, so it's probably positively balmy down here at 4am compared to you up in Aberdeen! Blaze doesn't get in our bedroom at night (and I doubt he ever will as he gets growly if disturbed when resting - it would be too scary!), but he doesn't seem to mind. He and our other dog take their pick of beanbags, sofas and dog beds in the other rooms, but when it turns chillier the cold can definitely wake them up. I bought one of those fleece-covered microwaveable heated pads at Christmas and it has been a great hit, our terrier is always cosied into it in the mornings. But setting the heating to come on here and there in the wee small hours has definitely helped Blaze to sleep right through to 6 (and sometimes even 7.30 has been known on a weekend ).

 

I know exactly the dilemma about getting the food balance right within budget; there is always some sort of trade-off going on. I wanted to feed more Naturediet but can't afford any more than 1 tray a day for Blaze currently (and that's an increase on what he was getting before). I am always trying to work the sums and see what's the best we can do . I am hoping that the Millie's Wolfheart kibble works out as I think it's good value for a grain free. CSJ are a good company too, I will need to have another look at their grain free. We did try Skinner's Salmon and Rice and also their Duck and Rice before TOTW, but were still getting quite a lot of poo on those, so decided to try reducing the grain. I know Naturediet has some rice in it, but it's a very small amount, and I think the addition of ground bone to all their formulas helps to keep the poo compact. Anyway, it's an endless process it seems, trying to hit on the magic formula!

 

Let us know how Fey gets on. I agree with Roo above on making poos before bed non negotiable. Hopefully that will help regardless of the kibble situation.

[Guest Amber]

Thanks for all the great advice, I feel a lot more confident that we will crack this problem.

 

It's turned really horrible weather, freezing, rain and wind so I think I'd rather get up at 2am to let her out than tramp the streets tonight waiting for a poop! She hates going out in this as well , had to drag her out this a.m. and then 1 minute in, she refused to go on after being blasted by wind and rain.

 

Still, im hopeful that by cutting down on her rations that should help and she'll keep her figure too. Also, I had been mixing some cheaper dried food that I had in to try to use it up - CSJ Champ- as I had bulk bought that as well and I think all the grain in that one is not helping, so will give up on it.

 

I hate stuff going to waste but will donate it to a dog rescue.

[Guest Amber]

Quick update - I have good news Fey didn't get up until 7.40 this morning!

 

I've cut out the CSJ food and reduced the amount of food she gets and we did an 'enforced' walk at 9pm last night in the rain (she did not want to go due to weather, I had to be really firm to get her out) and she did a poop then, hooray!

 

My first unbroken night of sleep for a couple of weeks, feel so much better today.

 

Just hope it continues

[Guest Celestrina]

If you consistently keep her out until she poops, she'll get the hint.

[Guest LazyBlaze]

Huzzah! That's great news. Hope it continues and you enjoy the long lies .

 

Quick update - I have good news Fey didn't get up until 7.40 this morning!

 

I've cut out the CSJ food and reduced the amount of food she gets and we did an 'enforced' walk at 9pm last night in the rain (she did not want to go due to weather, I had to be really firm to get her out) and she did a poop then, hooray!

 

My first unbroken night of sleep for a couple of weeks, feel so much better today.

 

Just hope it continues

[Guest Amber]

Oh no, we've regressed back. Last night 4am and night before 3am. I have been walking her last thing at 9 but even after half an hour she didn't do anything.

 

since cutting down the portions and avoiding the csj food, her stool size is pretty small so not sure why she needs to go so urgently in middle of the night. Maybe it's a habit now?

 

I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to go back to work. Maybe shut her downstairs and just have to clear up accidents in the morning but obviously I don't want her toileting in the house. I don't think she would like a crate and I don't have space for one in my small house.

[Guest LazyBlaze]

Maybe it's just taking her a while to adjust from going from one meal a day in kennels to two a day? It does sound from what you've said that she is really needing in the night (and not just awake and deciding she may as well poo while she's up). Is there any way that you can shift her second feed of the day so it's a bit earlier (i.e. closer to the first feed)? Might be worth trying out giving her two feeds slightly closer together (say early morning and lunchtime) and see how that affects the poo times. Then with a bit of luck you could gradually stretch it out as she gets used to the routine of two meals a day, and out of the habit of 2am poo trips. I read somewhere that feeding just one large meal a day increased the risk of bloat (am not sure if this information is up-to-date and accurate, some of the other posters will know better), so if it were me I would still be inclined to keep the feeding split between two mealtimes, but maybe you can adjust these times a bit to get poo times that work for you both. It does take the poo a while to 'form' and be 'ready', so maybe it's not quite there at 9pm. Lovely discussion .

[Guest Amber]

Thanks for your continued input to the poo discussion!

 

Last couple of nights we seem to have cracked it. Mainly I stopped worrying about it, think that helped. Then decided to increase size of her breakfast and stagger walks to early morning, early afternoon and then late evening, but avoid taking her out at 6. Tbe big gap between pm and evening walk seems to help, as she eliminates fully at night time walk, rather than doing one at 6 and then not needing again till 4am.

 

Also stuck quite strictly to 8am and 5pm feeds and made them of equal portions.

 

So first day back at work and she was great whilst I was out from 8.30 - 1pm but made up for it later by eating half a plastic ball ( yeah , consuming it! I expect to be seeing it again tomorrow...) And then piddling on the rug when my back wad turned doing the dishes ! We had been out for a long walk only an hour before so don't know what that was about !

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

As far as the nights go, try creating a small "area" with her bed in it that she can sleep in. Don't allow her any more space then she needs to sleep. If she cannot get up and move around, she may not be so inclined to want a late night stroll. I foster and whenever we have a foster in the house, I have a small space next to the bed with a baby gate set up against the bed so the foster has about a 4' x 4' square space between the bed and the wall where he/she can sleep. I put them to bed and ignore them if they get up in the night whining or crying. So far, luckily, no accidents. A few times I will get up 30 minutes before my alarm and feed them early, but basically from 9:30pm - 6:15am is sleeping time, no if, ands or buts!