Bad potty behavior

[Patrick Windsor II]

Hello,

I have a male golden doodle that is about 21 months old. He is been very good about going potty outside and we really have not had any accidents up until very recently. For the last several nights we have woken up to find multiple surprises in our living room. The consistency is not quite diarrhea, but it is not completely solid. I am not sure what is causing this, he typically sleeps at the foot of our bed, I am considering putting him in his cage at night and closing the door (I am sure he will not like that at all). 

Any advise would be appreciated.

[Shari Becker]

Has he had any other accidents during the day? When Lexi has mid-night accidents, she is generally sick.... Have you changed his food? Treats? Something that could make him unable to hold it in all night? Or did something stressful happen? I tend to think house trained dogs just don't start having accidents unless there's something more going on....

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

"...house trained dogs just don't start having accidents unless there's something more going on...."

Exactly. 

[Patrick Windsor II]

No none of that, he has had the same food for months.. I don't think anything stressful has happened..

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

When a dog who is potty trained suddenly starts having accidents in the house, the first thing you need to do is rule out a medical issue. In this case, it sounds like he may have a digestive issue or a parasite like giardia, so you need to get a stool sample to the vet ASAP and have them run a fecal. If a dog has an urgent need to defecate because he has an intestinal infection, putting him in his crate is not the answer. If a medical issue is causing this, it's not "bad behavior". He can't help it. 

If the fecal comes back positive, ask for Panacur, not metronidazole. And order Proviable DC, it's a good probiotic that will help. Do not buy Fortiflora from the vet.

Also, how long before bed does he get anything to eat? If he's getting treats or snacks fairly close to bedtime and this is a new thing, that might be causing the issue, especially if they are treats or foods he hasn't eaten before. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I see we've talked about giardia before. The advice is still good. :)
http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/please-help-i-am-at-a-loss...

[Patrick Windsor II]

I did not think this was giardia/parasite as it only seems to be an issue at night. I will get a stool sample to the vet ASAP. Thanks

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Is he getting more food in the evening than normal? Kids maybe sharing snacks with him? 

[Patrick Windsor II]

Nope, the kids know not to give him table food and we feed him when we eat which is about 5 or 6 pm. We add some cheese to his food, but we have been doing that for months.. 

[Shari Becker]

For whatever its worth, Lexi was suddenly peeing in the middle of the night. On her bed, on my bed, and it turned out to be a UTI. Definitely talk to the vet. And for now, maybe just give some pumpkin or sweet potato with food to help keep things er ... together.

[Laura and Angus]

I was thinking the same things. Our Angus (16 months old) will only cry at night if there is a problem and sure enough...we'll rush him outside and he'll go several times outside with a loose consistency. This has only happened a few times and if it was a couple nights in a row, we gave him boiled chicken and white rice and fat free greek yogurt for a couple days until his stools became the normal consistency again. I second Karen's advice on a vet visit, though. Better to rule that out first if it has never happened before...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm in the same part of the country, and I know that JD's evening routine has changed with the earlier darkness and the cold weather. We've moved his evening walk up to 4 p.m. when it's still light out, and then we spend more time on indoor play after dinner than we do in the Spring and Summer. This has definitely affected his body clock in terms of when he poops. Any similar changes in your dog's routine? 

[Patrick Windsor II]

No nothing like that.. His routine is pretty consistent and really has not changed.