Hello All!  I am a new proud owner of a 5 month old male Bichon named Jasper.  My mother bought him in Feb. and decided she didn't have enough time for him due to all the grooming and pooing going on, so she gave him to me.  She had taken him to the vet about 4 times during his stay with her and at first they told her he needed to be feed about 1/2 cup twice a day. Since bringing him home from the Pet Store he has been pooing in his crate.  First she thought the crate was too big and bought a smaller one.  This did not work so on the next visit to the vet mom brought up the pooing and they told her to feed Jasper 1/2 cup once a day.  Well, that didn't work for her and is not working for me.  I have changed the time I feed him to 9 am I let him stay out side all day long just so he wont poo in his crate.  Before I go to bed at 11-12am I let him out again.  At 8am he has pooed in his crate  does it normally take 14 hours to digest or is he holding it just for his crate?  Yesterday I tried something different and put him in the bathroom at night.  So I feed him at 9 am and let him out for 3 hours let him in and played let him out about 3pm stayed out until about 9 pm let him in played more then let him out at 12am for a good 30 min woke up at 8 to let him out again and there is poo all over my bathroom floor. What time of day should I feed him and how much?  Am I feeding him too much or too little?

Hi again Scrapalina,

I can't quite remember but I think he should be on at least three small meals a day at this age.  I know they start off with four meals and then cut down to three so maybe at five months he would be better off with two smaller meals than one big meal.  Bichons are quite hard to house train and I thought ours would never get the idea in his head but now he is perfect and runs to the back door and looks up at it and asks to go out.  I think they just take more time than other breeds of dog.  What are you feeding him on?

Don't worry about the pooing he will get the message sooner or later and he is still very young at 5 months old.  Perhaps it might be better if you fed him at 9 am and then again at  5 p.m. but don't give him too larger quantities.

Where did you get him from originally?

Anna,

My mother bought Jasper at a Pet Store in Coral Springs, Fl.  the begining Feb.  for my 18 year old sister, Sarah.  I will try 2 X a day. Thank you.

Hi scrapalina,

Sorry just thought you might have got him from the same kennels as ours but obviously not.  Are you in Florida now or are you in the UK?

Anna,

My mother drove from FL to SC where I live just to give Jasper to me or should I say me to Jasper?  

Scrapalina

Hi again

One feed is definitely not the best idea at this age.  If you prefer set meal times rather than free feeding try two or three times a day and take up any food not eaten after about half an hour. Don't get hung up on exact quantities, if he is a healthy weight and size he is eating the right amount.

Rather than leaving him out doors all day you would probably be better off taking him outside regularly and praising him when he does anything then bringing im back in so he gets used to the idea that outside is where he goes.  If he is five months now and your mum bought him from a pet shop it is likely that he was left to toilet in his crate in the shop therefore probably feels it is the norm.  Basically you need to start from scratch and give loads of praise when goes outside and ignore accidents indoors.

I don't know about Jasper but my Bichons are fussy where they go and sniff and circle for ages beforehand so I found it really easy to pick them up and take them outside when I saw the signs and they soon got the idea of it.

Good luck with Jasper

Andi

Andi & Isabel,

Thank you so much for the suggestions.  I guess I will have to start from scratch.  I am a clean freak and have a hard time letting messes happen.  I am guess accidents will happen and I do have a carpet cleaner so I will give it a go. 

Happiness always

Angie

If you put in the concentration and dedicate just about all your time for the next 10 days or so you will not have any accidents to clear up hopefully :)  If you don't have the time to devote then obviously it is going to take very much longer and accidents will continue so worth it, probably, to have a good crack at it.

By just letting him out you are not teaching him anything, you need to introduce a bit of drill to it :)  When he has woken up or eaten or at regular intervals, like every couple of hours at this age, you need to go outside with him and stay with him until he performs then you lavish praise bring him in and start all over again.  Never tell him off for accidents be patient because if there is an accident it has to be because have let your concentration go for whatever reason :)  It is also helpful to use a trigger word as that not only emphasises things but is useful on the occasions that you want him to get on with things such as last thing at night.
He should by now be able to manage 8 hours at night but dogs tend to react to daylight so it might be helpful if you could get off to bed say 11pm and get up at 7 instead.

Isabel

You put it so much more eloquently than me and in the correct level of detail! 

Starting from scratch really is a very intensive, time consuming effort but you will no doubt see results if you persist and be patient. 

I think some one else also asked what you feed?

Best Wishes

Andrea

My mother brought some canned food for Jasper that the Vet prescribed for him due to blood in his stool.  The vet did a few test and said the dry food was hurting his insides or something to that effect.  He told mom that she had been feeding him too much at one time and that Jasper needed to have canned for about 2 weeks.  She also brought a bag of dry food.  I took the food out of the bag and into a container. So, I don't remember the brand. This dry dog food had  rice and lamb and other natural ingredient.  I had planned on feeding him IAMS puppy food as soon as the remaining food was consumed.

Angie

andi2020,

I did find the bag I am feeding him  Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Lamb and Rice and the canned food is Hills Perscription Diet Canine i/d

Angie

Personally, I would shop around and look into the foods available to you and choose the best quality one that you can afford.  If at all possible you should be aiming for a food that has no additives and preferably one that has only Chicken, Lamb or Fish (as first ingredient), rice and veg.  Personally I find that kibble is better for helping to maintain healthy teeth so I choose to feed dry.

Whichever food you choose make sure there are no beef products (therefore no non specific 'meat' products) in the ingredients as beef is a definite no no for Bichons.

Best Wishes

Andi