[aj55]

He is a 7 month old black lab male. He has to go pee at least twice a night at approx 3am and again at 6am. We also let him out beofre bed at approx 10-11pm. The last couple of nights he has had to go pooP right at 6am. The other night he was really wanting out of the bedroom, he took all his toys and blanket to the door, he even tried pulling his bed over the door. I thoguht he wanted to eat so I fed him like I usually do and left the bedroom door open so he could come back and sleep. I heard he had finished his food and it was probably 2 minutes whne I went to the living room and he had pooped on the carpet. It was a lot larger than his regular poop. I should have read him better but I didn't. This morning the same thing, he was moving everything to the door, this time I let him out and it took him awhile but he did poop. My question is how do we get him on our schedule w/o putting him a crate at night as he is in one during the day. Also how much water should my dog be drinking? I don't think he drinks enough and was wondering if there might be signs that he would show if he isn't getting enuff water. TIA

[labman]

At 7 months he should easily be going over night. I wouldn't worry about him drinking enough water, although that could be a problem. Instead, I would shut him off, perhaps about 7-8 at night. This includes closing the lid to any toilets he has access to. Continue the out at bed time. This should eliminate the middle of the night trips. The early rising could be another problem. When we travel with the dogs, we never leave a wake up call. Aside from blocking the sun in the morning, I am not sure there is much more to do. We have a plant light on a timer. We once discovered it was set for 5 AM, and the dog was waking us up then. We reset the timer.

I haven't paid that much attention to how much water Labs drink/spill. It could be a quart or to a day.

A large, soft bowel movement certainly isn't from not drinking enough water. He may have managed to forage something, or some of your table food may have disturbed his digestion. The less dogs get besides their regular chow, the more regular their bowel movements. If you are feeding him a concentrated, meat based chow, that also reduces the need for bowel movements. I think most Labs would rather have the cheap, bulky stuff they get more of. Like people, dogs can pick up a virus and disturb their digestion too.

Rethink the crate at night. The dog may be happier in its den than loose in the house. It relaxes, it feels safe in its den. It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving its self. Let him get up and move around, and his body cranks up and soon he needs to go. Crating him may be the best way to prevent an early awaking.

A good example of this rest, then move was when 2 puppies ago, I ran into a friend with her service dog at Wal-Mart. We down stayed our dogs and started talking. Good practice for them both to leave one another alone. Of course many people passing by stopped and talked. It was an hour before I was able to move on. About the time I made it to the back of the store, Pepper had enough exercise and humped up her back for a bowel movement.