Guest Shermanator Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 (edited) First off, Chase has been through a lot in the past 3 weeks. We packed up the house, and moved across the country from AZ to PA. It took us 5 days to drive across the country with the dogs. (They did fantastic.) Chase is dog door trained and in AZ, he had access to the outside at all times. Now, in PA, we live in a rental - no fence, no dog door. He has done fantastic learning how to potty on his leash outside only at certain times of the day. We have had no accidents in the house, except the pooping in the kitchen overnight. He is doing well going potty outside. Its a bit of an event, as he is super distracted by all the new sounds and sights and smells. For example, grass is a new thing to him. New dogs are all around, cars, other houses, etc. He's always been a little bit of a distracted spaz, and he's really been distracted lately. But, he potties in the backyard after a bit of walking, and me constantly telling him to focus! He poops a lot, at least several times a day. He usually poops 1 time during the day, after dinner and now consistently in the kitchen overnight. He goes out to potty several times during the day as we try to establish a potty schedule. He always goes out after dinner (around 5:30) and at night before bed (around 11.) We lived in a single story home, now we live in a 2 story home, and he is pertrified of the steps, and refuses to go up or down them, so he cannot tell us if he has to potty overnight. We have been in the new home 1 1/2 weeks, and there are boxes everywhere, and a little bit of chaos in the house from all the unpacking. But, Chase has adapted amazingly, and has returned to eating normally, sleeping normally, and playing with his toys with gusto. He appears to have adapted well to his new home. He also is not vocal, so he wouldn't bark to wake us up if he has to potty, anyway, I have never heard him bark in the 10 months we have had him. He's a good boy, and I'm not mad at him, its one thing to hold his bladder overnight, but holding his poop in is a different story. At least its in the kitchen on the tile, and not on the carpet. He has been pooping in the kitchen consistently for several nights. It is always overnight somewhere between 11pm - 5am. What do I do? Do I sleep downstairs to see if he will wake me up to poop? I don't discipline him, since I cannot catch him in the act. What is my next step? Oh, and we do not have a crate for him. None of our dogs have ever been in a crate. Also, if he has to go, he has to go. Wouldn't he poop in the crate? Thanks! Chase and Kelly Edited October 28, 2015 by Shermanator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 The simple solution is to make sure he poops on that last out around 11 pm. You could also try adjusting his feeding schedule so he needs to go earlier. And yes, sleeping where he is would be helpful in the interim. Sounds like you would also benefit from increasing his exercise in general. Does he have a place to really stretch his legs and run, at least a few times a week? Can you play fetch or tug with him or use a long line or flirt pole? It will help lower his level of distraction on walks so he can focus on doing the stuff that needs to be done a bit better. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Greyt_dog_lover Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Dont let him have free reign during the night. Find a small area in the bedroom (just large enough for his bed) and block it off. What I find works best is between the bed and a wall or dresser put the bed down and block the exit with a baby gate. Have done that with 30+ fosters. Works like a charm. They go to sleep and dont have a chance to get up and moving around. They sleep through the night, so the whole "gotta go" typically doesnt happen if they arent up and moving around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Dont let him have free reign during the night. Find a small area in the bedroom (just large enough for his bed) and block it off. What I find works best is between the bed and a wall or dresser put the bed down and block the exit with a baby gate. Have done that with 30+ fosters. Works like a charm. They go to sleep and dont have a chance to get up and moving around. They sleep through the night, so the whole "gotta go" typically doesnt happen if they arent up and moving around.Note that the OP said he is terrified of the stairs in their new 2 story house so until they can get him through that, he can't sleep in the bedroom. Agree that once they have he likely won't have this issue. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Greyt_dog_lover Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Didnt really notice that. Not really much difference though, teaching stairs takes minutes, not days. a few minutes each time you need to use the stairs and within a couple of days the hound will be able to do stairs. Heck, even broken leg hounds in casts learn open face stairs at my house within 3-5 days. Dont worry about teaching stairs, they get the idea quick enough.Just be sure to be consistent when you train. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeofNE Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Most dogs need to walk a bit before they'll poop. Here is my "I've never had a yard and been leash walking for 17 years" schedule 1) Quick pee break as soon as I wake up Coffee for me, breakfast for the dog 2) 30 minute walk I go to work and do not return for 9 hours 3) Quick pee break, and sometimes he will also poop Dinner for the dog, and a chewy bone. 4) One hour after dinner, a short walk. He usually poops again at this time 5) Last outs before bedtime is a short pee break Now, bear in mind my dog is NOT a dog who needs a walk to get pooping--but the timing of meals and walks is important. He will PROBABLY pretty consistently have to poop after each meal. I'd go along with confining the dogs to one room at night. And also, stairs are not that big an obstacle. You can teach him that in an hour, specially if there are two people in the house! Good luck! Quote Susan, Hamish, Mister Bigglesworth and Nikita Stanislav. Missing Ming, George, and Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GreyOrchard Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 It normally take about 4 hours for food to run through a dog's system. With that in mind, give him his last meal late in the afternoon for the coming weeks. About 4 hours later, take him for a longish walk. Let him get in the habit of toileting on that last long walk. As he becomes more and more reliable, then begin to reduce the walking time. It's ok if there is a setback here and there. Just be consistent. It sounds like he is pooing a lot, which suggests there is a lot of unused bulk in the food. You might want to slowly start switching to a food that has few preservatives and colourings in it and has a slightly different content. You might look and see if the food you are using has a lot of corn or beet pulp in it, which is hard to digest and/or used for filler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KickReturn Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 (edited) I'll echo what other have said but in a more direct way. Every single evening take Chase out between 9:00 PM and 10:00 PM and walk him for an hour. Then come back on here and let us know if he is still pooping in the kitchen overnight. Edited October 28, 2015 by KickReturn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobesmom Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 Take all the advice given, sort through it and use what works for you. In the meantime - this is a HUGE change -expect some issues for a while. When that time has passed, figure it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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