# Diesel poops in his crate at night!



## Staci (Jan 5, 2013)

I have a male gsd that is 5.5 months old and a female that is 6 months old.
They get fed royal canin puppy gsd food. i was feeding adult and he was having diarrhea so i called royal cannin as i figured this would stop if he was eating gsd food. everyone has said do not feed puppy, they told me in no uncertain terms that he needed to be on puppy food as it was made for their sensitive digestive systems even more so than the adult.. Low and behold his diarrhea stopped..

He has been pooping in his kennel off and on at night and then of course freaks out as does mercedes and then they run around and get it all over and i am going to have a dang heart attack.. I feed them their last meal between 4-5 they get 4 3/4 cups a day split into 2 feedings. I get up at least one time per night to let them out (set an alarm) sometimes more if I have to potty. Last night they went at 1am when i went to bed, I got up at 3 with my alarm and they went out and sat in the yard so I brought them in and i got woke up at 5:45 to whinning and poop all over the kennel them the walls and then of course my carpet when i let them out... I am so stressed out.. He eats everything in the yard.. there was what we call a bean pod in the kennel as well so i am assuming he pooped it out.. I have a small kennel that we would just fit it i think, I haven't tried it so it may be to small. If he fits i am tempted to put him in it and leave her in the big kennel where she wont constantly get covered in poo and maybe he will stop.. Why in the h doesn't he bark and let me know he needs out...

I am at my wits end.. Not getting rid of them or anything I love them and I hope this will get better with age.. just need to get it figured out soon..
thanks


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## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

Ii would try to give them both more exercise in the evening so they empty out and you call can sleep thru the night. I would also give them a supplement like OptaGest which is to help support intestional balance.


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## volcano (Jan 14, 2013)

Im a raw feeder, but from what I hear 4 cups is excessive, Ive also heard overfeeding causes diarrhea. Try a smaller crate.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Eek. This is exactly why most people will suggest not getting two puppies at once - ONE can be challenging enough! 

Are they both in the same kennel? I would change that immediately, and not just because when he poops they're both getting it all over themselves. She will likely go into heat within the next few months if she's not spayed yet, and you're going to have an unplanned litter if they're not kept completely separate for at at least a month. But also, why have two poopy puppies to bathe when you could only have one? I'd think they'd sleep better if they were in separate crates too. 

Are they each getting 4-3/4 cups of food a day? Unless they're both the same size/weight, they shouldn't need the exact same amount of food. 

Do they play with each other when you take them out at night to potty? Have you been rewarding them with enthusiastic praise and a little treat every single time they poop or pee outside? He may not be barking to let you know he needs to go out because he's not 100% housebroken yet. A puppy isn't going to let you know he needs to go out until he knows that outside is the only appropriate place to do his business. Since he's having a lot of accidents in his crate, he may not quite have the idea yet. At his age, I've never had a dog that needed to go out numerous times each night, that seems excessive, but I also have never set an alarm. I keep the crate right next to the bed and let the puppy wake me up if they need to go out. Usually that's once a night for the first few weeks, occasionally twice. Dena only had to go out during the night 3 times after we got her at 9 weeks old, and then she slept through the night, but Keefer and Halo took a little longer.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

I took a look at your earlier posts and saw that this has been going on for around 3 months. Obviously whatever you're currently doing isn't working since he should be better now that he's got more bowel and bladder control since he's older. 

I also saw that you ARE keeping both of them in the same crate. I would really recommend that you change this. He's old enough that he should be able to sleep through the night, so maybe having them together is keeping him up.


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## Beka (Apr 17, 2013)

I was having this issue with my pup also. He was in the lounge in his crate as that's where our other dog sleeps but I couldn't hear him if he woke up to go toilet and he would often poo in it. This unfortunately became a habit and a very hard one to break! I have since moved him into my room and for the first few nights if I even heard him so much as stir I would send him out to the loo. It made for long tiring nights but it paid off. He now goes out once, sometimes twice a night and no more pooing in his crate. 
Like others have said though definitely get a smaller crate for him to be on his own and make sure it's only just big enough for him to lie down in and turn around. No room for playing etc! I bought a large crate that has a divider and have gradually given my boy more room as he's become more trustworthy with toileting. 
Good luck and I hope it becomes easier for you soon... Waking up to poo covered pups is not fun at all!


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

The amount of food does not look that extreme - it is a fairly low calorie (355 per cup) food. 

I agree he needs his own smaller crate AND he needs to go outside separately and not come back inside until he poops if that means you are sitting out there for 30 minutes. Running really will help get things moving.

I only had one dog who had no issues with sleeping in its excrement and it was a terrier I got as an un-housebroken adult over 30 years ago. We never fixed the problem.....so.......what I say is not based on experience with the issue.

Personally IF I caught him in the act I would correct him. How is other training going?


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## Staci (Jan 5, 2013)

I really don't understand why people keep freaking out that I have two..lol

I have since gotten a smaller kennel and he sleeps by himself. I had planned to do so at some point as I knew they would out grow the one they share as they got a bit older and before she ever went into heat! I have thought this out!!

As far as them both getting the same amount of food they are within 2 weeks in age and 5-7 pounds.. 

Royal canin swears the soft/diarrhea stools was from feeding the adult formula, as their puppy food is made for a german shepherd puppies sensitive stomach. So we switched to that at least for the next few months. The feeding things goes by target weight.. So you feed them according to that. I am keeping a close eye on growth I also added a small amount of cooked pumpkin to their meals and it has helped tremendously..

As far as being house broken she is and he does extremely well for the most part.. Has only had one accident in his kennel since his stools became more normal.. I am guessing it was the pressure to have to go.. we all know as humans what it feels like to have diarrhea. he has started barking if he needs to go out at night and I would say in the last week that was 1 time.

they both listen very well to me.. well pretty well 

Thanks for the help


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## AngVi (Dec 22, 2012)

Staci good for you having both! I have a girl who will be a year next week and my boy is 6 months old. Love having both if them and as you realize it's a lot of work but so very rewarding.
My only suggestion would be to crate them separate and only give him enough room to lay down and turn around. I free feed them and have no food aggression - but I stop food about 7:00 and water at 8:00- last walk around 9:30-10:00 he goes to bed at 10:00. I felt awful only giving a little room but it will be over soon.
Enjoy BOTH of your puppies!


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Staci (Jan 5, 2013)

Thanks! We do love them both!!

Things are much better at night with out the diarrhea! I'm sure it was a situation of omg i have to go now so he did 

I will have to post some pictures of them.. Mercedes is kind of plush I would say and Diesel is just Diesel


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## jmoney (Jul 21, 2010)

Dogs shouldn't mess in their crates at that age. It is either too big, or something is really stressing them out. If they are both in the same crate, that is for sure the problem. My dogs still all go potty before bed time. If it still happens after 3 weeks or so of the food switch it might be wise to try slowly switching them to a different food.


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## Aliciajoy932 (Jan 23, 2020)

Staci said:


> I really don't understand why people keep freaking out that I have two..lol
> 
> I have since gotten a smaller kennel and he sleeps by himself. I had planned to do so at some point as I knew they would out grow the one they share as they got a bit older and before she ever went into heat! I have thought this out!!
> 
> ...


I got 2 male gsd puppies last February. They are brothers. I potty trained 2. Trained 2 to sit and lay down and give paw, if your a person with patience and a gsd lover 2 is no different then 1. I have 4. I find that my youngest 41/2 year old gsd puppy has been the hardest to train. She does the same thing. Poops in the crate. I’ve done everything too. I think sometimes some just take a little longer and it’s frustrating. I no. It’s not fun to clean a crate at 6am trying to get kids ready to school, but we gotta do it, I’m hoping mine stops doing this soon. Hope yours does too!


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## tc68 (May 31, 2006)

Aliciajoy932 said:


> I got 2 male gsd puppies last February. They are brothers. I potty trained 2. Trained 2 to sit and lay down and give paw, if your a person with patience and a gsd lover 2 is no different then 1. I have 4. I find that my youngest 41/2 year old gsd puppy has been the hardest to train. She does the same thing. Poops in the crate. I’ve done everything too. I think sometimes some just take a little longer and it’s frustrating. I no. It’s not fun to clean a crate with **** at 6am trying to get kids ready to school, but we gotta do it, I’m hoping mine stops doing this soon. Hope yours does too!


OP's posts were from 2013.


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