I have an 18 month old Cocker, and just recently he has started pooing again of a night when we are in bed. He is always in the garden for 10-20 minutes before we go to bed to give him time to do what he needs, however, last night I let him out as normal, went to bed and 5 minutes later had to come back down stairs. Low and behold he had already pooed! It is so frustrating as he had only come in from the garden 10 minutes earlier.

Any suggestions would be welcomed. (and any for a solution to his awful bad breath)

He may just have an upset tummy.  Is the bad breath new too?  You could try a bland diet for a few days and it it does not clear up see the vet.

Hi,

Well it is possible the two could be related. Often dogs with gastro problems do have bad breath.  How are his stools, is he eating ok, what does he eat and what are his eating times.  Does he seem otherwise well in himself?  Have there been any changes at all at home or in his routine recently.  How long has it been happening, is he worried by fireworks, as I know a lot of dogs that still are stressed from fireworks even this time afterwards.  It could be something as simple as he's got worried by a noise after you've gone to bed and is now getting scared at this time.

I would be going outside with him at bed time to make sure he has done his business and then you can be on hand to reward him and would also pop him to the vets to get a check over. If it's not then you can go about getting him out of the habit and making him feel more secure at bed time.

His stools are fine, he is eating as normal. We have tried making his last feed earlier in the evning with no luck. He is not stressed (far from it), he is happy bouncy playfull all the usual.

Have you checked inside his mouth to make sure that there is no inflammation, loose or chipped teeth, embedded bits of twig or signs of gingivitis?

> He is always in the garden for 10-20 minutes before we go to bed to give him time to do what he needs

Hello Roy,

I'm afraid with a youngster like this  -what he wants is a good play and a sniff.
You need to teach him that he's out last thing at night for - what you want..him to relieve himself on command.
You will need to go out and stay until he performs then big praise and then bed with a treat. The routine will click and should last for life.
Mine all go to the door when it's bedtime and I it's a race to get 'it' done and back in to bed.

Having the dog in the same room, even just until this pattern is established, will remove the risk of failure - as he can 'ask'.
Avoidance of an unwanted behaviour is the best way to solve this one.

my dogs recognise the 'bedtime' routine and your boy probably does too. He may not like to be alone because of as someone has said somethng probably quite simple has scared him so he associated his last toilet with you leaving him alone so he probably doesnt go or go fully then once you have switched of the lghts and all goes quiet he feels scared and goes to the loo inside
I would change my bedtime routine , put him out as you would normally stay with him using encouraging words the more you do this the quicker it becomes a ritual my girls go in about 20 second of me letting them out I use go toilet and dont say anything else other than repeating this.I then would go back into the living area with him for a few minutes potter about sit down watch a little more tv for 5-10 minutes or so then I would put him out again if he doesnt go then I would put him to bed but not go myself , I would switch everthing off as usual so all goes quiet but then go back out into the kitchen or wherever he sleeps and put him out again .Just confuse him a little once he has gone potter about in the kitchen or wherever he sleeps then pop out the light and go to bed.
In other words change your routine so he doesnt get into the habit of toileting once you have left him .
Also do this during the day if possible leaving in his sleeping area when you are in the house popping in and out of the kitchen get him into feeling safe when he is alone so that when you do go out or to bed he in his head thinks you are close.
(hope I havent rabbited on to long)

Roni

My 17 month old has recently taken to doing a poop in the livingroom* overnight. The first night I put it down to an accident, but it happened 2 more nights running. What I have started to do is wake him up before I go to bed and stay in the garden with him untill he has 'been'. He will sit by the door waiting to go back in at first so I mooch around the garden ignoring him (pretending to inspect the plants/fence or antything to make me look occupied), he'll eventually mooch around too and finally do his business.
I can spend up to 30 mins waiting for him to 'go' before I let him back in, the neighbours must think I'm a right weirdo wandering around my garden at midnight
This has seemed to work a treat - no more poops in the house :)
All I can think of that's caused it with my dog, on his usual last trip to the garden he makes it quick so he can get back into the warm, rather than hanging around for a pooh?

ETA our back door that leads to the garden is in the livingroom, Buster's pooped by the door.

hi roy, one of my cockers recently had 2 or 3 nights with poo accident's during the night.  She is also about the same age as yours!  I just put it down to her body functions getting 'out of synch' so to speak. It also may have been the fireworks which until recently were still being let off.  She settled down after i gave her some boiled chicken/rice for a couple of days and is now absolutley fine.  I hope your boy does the same.

Hi Roy Ive got a twenty month cocker, can I ask what time you feed yours? We have one that doesnt eat much, I sound like a long playing record "go and eat your dinner" I have to stand there about 20 minutes if I move he is so nosey he follows me. We feed about 5pm and if he leaves any (most days) a 6am breakfast so I know he has had enough. Whistler goes (pooh) about 6:45 - 7am and again about 6:30pm and thats it for the day, is yours having a late big meal? maybe two small ones would regulate him/her better? Or a quck walk around the block ours does not like to pooh in our garden.

I found when I changed from Pup to Adult food we had a brief mishap, and about 4 weeks ago he peed in doors twice, something really unheard of. But he seems to not have any accidents apart from that at all.

I would agree with other writers they certainly do not like bedtime, we used to have to crawl behind the sofa and carry him out lying dead weight!! now we count 5,4,3,2,1 and he hurtles out the door to chase the cats!!! Do the same when we get home so he ensures our garden is cat free! never caught one yet but he's always hopeful!! best of luck.
Re bad breath ummm I use doggie dental sticks thats about all and the off carrot or two seems to keep him ok but his breath is by no means sweet.

ML you can teach him to go on command. Just like you would teach him to wee on command. Just as he's squatting say your command, when he's done he gets a reward. It doesn't take that long to teach them that's what you'd like them to attempt. It's a very useful thing to teach as you can ask them to relieve themselves before shows, classes, visits to strange places. It can reduce your midnight romps to a couple minutes as well. :)

Roy likewise, I would supervise his last trip out. Left on his own he'll spend his time sniffing rather than what you'd like. By associating a command to the act it will make it easier for him to understand what you want him to do out there.

Thaks Lori :)

He's always had a command, he is being a stubborn monkey.
I finaly tempted him off the sofa last night & out in the garden, but he refused to walk on the grass (he will only wee/pooh on the grass) even for a piece of cheese. I thought I had shut the door to the house, but he soon discoved it wasn't shut tight & he made his escape back inside, so I had to go through the whole process of making him drag his lazy carcass back in the garden for me to try to get him on the grass. A little while later with my teeth cattering from the cold, he finally walked over the grass to get to me, as soon as I said 'wee-wee' he did his jobs :)
He's so stubborn, he does not like the cold damp grass :( Funny though - if I was to take him for a walk at that time of the night the grass wouldn't bother him. I had thought about taking him out the front on-lead, but he wont do his business while out on a walk

He also doesn't mind going on the grass if he decides he needs to go in the garden for the 'loo', it's just when I wake him up & make him go outside

> he does not like the cold damp grass :-( Funny though - if I was to take him for a walk at that time of the night the grass wouldn't bother him.

Mine won't go on the grass at night either - I thought it was just my boys being odd!!  They skirt round the perimeter and will try and perform on the grass whilst keeping as many paws as possible on the gravel or paved bits.  If they do go onto the grass one dog will speed across whilst the other will do a strange high step and leap til he gets off.

Gotta love the weirdness :)

To the OP try and take your boy out for his business earlier in the evening rather than saving it all for later - we found that when ours was younger it helped to keep him cleaner and drier at night if he had two attempts to get empty!!

> If they do go onto the grass one dog will speed across whilst the other will do a strange high step and leap til he gets off.
>

Ahh bless :) They look a bit like Thunderbird puppets when they do that odd walk where they try to keep thier feet from touching the floor, LOL

Now this is just a thought, but not long ago my pup was getting bad breath. Well I found out that the cat was pooping in the garden, and my pup was eating it.urrrr.  It could also be why you dog is not  pooping in the garden, ether because he dose not like to poop in a place strongly scented by a cat, or because he wont poop where he eats (eating cat poop) , you don't need to own a cat for this to be a problem