Bad Potty behavior.

[Newfy Smitten]

I've been training pets for 46 years and I've never run across this. My newf pup (Kodi) is just over 5mths old & has been potty trained for several months. Lately he has refused to eleminate at night, thuss going in the mud room before his morning outing. After 2 nights in a row I let him stay in the outside kennel, bringing him in the next morning and rewarding him everytime he eleminated outside (which I had done the previous 2 days). On that night he eleminated during the last outing, so I let him stay in his usual room (mud room, which had been cleaned & treated), where he promptly eleminated again. I even set my alarm for 5:00am instead of 6:00am. We went through the training & rewards again & he eleminated on final walk, although it didn't seem the proper amount. Lo & behold this morning he wakes me barking at 5:15am & I'm thinking "great he's got it", only to find out he pooed in his crate a lot & rolled in it making a real mess. It was solid, not fresh & he had been out just 4 hrs earlier. So, at 5:15 am I'm out hosing the dog (which he didn't like) and crate off. Does anyone have any ideas, besides the obvious funny ones, lol. Other wise he is a fantastic pup.

 

[charlieinnj]

What time(s) do you feed Kodi and when you say "eliminated" are you referring to poop? pee? or both?

 

[Newfy Smitten]

Kodi is fed at 6:30am & again at 1:30 pm. He doesn't eat everything at once so he is allowed to free eat until 8 pm & goes out when he ask usually around 8:30, again at 10:45 & one last time at 12:30 am just before I go to bed. Yes, by elimination I mean both pee & poop. He was house trained by 10 weeks & this not completely emptying his bowels on the last outing just started last week. He has 4 hrs between his last opportunity to eat & his last time to go out for the night.

 

[wrknnwf]

I wouldn't allow him to free feed. If he doesn't eat all of his meal, take it away. And, I would feed his afternoon meal at a later time. If he isn't finishing his meal, he's probably not hungry around 1:30 pm. Try around 4:00 or 5:00. Give him 20 minutes to finish his meal.

It could be that he is getting too much food or too much fiber/fillers in his food. How many cups per day is he eating? And what food are you feeding him?

Also, restrict his water about an hour before bedtime. Water helps food go through the digestive tract faster and of course needs to be eliminated through the urinary system.

Here's what one source says about adult dogs (it will be slightly different for young dogs):

"In the large intestines feces are formed and stored until the dog defecates. A dog's digestive tract is short compared to a human's digestive tract. Because of this, food passes through a dog's system quickly in comparison. From the time food enters a dog's mouth until the waste products are defecated from the body is generally between four to six hours for raw food and 10 to 12 hours for dry food.

There are many factors that determine how quickly a dog digests food. Some dogs have more active bowels than others. Other factors include the type of diet, with foods with more fiber moving through your dog's system fastest. The amount of water a dog drinks also influences the time of digestion."

 

[Newfy Smitten]

Kodi is eating 6 cups per day of Science Diet, it has proven the best for consistant bowels.

 

[luvxl k 9]

I did have a thought, didn't you say you just switched his food to Science Diet? Was it about the same time he started having problems?

 

[Newfy Smitten]

No! He's into his 3rd bag of SD & has been doing fine. He hasn't had any accidents for almost 2 months. If I didn't know better I'd say it's deliberate, lol. Thought about putting his crate in the bedroom so he'd rest to our breathing, but then he wants to be on the bed & the Mr. isn't having any part of that, lol. I just don't understand the sudden change after 3 mths of having the relief schedule down pat.

 

[Erika]

maybe try a different food....we use Natural balance and all 4 do fine with no accidents.

 

[BoundlessNewfs]

Our Brenna will not poop until she's taken her daily walk. Maybe he needs a walk in the evening, to "empty out" prior to bedtime?

 

[charlieinnj]

Personally, I'd stop the free feeding completely and then, I'd consider cutting the amount of food in half (and go from there). Kodi is almost to the 6 month mark where I stopped feeding my Newfs 3X a day and went to twice a day. I also always stopped the water after 8 pm.

What version of SD are you feeding? When it comes to his stool consistancy, I'm glad it's working for you but looking at most of the combinations, it's primarily a food containing so much corn and filler. If a food contains things a dog has trouble digesting, it's going to cause increased stools.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=1026&cat=all

 

[mareserinitatis]

I had a cat on science diet who very suddenly developed corn allergies at five or six months and developed an IBD because of it. She started having major litterbox issues, then other medical problems and we eventually had to put her down. Science diet has a lot of corn in it, and this can cause problems. (That said, one of my cats will *only* eat science diet and will starve himself, almost to death, rather than eat any other kind of food. Because he's got other medical issues, I figure corn allergy is low on my list of concerns for him.)

I'd say that if there seems to be a sudden problem, having the vet check things out is always a good idea. Maybe the pup got a parasite or developed an allergy. If you haven't changed anything and things were stable for months, then I would be inclined to think there's something wrong.

 

[Newfy Smitten]

Wow! There have been some really great suggestions & I'll try to comment on as many as I can. I went to Science Diet per suggestion of my vet 12 yrs ago (have been considering changing) partly due to protien levels. A lot of the more natural foods have a higher level of protien which I don't want until he's over a year old. I did make a home made food of boiled meat, veggies & fruits mixed with puppy kibbles as the breeder did until 8 wks ago when he quit eating it. Then I went to SD, giant breed puppy (protien 26%) which he has been eating fine & stools are firm. Eating & proper weight gain hasn't been the problem & hopefully his bowel timing was limited to those few nights. I agree with many that free feeding isn't the best option but it is a necessary evil with our life style * he generally doesn't eat anything after 7pm. As for exercise, he goes on 2 if not 3 walks & training sessions a day, an early morning walk/training & a late evening walk/training. The days that allow it there is also one early afternoon session along with a brushing every other day & one deep grooming once a week & a social class once a week. Good thing I don't have children at home anymore becouse Kodi takes my every free moment, lol.

 

[Newfy Smitten]

I had a cat on science diet who very suddenly developed corn allergies at five or six months and developed an IBD because of it. She started having major litterbox issues, then other medical problems and we eventually had to put her down. Science diet has a lot of corn in it, and this can cause problems. (That said, one of my cats will *only* eat science diet and will starve himself, almost to death, rather than eat any other kind of food. Because he's got other medical issues, I figure corn allergy is low on my list of concerns for him.)

I'd say that if there seems to be a sudden problem, having the vet check things out is always a good idea. Maybe the pup got a parasite or developed an allergy. If you haven't changed anything and things were stable for months, then I would be inclined to think there's something wrong.

Thanks for that. I know Science Diet has a lot of wheat flour & corn meal but I don't think thats it as I make a lot of home made gourmet pet treats using wheat flour & rice flour, but corn meal could be a problem. I'm really sorry to hear about your cat, it's very sad to have to put a pet down, I also like the bows in your Newfy's hair, very cute.

 

[mareserinitatis]

he generally doesn't eat anything after 7pm

Just thought of this: it takes kibble about 10-12 hours to pass through the system, so if you're feeding him at 1:30, that means he probably needs to go in the middle of the night.

 

[R Taft]

I wouldn't allow him to free feed. If he doesn't eat all of his meal, take it away. And, I would feed his afternoon meal at a later time. If he isn't finishing his meal, he's probably not hungry around 1:30 pm. Try around 4:00 or 5:00. Give him 20 minutes to finish his meal.

It could be that he is getting too much food or too much fiber/fillers in his food. How many cups per day is he eating? And what food are you feeding him?

Also, restrict his water about an hour before bedtime. Water helps food go through the digestive tract faster and of course needs to be eliminated through the urinary system.

Here's what one source says about adult dogs (it will be slightly different for young dogs):

"In the large intestines feces are formed and stored until the dog defecates. A dog's digestive tract is short compared to a human's digestive tract. Because of this, food passes through a dog's system quickly in comparison. From the time food enters a dog's mouth until the waste products are defecated from the body is generally between four to six hours for raw food and 10 to 12 hours for dry food.

There are many factors that determine how quickly a dog digests food. Some dogs have more active bowels than others. Other factors include the type of diet, with foods with more fiber moving through your dog's system fastest. The amount of water a dog drinks also influences the time of digestion."

I would have to agree to stop the free feeding.........Most of my newfie pups were happy feeding only twice a day at 5 month. We fed at 6am and 5pm. And if we required a third feed at midday.
And we also did a last potty walk at ten pm for our youngsters.
Hope all these answers have given you some help. good luck Ronnie

 

[Newfy Smitten]

Thanks to everyone. All of the suggestions have been good ones. Good news to report though, the early morning accidents have stopped. I'm hopping it was just a freakish schedule change or timing on my part that caused it. Heavens forbid my baby Newf would do anything wrong, . I think , not. Lana

 

[R Taft]

Great newfs Ronnie