[Pearlgirl]

I have a six month old pug puppy named Pearl. She poops 5 times every single day. Her poops are solid and good-sized, and they are FREQUENT. I feed her half a cup of Nutro Lamb and Rice Puppy formula dry kibble in the morning and half a cup at night. I have been adding a little Iams gravy in the evening for flavor and about a tablespoon of Nutro wet puppy food in the morning. She weighs 12 pounds.

Why does she poop so much? How can I reduce the amount of poop she is producing?

As a second problem, she is proving very difficult to housebreak. Despite all the techniques I have tried, I still can't get her to pee and poop on her puppy pad in the kitchen. She just seems to have no interest in learning where to go to the bathroom. Can you help?

[labman]

Since you are already feeding concentrated chows, I doubt there is much more to do. I had a dog that just seemed to be less efficient, requiring more Pro Plan than similar dogs. You might try a different protean source. Perhaps a chicken or beef diet might better match her personal chemistry.

As for housebreaking, start over again with the basics. Let her spot be her pads.

Housebreaking starts before you get home with the new puppy. If you don't have
A crate, buy one. I prefer the more enclosed, den like plastic ones. Skip the
Bedding. At first it gets wet, and later it can be chewed into choking
Hazards. A wire rack in the bottom will help keep the puppy up out of
Accidents at first. They are available with the crates, but a piece of closely
Spaced wire closet shelving from a home supply place is cheaper. If you
Already have a metal crate, covering it may help. Just make sure you use
Something the puppy can't pull in and chew. Dogs that start in crates as
Little puppies, accept them very well. Never leave an unattended puppy loose
In the house. If nobody can watch it, put it in the crate. I suggest letting
The dog have its crate all its life.

Choose a command and spot you want it to use. The less accessible to strays,
The less chance of serious disease. If it is a female, choosing a
Non grassy spot will avoid brown spots later. When you bring it home, take it
To the spot and give it the command in a firm, but friendly voice. Keep
Repeating the command and let the puppy sniff around. If it does anything,
Praise it. Really let it know what a good dog it is and how much you love it,
And maybe a treat. Note, being out there not only means you can praise it,
But it also keeps it from being snatched by a hawk. If it doesn't go, take it
Inside and give it a drink and any meals scheduled. A young puppy will need to
Go out immediately afterward. Go to the spot and follow the above routine.
Praising it if it goes is extremely important. If it doesn't go, take it back
Inside and put it in its crate and try again soon. Do not let it loose in the
House until it does go.

At first it is your responsibility to know and take the puppy out when it
Needs to go. It needs to go out the first thing in the morning, after eating,
Drinking, and sleeping. If it quits playing, and starts running around
Sniffing, it is looking for a place to go. Take it out quickly. You will just
Have to be what I call puppy broke until it is a little older.

By the time most dogs are about 3 months old, they have figured out that if
They go to the door and stand, you will let them out. The praise slowly shifts
To going to the door. Some people hang a bell there for the dog to paw. If
Your dog doesn't figure this out, try praising it and putting it out if it
Even gets near the door. A stern "Bad dog!" is all the punishment that is
Effective, and only when you catch it in the act and are sure you didn't miss
It going to the door. Clean up accidents promptly. I mostly keep the little
Puppies out of the carpeted rooms. Still I need the can of carpet foam
Sometimes. First blot up all the urine you can with a dry towel. Keep moving
It and stepping on it until a fresh area stays dry. A couple big putty knives
Work well on bowel movements. Just slide one under it while holding it with
The other. This gets it up with a minimum of pushing it down into the carpet.
This works with even relatively soft ones, vomit, dirt from over turned house
Plants, or anything else from solids to thick liquids. Finish up with a good
Shot of carpet foam. Note, do not let the puppy lick up the carpet foam.
Once the dog is reliably housebroken, your carpet may need a good steam cleaning.

Many people strongly strongly push cleaning up all evidence of past accidents. I am slower to suggest that. Dogs will return to the same spot if they can find it. When you see one sniffing the spot, that is your clue to run it out.

[Pearlgirl]

Five times a day is really OK? It just seems like an awful lot of poop coming out of her.

As for the housebreaking, we started with the crate. She soils it. It was the right size -- just small enough for her to stand up and turn around and lay down. She pees and poops and then lays down in it. We gave up on the crate (we were sick of cleaning up mashed poop in her paws and giving her baths). Now we block off the kitchen with a baby gate with her pad on a frame in one corner. For a while, she disregarded the pad (which was in the back of the kitchen) and peed and pooped right up near the gate at the front. Then she would walk around in it (necessitating cleaning the entire kitchen, plus her paws, every time we came home). Then I put her bed right up by the gate, and now she pees on the pad and poops wherever she wants (NEVER on the pad).

When she's not in the kitchen, she forgets the pad exists most of the time. Sometimes she will wander over to it, but more likely she just squats where she is. I tell her "Bad DOG!!" and immediately move her to the pad. This has been the routine for the past 3 months. She doesn't seem to be getting it. What am I doing wrong? I clean up all her messes with pet cleaner and she doesn't seem to favor one particular spot. When we go on walks, she always goes in the grass. I praise and praise her, but she still goes in the house too. Is she just stubborn? I heard small dogs were hard to housebreak, especially female ones.

[labman]

I was pressed for time in my first answer. 5 times a day does seem excessive. With a fenced yard, I often am not sure how many times my dogs go. There does seem to be plenty to clean up. Once I was out in public all day with 2 Labs, and they both presented me 3 bowel movements to clean up.

Fouling her crate worked, you quit using it. I would go back to it with the rack I suggested. I have also wondered if wood chips or cedar bedding would work in a crate. Either way she should stay cleaner. This time of year you can take the crate outside and hose it off.

Many people do have problems housebreaking small dogs. I don't have all the answers, just what has worked for us. I am still doing things much like we did when our daughter was still at home. I know she struggled with the Min Pin/Lhasa mix they have now. I think some of the problem is the conditions the puppy lived in before going home. As she gets older, she may improve. If you haven't, you might look back through the pets area here and see other peoples questions. You have talked to your vet about the problem? I doubt it is a physical problem, but you could ask the next time you are in.

[Pearlgirl]

I think I am going to switch her food to Bil-Jac. I checked it out last night -- it has a higher protein content than the Nutro. I am also going to use an adult formula instead of the puppy formula. I think the puppy formula is made to be easier to digest -- but she doesn't seem to have digestion problems! I'd like to get her down to 3 poops per day.

[labman]

No harm in an early switch to adult chow. The service dog schools do it routinely to slow growth and allow more time for stronger joints to develop. Puppy chow is mostly about get big fast. Our animal feed industry is a master at that. Not the best long term growth.

[Pearlgirl]

She's 6 months and she's already spayed, so her metabolism should start to go down. She is only 12 pounds and I don't think she's going to get much bigger. We'll see how she does on the adult food.

[Pearlgirl]

Bad night last night -- I switched Pearl over the Bil-Jac and she threw up all night. I didn't switch her gradually like you are supposed to -- I just changed her food to Bil-Jac at night. I figured she could handle it but I guess not. Now I am at work and worried about her. She was OK this morning -- I went back to giving her the Nutro for breakfast.

Do you think the abrupt switch caused the vomiting? Should I try again with a gradual addition of the new food?

[happybisaya]

I have a pug and the way I potty trained him is put him in the kitchen (use gate to block from the rest of the house) which has a door to the backyard (fenced in). I placed a wee-wee pad on the kitchen floor and every hour I open the back door to let my dog out. There are plenty of times that he refused to use the wee-wee pad and pee somewhere in the kitchen, just be patient. Just as long as the poop is the right consistency, don't fret about how many times your puppy goes. My dog right now is three years old, and every time I take him for a walk, he would poop up to five times, so I don't think you have a problem. I have a problem though, I have not been getting a lot of sleep for the last three years, my pug sleeps in between me and my husband, if I turn my back on them, I would not know who is snoring. My husband snores sometimes and not all night... my dog snores all night. Any help in training my dog to sleep on his own bed is greatly appreciated.

[labman]

Getting him out of the bed will be tough now. Who gets the best sleeping spot is very important to dogs. I would be very surprised if he quietly accepts sleeping else where. If it was easy, you wouldn't be asking for help. Likely if he can, he will sneak back into the bed as soon as he thinks he can. You will have to physically prevent that, a crate, tie down, or a closed bed room door. Of course, it may take a closed bedroom to give relief from the snoring.

You might try doing it in 2 steps, first a crate or tie down in the bed room. Later transfer his snoring to another room. A dog that has not been crated since it was little, make take some work. Start just putting its toys and treats in the crate. Praise it for going in. Feed it in the crate.

A dog that has never been crated before may accept a tie down better. This is just a short length of chain with a snap on the end. Fasten the other end to something solid. I have several screw eyes in the house we use occasionally.

Be prepared for howls of anguish his first night out of the bed. Since you are already short of sleep, it may not be much worse. Grit your teeth, and outlast him. Give in, and he will be in the bed for another 10-15 years. You could try laying down next to him until he falls asleep. I have found that miraculous for a young puppy's first few nights in a new home. Worth trying, but I make no promise of it working. If he is food motivated enough, you could try a Kong filled with peanut butter. He could get too busy licking it out to realize you went to bed without him and fall asleep.

[happybisaya]

Thank you labman, I think I will do the crate first with his treats in it (he loves to eat). I'll keep you posted on his progress or mine :D . :D

[centralmaine]

Hello Pearlgirl, I also have a pug puppy my puppy is a three month old female. I am curious as to how your housetraining is going, and is she having fewer accidents now? I have had my puppy a month and she sometimes will use her pee pads, sometimes not. I only let her out of her playpen area for short periods, however, even in a five minutes period watching her closely she will sometimes defecate or urinate quicky, I catcher her, scold her with a firm no no, and put her in her dog litter box with her pee pad. I purchased a dog litter box at petco, originally hoping to litter box train her, as I have heard some smaller dogs will use a litter box like a cat. However, that toally confused her as I started to add small amounts of litter, and she would not go near it at all, so I went with the pee pads. I do walk her hourly outside, she sometimes will pee outside more often not. It is still cold here and I am hoping as it warms up we can spend much more time outside and she will be able to see ground and grass and not just snow so it will be easier. She also poops five times a day or so, so I think it is pretty normal with pups. She pees a lot too, I am feeding her twice daily now and was letting her graze at first throughout the day. The home I purchased her from let their dogs graze but I think it makes it difficult to schedule bathroom times. I am only worried she will be hungry during the day, but have been told she will eat at night if she doesn't finish her monrning meal. Please post or email me as to how your housebreaking is going, maybe we can share some tips, thank you, [email protected]