3- Month Old Puppy Poops in the Middle of the Night, Advice?

[Casey]

Hi, all! Our 3-month old Stanley still has to wake up once in the middle of the night to go poop (and pee). He is crate trained, and he enjoys his crate (he goes in on his own when he is tired or in need of a break). We would really love for him to sleep through the night. I have read about just letting him "whine it out." But, that seems terrible when he legitimately has to go out to poop. In the middle of the night, we are ALL business. We don't play, and he doesn't try to play with us. He goes straight to his corner to do the deed, then he comes straight back in and gets in his den to fall back to sleep. Maybe I should just be glad that he is crate- and house-trained and lets us know when he needs to go.

So ... will he ever sleep through the night without having to poop? (He's slept through maybe 3 times since we've had him).

He eats a very high quality food (2 meals a day at 10 and 4, per the vet's suggestion), and he doesn't overeat. We are very particular about his schedule.

At this age, is it normal for him to have to poop in the middle of the night? Also, how many times a day does your young puppy poop? Stanley goes more each day than our previous adult dog, but I am under the impression that it's normal for pups to go a little more often.

[Casey]

Thanks for the advice!  It sounds like the 3x  a day feedings will be better for our little guy. 

We pick up his water around 7 every night.  We'll be sure to take him out for a walk a little later in the evening to be sure the exercise puts things into motion! 

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Casey ~ is takes some time getting these little guys on schedule and their system to mature.  If you are both working, it is probably easier two times a day, unless someone is able to be there for the mid time lunch.  I went pretty much by the bag as far as how much to feed for the day and divided that between the number of meals.  I fed 3 times a day until about 5 months. Now that they are adults - they eat at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m - when we eat and we all eat at the same time.  Just easier that way and they are more relaxed when eating if we are sitting at the table eating also. Once you get him on a schedule, I bet all the potty issues at night will smooth out.  He is still very young.  Hang in there.  There is so much great info on this site especially for new puppy owners.  Be sure to check out the groups section on the main page and join as many as you like.  Karen is the food guru and has helped all of us immensely, so be sure to join the Food Group too. Welcome.

[Moe]

My pup needed quite a long walk in the evening before she would poop. If I didn't put the time in to walk her she would wake up in the middle of the night. Try a really long evening walk and see if that makes a difference. 

[Wendy and Myla]

I agree with all of the advice here - you have to adjust.  When we first got Myla, we fed her three times a day but found very quickly that she did not eat her lunch meal fully - she just nibbled.  Because we were very structured with her and wanted to be consistent and lunch time was very hard to remember, we changed her feedings to twice a day (probably around 3 1/2 months).  I honestly believe that when you feed twice a day, you have to have the two meals spaced evenly (twelve hours in between meals).  We feed Myla at 7:00 am and 6:00 pm daily. We feed Myla Acana and although  Acana suggests 3 cups a day for Myla's weight and activity level, we have found that she does well on 2 1/4 cups a day (as an adult - puppies are different).  We feed her 3/4 cup in the morning and 1 1/2 cups at night.  She has never gone to the bathroom in the middle of the night since the age of three months and for the last two years has gone poop three times a day - pretty well on schedule (unless she goes for a car drive and then I know that she has to go within the hour :).  I think that your schedule of twice a day might work if you space it more evenly and of course, exercise will always make a dog to the bathroom!  Good luck!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Sometimes it is individual development.  I have 4 grandchildren ages 3, 4, 5,and 6.  The 5 year-old limits her fluids after 6 p.m. and someone still has to wake her at 11 or so and take her potty or she will wet the bed. Not one of the others has a problem.