Middle Of The Night Turnout Help

[KickReturn]

A small issue with what is turning out to be a wonderful dog. Honor is asking to go out between midnight and 2:00 AM too many nights. When he goes out he will poo first, then pee.

 

His daily feeding and exercise schedule is:

7:30 AM breakfast followed by turnout

9:00 - 10:30 AM walk

1:00 PM turkey neck or pork neck in the yard

4:00 - 5:00 PM walk

5:00 PM dinner

8:30 - 9:30 PM walk, always includes a poo, sometime two.

9:35 PM bedtime (dogs and people).

 

He is raw fed 1 pound of ground chicken or turkey and vitamin supplement at each meal. Gets a can of sardines or tuna with dinner. He has from 5 to 8 bowel movements per day which seems a lot but the total amount seems right - it's just a little bit each time. As with raw fed dogs they are very small and firm. Sometimes he produces nothing more than a couple of acorn sized balls. He doesn't seem to strain unduly.

 

Any tips to stop the 2:00 AM visit to the yard? Is there a reasonable schedule/dietary adjustment I can make? Yes we go to bed early, but I would have no complaint if he needed to go out at 5:00 AM. The whole thing is a bit strange because on nights he sleeps through, he is in no hurry to get out in the morning and will eat breakfast before asking to go out. He is well house trained and no accidents, but I don't want to push him. IMO if a dog asks to go out then they should go out.

 

I believe what is coming out of him in the middle of the night is the last remnants of his breakfast. I don't think his dinner reappears until the next day.

Edited January 26, 2017 by KickReturn

[Guest Cilla]

I have the same issue with my 6yo Max, only during the last two weeks he's asking to go out between 1 and 3 a.m.. I can't understand why too, there are nights he sleeps until 7 a.m. without asking to go out and other nights he's calling us.

 

I thought maybe it's because in the last couple of weeks the weather became colder and the house too is a bit colder during the night? He sleeps on the sofa with his own blanket but that's the only reason I could think about, nothing has changed in his schedule.

 

How long have you had Honor? When we got Max first he used to get up very early (around 4 a.m.), I thought it was because of the previous training schedule he had at the track, maybe they feed and let the dogs out very early before training them. It took about one month for Max to understand that there was no reason to get up at 4 a.m.

[macoduck]

You could add a little bit of corn to his meal. You'd get a better idea of which meal is coming out at 2am.

[XTRAWLD]

He's training you well. I ran into this "phase" with Kasey, who would ask to go out in the middle of the night for about a week. The yard was dark so I couldn't verify if he actually did his business, but later figured out he was prolly wanting to go out to eat poopsickles. Ended that after slipping on the deck when it was dark out trying to supervise him.

 

I would honestly stop catering to his whims. He's getting into a habit and routine that wasn't happening before, so get him back on track.

 

Ryder's last pee is 930pm and we don't go back out until 8am. He is also fed similarly to Honor (although I understand each dog's system can be different). If Ryder asks me in the middle of the night though, I know that something is up and I will go, but I will refuse to do it night after night unless he's sick.

Edited January 26, 2017 by XTRAWLD

[Jerilyn]

Is he going out to go potty or is he just going out to look around and just happens to go while he's out there?

Lila went though a "midnight roamer" phase last summer. She usually only asks to go out when she has to potty but for a couple weeks she'd just go out there and sniff around. Because she is so good about asking, I didn't want to ignore her so I'd put her out. But all I would do is open the doors for her, no pets, no treats, no talking to her. I didn't want to make it any more fun for her. She eventually got over it.

[KickReturn]

Honor is all business. Goes straight out, poo followed by pee, and then runs straight back to bed.

[Guest Cilla]

I tried not to pay attention to Max but he peed in front of the door, I believe if Honor really needs to go would do the same

[KickReturn]

I am thinking of changing his food to kibble. Hate to do it but I need to change up his digestive pattern. I am not looking forward to the farting and the giant piles. Up until now raw has been so good for all my dogs.

[Guest Rainy]

I find Kala needs to poop more often when on kibble...I've also noticed with her that tinned sardines/tuna don't agree with her stomach, and she will get the runs.

[GeorgeofNE]

None of my dogs have ever been gassy nor had "giant piles" eating kibble. I think Buck has farted twice since I got him three years ago, and George never had gas in seven years.

 

If his stools are very hard, perhaps it is a bit painful? Is there something raw feeders use to soften the output?

[DofSweetPotatos]

Try the tin of fish at a different meal. That may be causing the 2a.m. out.

 

Are you adding any organ meats to the feed?

[Guest Amber]

What does he get at breakfast? Are you splitting the 1lb of mince over two meals?

 

When I first got Fey she wanted out at 3am for pooping as well. In the kennels she came from she was fed only once a day and changing this to x2 a day seemed to cause the 3am outing.

 

Now she just gets 1 or 2 chicken drumsticks for breakfast and then her 1lb of raw mince in the evening...I found that giving bones at lunchtime or in the afternoon also seemed to cause night time pooping.

 

Maybe you could give him the neck for breakfast early doors and the 1lb of mince in the evening and see if that helps?

 

Oh just re-read and see that he gets 1lb at each meal. Maybe you are over-feeding him slightly or there is just too much bone in the ground minces?

 

How about giving a half pound plus the fish, plus the neck at breakfast and then 1lb at dinner and see if that's enough for him. Or with the money saved on the half pound of mince, buy a mince with higher meat content and less bone in it?

 

Also, I think that white meat minces cause more multi-poops than red meat ones, maybe its the high bone content. You could try tripe, beef, or lamb minces and see if that is any better. The red meat mince also has more fat and protein in it, so I usually buy them as found my dog lost condition on chicken minces, unless it's mixed with tripe. (I'm assuming you're buying from a raw feed supplier)

Edited February 11, 2017 by Amber