[Treyfeezy]

has anyone had problems with a puppy pooping in the crate almost everyday? is there anything that can be done or will she just grow out of it? it gets very frustrating not to mention i gag like crazy when i clean it

 

[Cookies Mom]

How long is she in the crate? How big is her crate?

 

[Treyfeezy]

she's in there about 8 hours while i'm at work i can't remember the exact demensions of the cratre but it's not very big

 

[bearsmom]

Are you feeding her in the morning before leaving for work? If so, when mine were young I would get up a 1/2 hour earlier than I normally did. I would feed her then wait 20 minutes and walk her until she poos. Then get ready for work and when your ready to leave for work take her out again and walk her until she poos again. Usually a pup will have to poo more than once.

 

[Treyfeezy]

I'm already doing that we are up between 5:30 and 6 in the morning and I don't leave for work till 7:30 she goes poo 2 -3 times in that time frame I tried not feediong her the morning a couple of times last week and she still did it. I guess the thing that frustrates me the most is my dad got a pup from the same liter and has no problem with him going in the crate

 

[mom to many]

What are you feeding her? if it's not a high quality kibble, that could be why she's having to go mid day. A higher quality kibble means less pooping in general. Also, if you're in the middle of a food switch, even a gradual one, that could be causing a little stomach upset (which should subside over time) which would be causing more frequent bowel movements.

Hopefully it's something that will stop on it's own in a few days-a couple of weeks. Definitely look into what you're feeding her though. My dogs (one is a puppy) are eating DVPs natural balance Potao & Duck and you could set your watch by their poop schedule (isn't that a lovely thought :wink: ). It definitely helps with housebreaking and such!

 

[Treyfeezy]

maybe that's it I am changing food she going from the nutro natural lamb&rice to the nutro ultra which seems to be the best food I could find around here everything else is purina, iams, or one of the others that don't seem to be much good hopefully it will stop in a week or 2

 

[bearsmom]

Once I switched Bear's food his poo was like 1/2 size (royal canin bulldog).

 

[Bustersmommy]

Could be the food, could be that the crate is to big which leaves room for her to poo
could be not enough time outside before you leave to do her business.She may have
to be let at noon,if she is still young they need to be let out often.Maybe you could have
someone let her out during the day.

You need to figure out what it is because this is something they will NOT grow out of and
the more this continues then she will think it is ok to go in her crate and then you have a big problem
on your hand.Nip it in the butt now :wink:

 

[cannon]

How old is she?

 

[Treyfeezy]

she's about 9 weeks

 

[Francis]

Small Space

Try blocking off her crate so she only has room to stand up, turn around, and lay down. She won't want to crap and then lay down in it. Does she also pee during the day?

 

[cannon]

I don't have the numbers off hand, but I think she might be too young to be in the crate for that long. She does not have the muscle control yet to hold it. I think they say seven or eight months until they can SAFELY hold it for a solid eight hours. I would think you might be breeding some negative feelings about the crate this way, with her stuck in her stuff. Maybe you could come back at lunch, or close her in a room an paper train until she can hold it.

Does anyone else know the ages? Mo was able to hold it at about five months. FYI

 

[PaulaEdwina]

They generally can't hold it that long at 9weeks. She needs someone to spell her in the middle of the day.

Paula

 

[Lizzie]

she's about 9 weeks

9 weeks is WAY too long to expect her to hold it for 8 hours.

When Jesse was that young, hubby had to go home on lunch break to let him out. Do you have anyone that can go over just to take the puppy out in the middle of the day?

She will eventually gain enough control to hold it for that long, but at 9 weeks she simply can't.

 

[Andrew]

I agree that is a long wait for nine weeks. After three to three and a half months you can start having goals with potty training and some pups are quicker than others.

Make darn sure that your crate is not to big though. I know it tears at the heart strings but they should only have enough room to get up, turn around, and lay back down. You can count on having to clean up a poopy puppy but they get with the program real quick.

I'll never forget coming home to our AB standing on her tippy toes trying desperately to stay away from her poop. Potty trained by three and a half months though so well worth the smell and cleaning. Good luck.

 

[msvette2u]

I don't have the numbers off hand, but I think she might be too young to be in the crate for that long. She does not have the muscle control yet to hold it. I think they say seven or eight months until they can SAFELY hold it for a solid eight hours. I would think you might be breeding some negative feelings about the crate this way, with her stuck in her stuff. Maybe you could come back at lunch, or close her in a room an paper train until she can hold it.

Does anyone else know the ages? Mo was able to hold it at about five months. FYI

I agree. That baby puppy is too young to be left for 8 hours without relieving herself. :shock:

 

[msvette2u]

They generally can't hold it that long at 9weeks. She needs someone to spell her in the middle of the day.

Paula

Yes please get someone to let her out, or leave her in a larger spot with a good place to go potty (laundry room with newspaper for instance) don't put her in a smaller crate, that will just force her to sit in her own doo doo.

 

[Treyfeezy]

thanks for the info everyone I don't really have anyone that could go over there evry day I can try to make it out on my lunch break but sometimes thats just not possible

 

[PaulaEdwina]

thanks for the info everyone I don't really have anyone that could go over there evry day I can try to make it out on my lunch break but sometimes thats just not possible

Unfortunately the more she soils in the crate the more it becomes a habit. The next best thing is to set her up so she has a place to soil and a place to lie down. Maybe a dog-sized litter box? Think of it like house training but training in the box. Do not make the crate so small that she will have to stand in her mess - this technique works to housetrain yes, but it requires the dog is able to hold it and has inhibitions against soiling his/her bed. In this case you'll just be dooming your puppy to be uncomfortable because she WILL soil.

So I'm thinking:

Extra large crate and a litter box with litter or paper or whatever you'd like. When you are home make her potty in the litter box (take her to it when she needs to go) so she learns to use it when you're not home. This means that if you're house training take the litter box with you outside. Later when she's got enough muscle control to hold it you can phase out the litter box - or not. One nice thing about litter training a dog is that if you're ever stuck somewhere and can't get home to let her out she'll soil in that particular place as opposed to somewhere in the house.

Paula