Hi all,
I need a bit of advice. Our 4.5-month-old smooth collie puppy has been doing well with sleeping through the night until now. For a few times now he's gotten up at 3 AM, walked to the yard door and waited there silently for us to let him out. We've been dead asleep and our poor pup has had no other choice but relieve himself on the living room floor and we wake up to the smell of poop. The poop has been solid, so I don't think his issue is a an upset stomach.
Now, I've researched this issue already a little bit and people often suggest teaching puppy to ring a bell or something like that. That seems great, but I'd like for him to sleep through the night and not have to let him out at all.
He's fed at 8am, 2pm and 7pm and we usually do a longer walk or visit the dog park before his 7pm dinner. After dinner we usually do some training and then start to wind down with a chew. He gets drowsy at roughly 8:30 and before he falls asleep I take him to the yard for potty at 9pm. My partner wakes him up for last potty at 10.30-11pm. This has worked well until now, and now he poops before dinner and then no poop until the wee hours.
So, what should we do? Give dinner earlier, or try a smaller portion? Try feeding twice a day? Longer walk after dinner to get bowels moving? Crating is not an option (illegal in my country). Puppy sleeps in our bedroom in his own bed, and we can't really close the door because our cats are used to coming and going at night. All advice is welcome!
submitted by /u/lysekon
[link] [comments]