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Old September 18th, 2014, 12:33 PM
zipperhead zipperhead is offline
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Location: Cambridge, ON
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Evening Relief :-)

We have a 2 year old dog named Holly. She is a bulldog crossed with something... but we've never really known what. Super sweet dog with a huge personality.

Crate training results with her were mixed. She never really developed an aversion to pooping and peeing in her crate. We removed the crate and over time, she got better to the point where we didn't really have significant issues with messes in the house. The occasional mess.... but occasional enough that it wasn't a huge issue.

So now she isn't crated at all, has the run of the main floor of the house during the day (and never messes during the day while we are working), and the same at night. However, for about the past 3-5 months she's been making a habit of peeing and pooping pretty much every night. Further.... she eats her poo when she poops in the house... so all that is left are some telltale marks.

There are some nights when she won't mess.... last week she went 4 days straight with no messes... and then it started up again and we have had 4 nights in a row with pee and poo to clean up in the morning.

We are hesitant to crate her at night, as when she is crated and messes in the crate, then she is covered in it by morning.... which creates a bigger problem than just cleaning up a mess of the floor.

She has access to our yard, and goes out dozens of times per day, so it's not like she doesn't have ample opportunity to do her business outside. We've tried limiting water in the evenings and making sure she eats early... nothing seems to have an effect.

I'd love some suggestions if anyone has any thoughts.
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Old September 18th, 2014, 02:33 PM
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Marty11 Marty11 is offline
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I have an 8 year old Boston that is similar. What helps her is a walk at night to do all her pees and poos and usually that solves it. She too will eat her poo at night as if to get rid of the evidence......ha ha. I also find more accidents in the fall cause she does not like going out on the dewy grass it's too cold and wet for her poor little feet.
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Old September 18th, 2014, 09:13 PM
rhynes rhynes is offline
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When you say crate trained, were you locking the dog in the crate? Is the crate no longer accessible?

My gf's minpin is crate trained, and he USED to be crated during the day but I hate seeing dogs locked in a small box, he now has full run of the house. The crate is still there, the door is never locked but it's now become his safe zone. If he's stressed or on a meaty bone, that's where he goes and just leave him be - try to take his bone while he's in his safe zone, and he becomes a 9 pound cujo. If the door closes and he can't get in, it'll stress him out. Maybe your dog needs a safe zone. Her 80 pound lab has a crate for the same reason, we took the door off hers, neither are ever locked in...

There are many reasons that dogs eat poop, sometimes they are missing something in their diet, could be something robbing him of nutrients like worms or other, sometimes it's just because... What do you feed your dog? Brand of food is another big reason for dogs eating their own (or other dogs) poop, most of the store brands are junk, what goes in tends to come out. Many cheap brands produce brown on the outside, slimy yellow on the inside. Yep, sometimes you have to check the poop.

With the lab cross, she lived on a farm before coming to the city. Her diet consisted of ol roy - still have a full bag in the garage that is going in the garbage. She was 20 pounds overweight and always hungry and her poop was never "hard". Now she's on Acana, gets 2 cups a day - 1 cup per feeding at 6 am and 6 pm - and isn't hungry all the time. She's lost 8 pounds in the process. They've both had rare accidents in the house, and their poop will never leave marks on the floor. If yours is, maybe it's the food.

Just some thoughts.
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