[Lily22200]

Hi,
I adopted a male "shelter" dog last week... a young (less than a year but probably older than six months according to the vetinarian) black lab mix. He's a great dog... affectionate, obedient, and seems to be housetrained. He gets walks and bathroom breaks up to 5 times a day so maybe he doesn't have the opportunity to pee/poop in the house! Plus, I'm crate-training him. He's doing great with that too... goes in his crate after I toss a few small treats in, eats them, sits right down and promptly goes to sleep. The crate is in my bedroom, and I've been practicing crating him both while I'm there getting dressed or watching TV, and for short periods of me being gone (to the grocery store etc). The only time he is in the crate for a long period is at night. He goes in there willingly and settles right down to sleep...

BUT... he continually wakes up around 12-2 am and then 3-6 am to go poop/pee! He whines and scratches to be let out, and then we go straight outside, he goes, and we go straight back to bed... him in the crate of course. SO, I know he's only waking up to go potty and not because he wants attention. He has not yet whined or scratched and then not gone to the bathroom, so I know he is only doing it because he has to go. However, I'm being driven nuts by these nocturnal outings!

What is causing this? He has ample oppportunity during the day to "go" since he gets walked two long walks and then 3 potty breaks a day----morning, mid morning, noon, midafternoon, dinner and then just before bed. Also, I'm feeding him at 8 am, first thing in the mornign and then around 3 pm... so I don't think it is his feeding schedule!

We visited the vet on Monday to get a thorough checkup and he's perfectly healthy except for mild kennel cough. He's on an antibiotic for that... could this be what is causing it? He has 3 more days on the antibiotic.. will this stop when the medicine is all done?

I don't want to reinforce a bad habit of getting up in the middle of the night to let him out, but I also, of course, don't want him to soil his crate.

Please help!

[labman]

This is a tough problem. Most dogs can go over night by 2 months or a little longer. Much of what you are doing is what I would suggest. You might reduce the problem by cutting out the after after about 7 PM. That, along with getting him off the antibiotics, may help the urinations. He could simply going ahead with the bowel movement while he is out. Post back in a few days and let us know how he is doing. If he is still having problems, I will suggest some other things.

Thank you for giving him a home. It breaks my heart to know how many nice dogs are killed for lack of a good home.

[Lily22200]

Thanks for the help! I actually ended up taking him to the vet because he began having diarrhea! He's now on special food (Canine ID by Hills), an antiobiotic and Kaopectate! Hasn't pooped in 24 hours and I've gotten two full nights of sleep:):):)

I only hope when he gets all better that he begins pooping again only during the day! :)

[Kissychks]

My dog also just went to the vet for diarreah and the vet gave us the Canine ID and antibiotics. I was just wondering, how long did he tell you to leave your dog on the Canine ID? Until he had a solid stool, or longer?

Props to you on the crate training. I have been trying, but I fear my inconsistencies aren't helping. If I leave the house I am typically gone for 4+ hours at a time and I can't just leave him in there for that long for the first few times!

[Lily22200]

Hi there,
The vet gave me 5 days worth of antibiotic and 10 cans of the ID, so that's five days of treatment. He's been having more solid stool lately, which is great! He has two more days of the food and antibiotic, and then I'm hoping he'll get on a good regular schedule--I walk him 4 or 5 times a day, so theoretically it should be OK. He also has slept through the night--it is clear to me now that he was waking up and whining to get out of the crate because he had to "go," and not because he wanted to just get out of the crate.

For the crate training--I've been putting him in there while I'm in the room with him, ironing or watching TV or getting dressed and then letting him out when I'm done. Also, for the first few days I would leave for 20 minutes and come back, then 30, then an hour, and so on. That has seemed to help him adjust, so its something you might want to try. That said, I came home today after being gone for 2.5 hours and he'd pulled the towel off the top of it (he has a wire crate and I put the towel on top of it to create a darker, more denlike feeling) and his blanket inside was all messed up... I think he had been whining and scratching and going nuts in there! He's done that a few times, but whenever I go upstairs to let him out once I get home, he is sitting quietly. So I think he must freak out for a few minutes and then settle down. I feel terrible--I know the dog has to adjust to YOUR life, not the other way around, but does anyone else feel guilty about them whining/crying as you leave?