Crate training at night

kam62284

New member
May 17, 2012
14
0
Central PA
Bulldog(s) Names
Lucy
Hi-

I've posted once or twice on here before. I have a 10+ plus week old puppy, Lucy, who is doing GREAT! She is 95% crate/house trained during the day. However, I'm struggling at night. Every morning there is poop in the cage. I know the logical answer is to take her out every few hours at night--is this what most people do? My only real concern with that is I don't want her to get used to it; I want her to know that eventually she won't have the option to go several times in the middle of the night.

I do sleep with the bedroom door open hoping I might wake up if I hear her cry to go out, but so far that's only happened once.

Anyone have any advice on what's worked for them with overnight crate training?

Thanks!

- Katie
 

kazzy220

..........
Jul 31, 2010
8,556
441
Grafton, OHIO
Country
England
Bulldog(s) Names
Maggie (My Angel Baby 5/31/2012). Daddy (2 years). Linus (1year). Bella (4 years)
I don't think I have a really helpful question on this one. All of mine were very easy to crate train especially with the pooping part. If anything, it was the peeing that they just couldn't hold. Then along came Daddy who was just A.W.F.U.L. He took ages to stop pooping in his cage - it was just so frustrating. The amount of baths he had each week ... I'm suprised he didn't shrink into a miniature buldog!!

I have nothing to give you for advice ... nothing worked with him because he didn't seem to mind being covered head to toe in his own poop. In the end it was just time that seemed to cure him of it!!
 

LynnA

New member
Community Veteran
Apr 25, 2012
1,369
38
Maine
Bulldog(s) Names
Otis and Winston
With Otis I took him out in the middle of the night whether he was awake or not - he is now 4 months old and does not go out for either anymore (knock on wood) not sure if I got lucky or not....
 

ajwhitt44

New member
May 3, 2012
181
15
Bulldog(s) Names
BREMBO
Here's the deal (and I have not even picked up my dog yet, but I am already on my 2nd book and have been reading extensively about this for the past few weeks):

When the dog is XX weeks, there is the general rule that he can hold his bladder for his age in months +/- 1 hour. The younger they are, the more it's on the minus side. SO if your pup is 10 weeks old, then she can probably only hold for a maximum of about 3 hours before she needs to go.

Again, in my reading, I have learned that taking the dog out in the middle of the night is the only choice you have for letting him/her pee if you don't want it in the kennel. They are physically unable to hold their pee/poop for 6-8hrs....and as the saying goes, "when ya gotta go, ya gotta go".

I do not think in any way that taking them out in the middle of the night will become an expected event for them..... I simply think that as the dog gets older, he/she will be able to rest throughout the night in the crate without soiling it.

I hope that makes sense. But the basic takeaway is, "when ya gotta go, ya gotta go!". Once the puppy doesn't have to go, they won't soil their crate or expect to be let out.

Anyone, please feel free to correct me if you don't agree. I'm picking up my puppy next Saturday by the way.
 

ChanelnBrutus

Snookie ain't got nuttin on me!
Feb 6, 2012
4,928
181
New Jersey
Bulldog(s) Names
Brutus (EBD 6/4/11), Chanel (Pitbull 12/23/06)
Usually they can hold it 3 hours at 3 months 4 hours at 4months and so on! You can try limiting water before last trip to potty before bed..We used that system with Brutus and it was hard and sometimes I was lazy :lol: but by 7 months he had it then some accidents but Brutus is a stubborn little one!
 

Davidh

Head Pooper Scooper
Staff member
Mar 21, 2011
13,407
848
Katy, Texas
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
BeBe, Hazel, Lucy Lu, JLO, Hillary, Henri, & Katie
He is still young yet and should out grow this. Just be patient and try to get him to go right before putting him to bed. We had a little girl that was 4 or 5 months old and still pooping in her crate at night but eventually got it and stopped. some just take longer than others.
 

aprilemari

Well-known member
Community Veteran
Sep 11, 2011
1,853
101
Boston, MA
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Lola & Fox
we stopped taking lola out when she didn't want to be woken up anymore :) probably about 4 months old. before that it was once in the middle of the night, kept the lights off, and put her right back to bed with some PB. now she doesnt even want to be woken up before we go to work in the morning. gotta scoop her out of the crate heehee

we only give her a small amount of water in the crate and only if she hasnt drank any water in the evening. when we started to fill her hamster bottle up with water she started peeing the bed.
 
May 18, 2011
204
20
New Jersey
Bulldog(s) Names
Oliver
We were very fortunate with Oliver. He pooped in his crate once, the first night we brought him home. After that, he would sleep through the entire night. (training during the day was a different story!) Do you feed him late at night? It could simply be a matter of what time he eats.
 

karenben

New member
Apr 18, 2011
1,056
88
uk
Bulldog(s) Names
Hilda
annie will be 2 in a months time and its only in the last few weeks that she no longer pees in the night,its been a long struggle but i just got used to cleaning up in the morning,she is very lazy now and likes to sleep rather than walk!!!,i have found that since letting her sleep on the couch she is clean because shes comfy,i have to say i would never have let my bulldog sleep on my couches and the past bulldogs were never allowed but this one well talk about high maintenance ,i must be getting soft in my old age ,so i wouldnt stress over the pooping
009.jpg
,i even made up a double crate for her as i knew she would poop ,as you can see she really was the perp of poops and shes hardly a pup:lol:hope your pup learns quicker than mine,karen
 
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kam62284

kam62284

New member
May 17, 2012
14
0
Central PA
Bulldog(s) Names
Lucy
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #10
Thanks for all the great feedback! I should consider myself lucky because Lucy was house trained during the day pretty much within a week of getting her...I'll just get up in the middle of the night to let her out for a few weeks and see how that works!
 

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