Nighttime accidents--help!

[Carolyn Moore]

Our 4mos old Tuggy has started a very frustrating habit--he is having accidents every night in his room, no matter how often we get up to let him out. We give him dinner around 6pm every day and limit his water after that, always take him out at about 11pm and then will take him out around 3. Seems like it should be sufficient, but for the past week or so, we have been greeted by a couple of pee spots and poop every single night!! It's very frustrating, and we can't figure out what's going on. We had been putting him in his crate at night, but we started letting him be free in the laundry room thinking he just really hated the crate and that was causing the accidents--but he's still doing it. 

Any thoughts? We're tired of cleaning up 2-3 accidents every morning!! Help! 

[Kathy, Harley & Roxie]

Was he having the accidents in his crate?  If not, I would go back to crating him at night.  If he was having accidents in his crate...was his space in the crate to large? 

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Awww poor baby.... can you feed him earlier than 6 pm ??  Is he  getting enough exercise, I know when my doodles were younger and even now.  When they get to running around they always poop !!!!  I know exercise gets the bowels moving.  Maybe take him for a long walk or get him running around like crazy in the early evening.   Limiting the water is good,  I would do that too when I was crate training it helped.  My doodles never messed in the crate unless they had diarhhea (sp?)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm not a fan of putting a dog in a room behind closed doors, i.e. solid barriers; in a crate which is in an open area, the puppy can see and hear everything around him; closed up in a laundry room or bathroom where he can't see or hear what's happening can cause anxiety. I'm not sure if that's contributing to the accidents, but in general, it's just not the best idea IMO. I also agree with Kathy that the space may be too large; a dog won't usually soil in a small space because he doesn't want to be that close to his waste products. If there is room for him to potty and then move away from it, it contributes to accidents. Having enough room to get up and romp around may also contribute to accidents, especially if he has toys or chews in there. In the crate, there's not much to do but sleep.

Lastly, make sure that you are using a good odor neutralizer like Nature's Miracle on the places where he has accidents. Just cleaning it up is not enough. You may not be able to smell anything, but he can, and will return to those places.

[F, Calla & Luca]

That is so true about the closed room. When Luca was a pup I tried enclosing him in a bathroom. I still haven't painted over the scratch marks he made in the paint. I took him out right away. He never had a problem settling right in in the crate.

[Chelsie]

I know my puppy always hated his crate. I couldn't keep him in there because he was so uncomfortable. I don't think crates are for all dogs, so don't feel bad. I know Sam had a little stint of about a week where he would have accidents in the house after not having any for a long time, so it could maybe be normal? If he went in his crate, his crate could be too big. Sorry I couldn't be more help! I hope you get it figured out soon...but use a lot of Natures Miracle until then.

[Carolyn Moore]

Thanks for the input! I'm not sure where else we could logically put the crate other than the (main floor) laundry room, and honestly I'm hesitant to let him sleep out and about for fear of accidents given this past week! I think we will try putting him in the crate again tonight (he had two accidents in his crate before we let him out the last 5 nights) and see if that makes any difference. We do take him out for a walk after dinner and I stay home with the kids so he's out playing with us quite a lot (and running in our fenced backyard) throughout the day, so I don't think it's a question of enough exercise. 

I've never heard of Nature's Miracle, will have to look into that. I'm wondering if he is just thinking it's where he should go now that he's done it a few times? We are making sure to not really react, just immediately taking him outside and telling him to go potty outside and praising him profusely when he does it outdoors. So I'm not sure what we're doing wrong!! 

[Elizabeth, Bailey & Bruin]

Does your crate have a divider? Most crates have a wire wall that you can put up to make his crate only big enough for him to lay down in. Put the divider up so he can only lay down and not have anymore room. 

  About an hour or so before you go to bed, take him outside to play ball or frisbee...something to get him to run around.  Bailey always poo'd after running around. 

Natures Miracle can be found at Petsmart and Petco.  I think I have even seen it at Walmart and Target.

Good luck and keep us posted..

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You want to keep the crate somewhere where the puppy can still be part of what's going on, even when he's crated. Being in the crate should not mean being put into solitary, lol. If the crate is in the kitchen, bedroom, or other living areas, the dog can still be with the family even though he's confined. This comes in very handy later in life when there are guests, parties, etc., and you need to keep the dog from getting underfoot.  Many dogs continue to use their crates as a "safe place" even when they're housebroken adults, with the door left open, kind of like an indoor doghouse.

 

[Colleen, Jake & Baxter]

I have an 8 month old puppy that I adopted at 4  months. I agree with having the crate up in the bedroom.  These dogs want to be with their humans and I wouldn't be surprised if he has lots of some anxiety being left alone by himself at night. If you haven't been using Nature's Miracle to clean up previous accidents that is probably one of the reasons he keeps having them. Routine is so important for them.  Be encouraged and learn as much as possible from the puppy madness group.  This pup is relying on you to help him become the best doodle possible!

[Ann & Penny]

I would recommend increasing the amount of time you take him out to potty and cleaning the area he pee/pooped thoroughly with a product like Nature's Miracle like the others said. 

We got Penny at 3 months. We were lucky that Penny got the crating concept, but she hated being alone. At first, if we draped a blanket over her crate, she would be fine, but after a while, she would start crying. We would then put the crate in our bedroom and leave a pee pad in front of the crate so that we could easily let her out to pee. When we gave her a bigger space around her 4th month, we found that she would pee at night. What we did to solve her sleep in our room, not crated, and then just get up more often in the night to let her out. We gave her tons of praise and treats when she peed when we wanted her to. I also repeated "Pee" every time she peed and "Poo" every time she pooped. 

She eventually got the idea that we wanted her to pee/poo outside. If she pooped or peed in the house, I would put her in the bathroom while I cleaned the mess up (have a lot of paper towels and Nature's Miracle handy!), but I never made a fuss out of it.

This will take time. I was definitely at a point where I felt that she would never learn or that she would have accidents every day, but after the 5th month she NEVER had accident in the house (until she caught a case of the runs...but that's another story)...And she still has an issue with "excitement/submissive pee" but we think she'll grow out of it.

Best of luck! Don't loose hope! 

[Carolyn Moore]

Thanks for all the replies--we are definitely not giving up by any means, but certainly want to get to the bottom of what's causing this behavior! I think we will move the crate into our bedroom for the time being and see if that helps at all, and just continue to take him out frequently and hope that helps. I cleaned the (tile) floor with vinegar water tonight to hopefully eliminate any of the lingering smell in the laundry room and washed all his bedding again so it's fresh and clean for our new approach. 

Will keep you posted on the progress...!

[Carolyn Moore]

We have had Tug in his crate in our room for the last 3 nights, and no accidents...now I feel bad that he was just lonely in his room by himself! Lots of learning when you have a puppy for the first time!!