I have two toy poodles and two rotties.my youngest is 2 n half.she is my problem/ish.
Ive never known a dog to do it,i dont know why nor is there a patternto it...they all go out together all roam off lead for the lenght of our walk.they have the freedom of the garden during the day all day,and will come and get me to go out.
So why on earth does she decide that on some nights she will wee and poo in different spots of the kitchen diner(which is now where iv confined her to at night because of it all).
i dont wanta dirty dog shut away at night in the kitchen :-( nor do i want a dirty dog.ive got a 1 year old baby and although i mop every morning (i have to) i dont want the extra worry...
she wasdoing this at around a year too but stopped itfor some reason,nowshes back doing it again.
i have to be honest its getting me down!
any ideas?

It isn't a dirty dog to my mind.  It sounds like a distressed dog.

Hopefully one of our CD folk will be on with a lot of behavioural knowledge to help you out.   The very fact that you say it is "getting you down" tells me that your stress is being transferred.  Hopefully someone will be on with sensible advice for you.

Thanks jean.x.x

well yeah it does get me down i dont enjoy waking up to the mess and its not every day..its more like once a month,but its flippin' annoying cos id like her back at the bottom of my bed with lola at night..but i dont want it on the floors either id prefer it where i can see it
two big bubba sleep in living room (on the out of bounds sofa i might add lol) never had a real problem with them or lola (other poodle)

It does get me down but i cant see how it could be stress transfering cos i dont punish her for it,,,its done so she'll not know whats wrong if i got cross.
shes not told to get in her bed or anything at night now shes just used to going into her bed next to the fish tank where she'd ordinarily curl up in the day.
dogs all come in from garden at last toilet break and all get into beds...
and once here and there ill wake up to it

I imagine it´s in some way related to your baby and she´s finding it a stressful situation.  Hopefully someone here with experience will be able to offer you some help.

Have you tried crating her over night, it is rare for an adult dog to soil the area they sleep in?

What are you using to clean up after her, if you don't use the right thing then the scent will remain and she will keep going back to that spot, I use biological washing liquid diluted in a spray bottle so it is handy for cleaning up any accidents.

You say it only happens once per month, can you connect it with anything else going on in the home on those ocassions?

no no connection.i just think shes a diry dog.it can sometimes be once a month maybe twice a month but its definatly not 100% regularly.yes have put her in a crete at night and if she wants to go out she will cry in the night to go out.she absolutly will not go in her bed,nor never just sneak off in the house in the day.
it looks like im going to have to crete her at night forever i suppose..

I cannot understand why you refer to you pet as a 'dirty dog' I hate that expression....as someone else has said I think you have a dog who is stressed... just sticking him in a crate at night 'forever' is not a good solution.

Have you had him checked out at the vets .... does it occur when you have a bad night with your young baby.. ie : crying for long periods as this can distress some dogs immensely .. is he used to having company and now that you have a young child has your attention to him waned...

not having a go.. just looking for solutions...

I would try keeping a diary of her for a while.  When she eats/drinks, what she does on her last outing, what nights she dirties, that sort of thing.   It might be related to something silly like her sneaking the last outing.  My little cocker tries to 'jook' the last out for the night.  She gets comfy in her bed and can't be bothered to go out but by 7am, she is bursting to go out! So now I make sure she goes out last thing.
Also, if I give one of mine even the slightest bit of liver, she can't help but poo.  It just runs straight though her.
Might be something silly that you don't realise but the diary could help.
Other than that, back to the cage.

yes cracar ..my eldest girl will miss her last trip if I let her... where as the young dogs will run out as soon as the door is open as they think something exciting may be happening...:)

LOL, Starryeyes!! Mine are the same. Little 'uns bash past thinking something great and the oldies hide in their beds, ignoring me!!

If she doesn't do this during the day, then I'd be wondering if 1) either she can't hold it through the night, for some reason (which might be possible if you've tried crating her and find her making noise to wake you up and take her out) or 2) she gets anxious during the night, and the anxiety results in wees/poos.  Or 3) reasons 1 or 2 started this problem, but it's now become a habit of hers, despite reasons 1 or 2 no longer being present.

Dogs often get anxious at night because the house is very quiet and the human family are usually in other rooms, asleep.  The separation itself can be enough to raise anxiety levels. 

I'd suggest you crate her, if possible next to your bed, and just get to know what is normal for her in terms of wanting to go.  Does she wake you up, every night, when crated by the bed?  If so, there's some physical reason why she needs to go in the night.  What time do you feed them their last meal before bed?  Is it too late? 

Once she is ok crated by your bed, then move the crate away a bit further each night until it ends up where you want it, but still take her out if she wants to go out. 

I'd also want to know whether she is actually toileting during the day - you say they have a long walk and then access to the garden in the day, but do you actually see her toileting on the walk or in the garden?  Is she doing it then, as well as at night, or is she only toileting at night?  Some dogs don't feel secure enough to toilet on walks, because it involves putting their own scent down where other dogs have put theirs down, and that requires a certain amount of confidence.  It's usually puppies who hold it in like this, till they get home - but an insecure adult dog might also.

How was she toilet trained, originally?  Did you scold her if she went in the wrong place?

Also like some of mine does she avoid going out last thing if it's wet, and as a result can't last all night.

I have a toy breed who randomly does this at night. I know its because she will avoid going out last thing at all costs and even when taken out especially if cold or wet refuses for to go. I have stood outside in all weathers waiting while she shelters under a bush! For us I just accept its her. Now she is older (4) it is rarer my little minx can spend all day out and still refuse that last wee lol

I have to add with mine I don't get night time accidents (except very rarely in oldies, or if unwell), just the refusal to go outside, as they seem to have cast iron bladders/bowels.

If you have a dog which won't go when outside due to the weather, and you're getting accidents during the night - then it's really important that you don't come in before the dog has gone.

Coming inside is what the dog wants to do.  If the dog hasn't toileted and you come inside, you're teaching the dog to hold on - if it holds on and doesn't go, it gets to come inside again.  On the other hand, if you grin and bear the weather and wait, eventually the dog WILL go (if you wait long enough, move around, take it to its toilet place etc).  When you then come inside out of the weather, coming inside will reward the toileting which just happened.  The dog will start to go quicker, because it will learn that toileting means it gets to go back inside.  Remember that when the dog gets something it wants, whatever it just did is being rewarded:  If it just went to the toilet, that will be rewarded.  If it just stood outside and didn't go, that will be rewarded...  What is rewarded, is more likely to happen next time.  (This will become a habit which is hard to break, because the dog will be repeatedly rewarded for holding on.)

Oh yes mine learn that lesson early on, but some still try to not go out when told, hanging back when the others go, hoping I won't notice, or sneak straight back in without going (I have one that will circle round and round and squat and rush back in having done nothing), and need to be stood over until they go when caught out :)

LOL, I had a puppy that cottoned onto the 'do a wee = get a treat' idea, to the point where she loved to tell me she wanted to go out, only to do a pee the size of a postage stamp.  (She didn't have a UTI either!).  It was at that point that it was time to stop the treats for toileting outside!!!

Oh nearly all my pups do this, which is where I think the adult who would pretend to pee got it from.

Toy breed is now the only one to do this although flat coat if caught short on the rare occasion won't wake me jiust goes to the door and doe it there but only at night. - think small one is juist a minx who unforuttely has played the humans who look after her. Infact I am really the only one who she will go for and I can't always be there :) Its rare now so I live withe problem

I get my lazy madam out by squirting the hose as she loves to chase it so out she runs stops then realises I have finished using it ;) and will try to walk back ,I wait until they have all toileted then back in...I cant use this trick all the time mind as she is a clever tinker so I have a few tricks that gets her out without an argument!

some good questions and points.

She was toilet trainedas a puppy and no i dont belive in scolding a mistake...i wouldnt tell my 2 yearold baby off for missing the potty so wouldnt with any of my dogs!!
shes only been being kept in the kitchen due to this behaviour,she used to sleep in her bed on our landing where their beds are or at the bottom of my bed or sons bed...

dogs all only get fed once a day.and thats at around 1pm.all my dogs go toilet and ill follow them round and clean up after them as we have children and i couldnt leave it there!
yes she does go last thing,last thing being at 11:30pm...i think thats late enough!
rotts wont go over the park and do wait to come home to go toilet but poodles will go in park...
i know all doggies are different but none of my others do it.just thought it might be something simple im missing

When she slept in her own bed on your landing, or at the bottom of someone's bed, where would she toilet then?  What would happen, then?

It sounds like either she really has to go in the middle of the night (v unusual), or it has become a habit.

I'd assume the latter to begin with:  Crate her, perhaps where she used to sleep on your landing, but in her crate now instead of her bed (or put the bed in the crate).  If she wakes up and needs to toilet, take her out - perhaps on the lead so it is quite a boring trip outside and not an opportunity for sniffing and fun.  Keep on with that for a good few weeks.  If, after a few days, she is still getting you up every night, then you might want to set your alarm to a time just before she usually wakes you up, so you pre-empt her and don't end up training her to wake you up by making noise.  Basically just what you'd do with a puppy.

I'd also suggest you have a good clean of everywhere she has toileted - even if it's clean to you, to a dog's nose it might not be - if somewhere still smells like a toilet, she will keep toileting there.  Don't use bleach because that contains ammonia which is also present in wee.  The best thing to use is biological washing liquid, since that contains enzymes which will digest the wee/poo so even she can't smell it.  So I'd have a really thorough clean/mop/wipe down of everywhere where she has been toileting indoors.

If, after 2-3 weeks, she is still getting you up in the night to go out, when crated, then you might have to accept that she genuinely needs to toilet in the night and can't hold it.  In which case, you might want to leave the crate open and use a puppy pee pad or newspaper at night only, and train her to toilet on that - so you can just pick that up and throw it away in the morning and don't have to clean up the house or get up in the night.

You are the first dog owner that I have heard of for years who only feeds once per day, majority give their dogs 2 meals especially in a small breed to maintain their glucose levels.

I am surprised that your toy breed can eat enough at one sitting to keep her going for 24 hrs.

Hopefully this is just a phase she is going through to get your attention.

> You are the first dog owner that I have heard of for years who only feeds once per day, majority give their dogs 2 meals especially in a small breed to maintain their glucose levels.
>
>

I'd agree that in small breeds two meals are best, but I only feed once a day, and most people I know do so too.

Mine eat little enough without trying to split it into two meals (I have tried and the dogs look up asking where the rest is).

The only ones to get more meals are pregnant and lactating bitches, puppies, and an oldie if they appear to need smaller meals.

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The only ones to get more meals are pregnant and lactating bitches, puppies,

i used to feed twice aday but found it was being left so i just give what they want if my dogs are hungry,and i know its hard to belive three of my dogs have learnt that sitting and staring at me til i say"what?" then lick theyre chops that means dinner or im hungry so i may give those a choice of more food,for outside its "what?" and get up and wagg tails and sort of do a dance lol
b

isabell is a good eater but only likes a certain food in her OWN BOWL right beside the cooker or she will not touch it!she knows its not hers unless its in her place! they all get fed in the same room same time and can and do get left to eat...no one touches anyne eles food its not worth their while lol.

i used to leave poodle food down all day for them to pick at but that just made my dogs fussy eaters and thats no good to me.

Rabid going to take your advise and give it a go thank you! sounds like a good plan

and in answer to ur question she would always godownstairs and poo by the back door and wee under the fish tank stand completly on the other side of the room....

ive always used bio to clean the puppies wet or mess and accidents so maybe its just habit in those places??

I feed twice a day, gives them something more to look forward to lol, also less stress on the stomach

If she is pooing by the backdoor, it suggests she wants to go outside and is doing the best she can to get to the toilet place.  (Which might indicate that she really does need to toilet in the night.) 

What sort of food do you feed?  Only, some foods can produce voluminous amounts of poo, as a lot of it is fillers and it just comes out the other end.  Feeding less of a more concentrated food might mean the poos get smaller and she doesn't have a need to go in the night... 

they now eat fish for dogs! i started using it after going to crufts and getting some samples dogs love it.although lola i have to add salmon oil (((rolleyes)))

Well that should be ok, I'd have thought.