My dog poops in his sleep. He is a six year old Boston Terrier. I took him to the vet and he said his colon and sphinxter muscles were normal. When he sleeps he leaves little balls of poop on the furniture. He can go outside at any time and does not poop or urinate in the house. This only seems to happen when he is sleeping. Help!

Try low residue food and a little more time to make after he goes #2

He may be passing gas in his sleep and with it, comes those little hard balls. Is his poop extremely firm and hard normally? If so, check his kibble, the fiber content may be too high. You may need to switch to a kibble with less fiber. If this is not the case, are you feeding him any treats during the day? How is his weight? He may be getting a little too much food, so cut down on the treats and his food portions. Try to walk him as late as possible at night and make sure he is given the proper amount of time to defecate as completely as possible.

It could be one of a number of problems from being over weight. Evaluate him using the method at LongLiveYourDog.com - Life Span Study - Rate Your Dog Adjust the amount you are feeding to bring him into the ideal body condition. It may or may not help the specific problem, but will help other problems.

Is this just at night, or naps during the daytime? If you let us know just what you are feeding, we may better be able to suggest alternatives.

Have your vet check your dog for hemivertebrae

I took my 9-yr-old male Yorkie to the vet with the same problem. He has an enlarged prostate. She drew me a picture illustrating how the prostate presses against the bowel, so that when he goes out to poop, he thinks he is done, but he is not. When he sleeps or gets very relaxed, the remainder of the BM comes out. Her advice is to have him neutered so that the hormones will not be there to feed the enlargement. Hope this helps.