I am having real problems with lady at the moment, she is 12 years old going deaf getting wobbly on her legs and now she has started to pooh over night, she goes through out the day she doesnt have that much to eat and she is fed in the mornings, but still she does it i have confined her to the kitchen at night now because it is easier to clean up there is no point in letting her have the run of the house because she doesnt ask to go out anymore she just goes, last night she did it, ate it then was sick and brought it all back up again, i dont know what to do with her, i am at my wits end with this does anybody have any ideas that may stop this behaviour apart from getting up every hour to let her out, we have started to get up at around five sometimes we catch her and other times we dont, help!!! Diane

Hi Diane

Mars my eldest Lab is 14 and 10 months old now. She has started pooing in the morning and also is wobbly on her back legs. It often happens in older dogs that they have nerve damage to the back legs and they loose feeling in that region. Mars often in the mornings will wander round in the kitchen and dining room hassling for her breakfast. As soon as she has had her breakfast if she does go out straight away the she will poo outside.If however she wanders around without going straight outside then she will start to poo inside. Because she has lost some feeling in her back end she is normally half way thorugh the poo and then she realises what she is doing. It is then normally a trail of poop leading out out to the dog flap to their outside area once she makes her way outside !(At least I keep track of where she is or where she has been! ) :D

What sort of a dog is Lady ? Try and feed her twice a day to start with. Is she going when she goes out for a walk at all ? If you are worried then take her to see your vet.

Unfortunately is is part and parcel of owning an old dog and if you can do something about it great but if not then just so long as the dog has still got it's dignity and it is happy then it is upto you whether you are able to cope with it. I

am sure there must be some sort of drug therapy to help but I am loathed to put Mars on any medication and don't feel that I ever will.She has lasted this long without any kind of drugs for any condition and feel that if she gets that bad then it will be time to say goodbye even though it will hurt beyond words............

Hope this helps.

Lucy

She is a gsd i posted another topic last week ( itching like mad ) so not only is she now pooing but she is very itchy, she is on prednisalone tablets i dont really want her on anymore medication if i can help it, she went through a stage of doing this about a year ago hence why i put her on one meal a day in the morning only so the theory was to go to the toilet through out the day to stop her doing anything over night, but she has resorted back to this behaviour, trouble is you dont know if they are doing it on purpose or whether they really cannot hold it, i have to say she doesnt seem to be doing as much in the day much smaller amounts than usual and then a huge amount at night, today i have given her some select protein meat with some kaogel as her motions are a little soft, trouble is i dont know what is causing it her food hasnt been changed so who knows.

Mars also itches like mad. What I normally rub all over her belly is tea tree lotion which does soothe her, she is also on James Wellbeloved. It hasn't stoped the itching but she is not suffering at all by having a good old scratch.

If you are worried then take her along to the vets. It is so worrying more so that children sometimes. At least at a certain age children can communicate with you. Dogs you have to be a mind reader!

Hope thigs improve for you and lady.

Lucy

Metpol have you tried feeding her last thing at night.
I would imagine it will take her a few hours to digest the food and will have the whole day to toilet. there is medicine for incontinence so a trip to the vet is necessary.
I dont know the truth of the pants thing not allowing them to toilet , but if it is true then that could be another avenue.
I guess she is nearing the end of her days and it looks like you need to consider her dignity now .
I have a collie I love to bits she will be 15yrs in august .
She does go down at times and she needs to sit on her belly to eat but she is not incontinent and is in good health so I am thankful the decision is not to be made yet , but I always promised I would not let her lose her dignity , we owe them that . Mari

If she was incotinant then yes i would make a decision but she doesnt wee inside the house at all, it is just the other and she has only just started to do it which makes me think she is doing it on purpose other than that she still goes for walks although shorter ones now and still enjoys life she is not at deaths door yet.

My older GSD will be 12 as well this year.
He suffers from a chronic problem with his bowel/digestion and gets diahorrea every now and again. I've got kennels and a run outside and when he has problems then he sleeps outside. This is so that he can get up out of his bed and go and have a poo when the urge takes him instead of having to try and hold it until I get up. The kennel door is always open and he has a comfortable bed inside.
He is used to this arrangement and it suits him just fine :)

Iam pleased she is not Metpol . it is hard when it comes to that .lo lMari

Well i am pleased to say i had a s**t free night my nose was doing overtime, i kept thinking shall i get up every couple of hours or not, but she held it hooray!!!

Nice one;) Here's to many more- hopefully;)

Stacey x x x