so i have a 3 month old pitbull pup. she does not go poop in the house..but..i need help??

Question

when i put her in her crate at night.. she goes and then steps in it and makes a big mess.. then i have to wash the crate way too much..i don't feed her at least 3 hours before bed.. so what do i do???

she does go outside all day.. and i get up very early 6 am to take her out

Answer 1

her crate must be too large. a crate is supposed to be no larger than it takes to spin in a circle, thats why many crates come with a partition to use when theyre a puppy. dogs instinctively dont poop where they sleep, but if her crate is large, shes figured out that she can sleep on one side and poop on the other. then she wakes up and runs all over, making a huge mess that is later removed. unfortunately, by you. heres a site that explains crate training rather well in a nutshell, as it says, start over fresh as if she just came home, and give it maybe a month or two to "click". good luck! :)

Answer 2

I have this same problem right now with my 3 month old Boxer, and I've asked this same question. I have tried EVERYTHING suggested to me and nothing has worked, ie cage divider, monitoring food intake, taking her out before bedtime, getting up super early to take her out, taking her out in the middle of the night, diapers, toys, getting her acquainted with the cage - you name it, I've tried it in the past 3 weeks.

My pup is excellent at being house trained - always goes outside! But she has a problem with pooping in the cage. I've even had people say it was bad training, not a poopy pup.

As far as her sleeping with you, I tried but I get absolutely no sleep with that method. I would not try to leave her in a room instead of a crate because she could chew something up or get hurt.

I have now settled with the fact that she will continue to do this until she gets old enough to stop. I don't feed into the whole "they don't poop where they sleep" ideology because every pup I've ever owned has - the same people that says this is the same people that turn around and say they can only hold it for so long. Now which is it - they will never poop where they sleep, or they can only hold it for so long? This is the answer that people love to give. I put a divider in and it still happened!! I wish people would stop making this method sound like a foolproof device!! I think people say this because they read it in a magazine, or heard it on TV. Both the adult dogs I have now did it and they stopped as they got to be older pups. I have noticed that my pup is slowing down and is better than she was.

I'm sorry I don't have any great advice, I just wanted to let you know that there are pups that will do this regardless of training or methods used. I've given up and decided to let it run its course.

Answer 3

Sounds like she might be acting out a bit from being put in the crate. Is there anything you can do with her outside to really wear her down before putting her in the crate? This might solve two things, she'll realize that's she's tired anyway and won't mind going in the crate, and if she's been outside for quite awhile before going in the crate she's most likely not going to poop in it.

You might also want to make sure you have a little more time in between her last feeding and her going to bed. Say, make her last feeding 4pm and she's got to go to bed by 10pm. She'll be fine as long as she's getting enough to eat during the day.

Also, what are you feeding? I've found some foods cause an excessive amount of defecation. I feed all four of my dogs Proplan (I know many vets that use it also). When I got my latest addition 1.5 yr ago she was being fed Nutro. I thought she was just a pooping machine. As soon as I switched her to Proplan with my other dogs she became normal.

Answer 4

How long is she in the crate for at night?with pups you have to expect the odd accident even in the crate but if shes doing this every night then put some paper down on the floor of the crate and last thing before bed make sure she gos outside to the toilet.Your dog should soon learn if you keep the house training consistent.

Answer 5

She does seem trained, maybe she just can't hold it. Puppies usually can't hold it that long- usually only 3-5 hrs when that young. I would maybe put her in her crate and then take her outside an hour or so later (or whenever you usually notice the poop) to go to the bathroom and see if that helps. Maybe you will have to adjust the feeding time to even earlier (feed at 5-6, bed at 10-11 or something like that) and make sure she poops before going in the crate at night.

Answer 6

Do not lock your dog in the bathroom! Geez, people...anyway:

Puppies go to the bathroom all the time. In order for this dog to understand where it's appropriate to poo/pee, you have to make it obvious.

1. Clean the crate with a solution that will get rid of the smell..you can find good pet stain remover/cleaning solution at PetSmart or PetCo.

2. Then put a crate cushion inside with a toy that is safe for the puppy to chew on if alone. No rawhides, no soft toys, etc. Possibly a KONG! What an amazing toy. You have to have one.

3. Develop a feeding & potty routine with your puppy. Wake up, take it outside to potty. Feed it in the morning when you have breakfast, take it out every couple of hours, feed it when you have dinner, take it for a final potty when you go to bed and then see what happens. This also teaches the puppy to not beg for food while you're eating, and to stay away from the table.

4. Keep your puppy away from a lot of soft foods. Not a good idea since it makes your puppy pee!!!

Answer 7

A puppy should not be fed 3 hours b-4 bed time. Get in the habit of taking her for a WALK, right b-4 bed time. This way she will expend all her energy (better sleep) plus she will more then likely go (remember to praise her when she goes.) Now you have a puppy ready for bed "tired and relieved." Good luck.

P.S. SEPARATION ANXIETY. After I thought about it more I realized what maybe causing your puppy this problem. Try this; turn on a radio before you put her to bed. Just the sound of human voices could trigger a more relax state of mind.

Answer 8

Try to not feed her 4 hours before bed, and so on. If she still goes in it, then do 5 hours.

We put our pup who is 3 months onld to bed at 11, but we stop giving him food at 7:30 or so.

Also, if you got him from a shelter/rescue or a breeder who allowed him to lay and eat where he went, then he will do this now at your home.
Just make sure to clean it as soon as he goes in there, and keep working with him, it took our pup a day or so to stop going where he layed also, just because that is what the shelter did when he was there (obviously because there are not enough volunteer's to take each dog outside to go potty)

Answer 9

You need to take the dog outside in the night. Your pup hasn't learned to hold long enough and if you continue to allow the dog to soil their crate she will have trouble with crating in life.

If the crate is too large then try blocking part of it off but make sure you are getting up at night to take her out. Dogs hate soiling their sleeping area. If you don't stop this behavior she will think it is acceptable and you may have further house training issues.

Good luck, it shouldn't take to long to change if you are willing to wake up and take her out.

Answer 10

Is your crate too big? If the crate is too big, the dog will deficate in one side and sleep in the other. Try putting a large piece of cardboard divider (or metal divider if your crate came with one) to make the crate smaller. The dog should not deficate in his crate unless he feels there is enough space to do so.

Is your dog sick? Are they normal logs? If the dog has diarrhea, he/she may not be able to hold it in regardless of crate size.

You may need to put the crate where you can hear the dog. If he/she whines, you should get up and take it outside to void.