My rottie pup of 3 months old keeps pooping in her crate over night?

by Andee
(Country)

We have a pure breed rottweiler pup she’s 3 months old and every night she’s happy to go to bed in her crate but in the morning there is always poop in the crate when we wake up.

How can we train her to stop pooping where she sleeps?

Hi Andee
Generally puppies and dogs will try really hard not to pee or poop where they sleep, this is why puppy crate training works so well.

At 3 months old, it’s possible that your little girl simply doesn’t have the bowel control to ‘hold it’ all night, this wouldn’t be unusual. Most puppies need at least one night-time potty break until they’re 3 or 4 months old. Not ALL puppies of course, but many of them!

I’d recommend not feeding her any later than 6pm at night so that she has several hours to digest her food before bed. Also make sure she’s had a reasonably long ‘potty break’ right before she goes to bed. Quite often puppies need to pee and/or poop more than once per potty trip – especially first thing in the morning or last thing at night – so make sure you give her time to ‘finish up’ and don’t rush her right back inside just because she’s squatted once.

Then listen for her waking up and whining in the night, if she does this take her outside right away so that she can eliminate outdoors. If she doesn’t seem to whine or fuss before she goes, set your alarm clock for sometime during the night (make it about 3 – 4 hours after you go to bed at night) and take her outside anyway.

You want to discourage her from eliminating in her crate because it will become a habit and will counteract the natural benefits of crate training.

As she matures and her control grows she will be able to go all night without a break, but for now she’s just a baby and you’ll need to give her a bit more help.

Best of luck, enjoy your puppy.

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Jan 06, 2012

RE: Crate Pooping NEW
by: K.C.

Also, check the quality of food. All the Rotties we have had have all had sensitive stomachs. If the dog food contains a large percentage of filler ( cereals, corn, etc,) this will digest faster and and larger amount will pass through the bowel.


Jan 06, 2012

RE: Crate Pooping NEW
by: K.C.

Also, check the quality of food. All the Rotties we have had have all had sensitive stomachs. If the dog food contains a large percentage of filler ( cereals, corn, etc,) this will digest faster and and larger amount will pass through the bowel.


Jan 05, 2012

pooping in crate suggestion NEW
by: Anonymous

Just a suggestion, make sure her crate is not too roomy for her. if you can adjust it to just give her enough room to stand and turn around then it will help her not soil where she sleeps. hope this helps a little.


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About The Rotty lover 2159 Articles
My name is Dr. Winnie. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Duke University, a Masters of Science in Biology from St Georges University, and graduated from the University of Pretoria Veterinary School in South Africa. I have been an animal lover and owners all my life having owned a Rottweiler named Duke, a Pekingese named Athena and now a Bull Mastiff named George, also known as big G! I'm also an amateur equestrian and love working with horses. I'm a full-time Veterinarian in South Africa specializing in internal medicine for large breed dogs. I enjoy spending time with my husband, 2 kids and Big G in my free time. Author and Contribturor at SeniorTailWaggers, A Love of Rottweilers, DogsCatsPets and TheDogsBone