puppy elimination change questions

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Jscott1
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:50 pm

puppy elimination change questions

Post by Jscott1 »

I am new here, and came across the site while researching other puppy related things. I have read through many of the posts here, and I am grateful for so much wonderful advise!

I have a 5 mo old dachshund male who has been doing very well house-training (knock on wood) but I do have a few questions so I might avoid some frustration for me and my puppy as we go along. Some background: he is fed twice a day (1/2 cup "Precise" puppy formula each feeding time unless many training treats have been used, then I decrease his dinner meal to 1/3 cup. His treats consist of chicken or Natural Balance) He has been on this schedule for at least a month. We have had minimal accidents in the house and we take him out on a regular schedule.

My questions:

1. Do puppy elimination schedules change as they get older, meaning do they wait longer to go poop after meals? Until a few days ago, he was very predictable about it, but recently I will take him out and do all the usual stuff but he will not go. I will take him in and he goes into his crate for 15 min, and we go out again...and again...and again until it practically falls out of him. It is very frustrating to keep this up all afternoon when he was being very predictable. I don't want this to be stressful for either of us, and if it is a case where he is waiting longer until he has to go out, I could probably eliminate a lot of the crate business.

2. This may seem like a silly question but am I being too diligent taking him out? We take him out first thing in the morning, after any nap times, every few hours through the day, and right before bed time. He really doesn't have a chance to "tell" us even though I do ask "outside?" right before we go out. Should I even worry about him telling us at this point? (He probably is in dog language but I am not seeing it, other than the very obvious puppy zoom craziness he sometimes does)

Thanks in advance!
tinytwo
Posts: 241
Joined: Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:22 am
Location: Central California

Re: puppy elimination change questions

Post by tinytwo »

Hi! I have a 10 month old mini dachshund, and they can definitely be a bit hard to potty train, at times! :D

So, in general, puppies don't have complete physical control of their bladder and bowels until about 6 months old, give or take. They may understand where to go, but, they don't always get signals from their body telling them they need to go until too late, or ALMOST to late!

As they mature, they will start to recognize when they need to go, and be more reliable! And, as they get older, they can hold it longer. He may just be at the point where he knows how long he can wait, and wants to wait until it's absolutely necessary to go! :)

But, I would still be diligent about taking him out. He's still just a baby! And, right now you are giving him lots of opportunities to do the right thing and go outside. If you stop taking him out as often, then you could be risking him having accidents inside, and that is like a step backward in potty training.
Now, eventually, you could try to reduce the number of times you take him out, but I would wait at least a few months for that. And, when you're ready for that, I would recommend that you watch him like a hawk when you reduce the number of times he goes out. That way, if he starts circling or sniffing, you can rush him outside to go!
Jscott1
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:50 pm

Re: puppy elimination change questions

Post by Jscott1 »

Thanks for your reply! I definitely don't want to go backwards, especially when he has been so good thus far. It will be getting cold soon and I want the potty thing firmly ingrained before it does! Plus, I want him to succeed and I don't feel the need to clean accidents or start over! :)

Now, if I can get him to stop chasing our cats.... :wink:
Zeldacorgi
Posts: 205
Joined: Sun May 30, 2010 10:28 am
Location: Bozeman, MT

Re: puppy elimination change questions

Post by Zeldacorgi »

I also have a 5 month old puppy. As she's getting older, it's taking her longer to poop after meals. In fact, it's getting to the point where I can time it from her last elimination. Basically, she needs to go outside every 4-5 hours, and if she's had a meal in that time, she'll need to poop. If she doesn't poop, I take her out again after 30 minutes. The only time I'm using the crate at this point is at night in our room so she can alert us in the morning when she's ready to go out. But continue to be diligent and find a pattern with him which will help you get into a new routine.

You should establish some way of him telling you he needs to go outside. A popular way to do that is to hang a bell by your front door and ring it every time you go outside. He'll learn to ring it when you need to take him.
Jscott1
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:50 pm

Re: puppy elimination change questions

Post by Jscott1 »

Thanks, that does help very much... even just looking at it another way. I was thinking about this when I took him out this am, and it does seem that looking back he has to poop about every 4-5 hours no matter when he eats. He is on an eating schedule, but sometimes he gets up earlier or later (within an hour).

I will be trying to get him trained on a bell for sure. My puppy class is actually going over that next week. I think that will help as well!
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