Thanks, Andrew.

Hi Dani. In cases like this, it’s important to get a check up with your vet straightaway, as there could be another problem that’s contributing. This would especially be true with puppies with any measure of anxiety. The method above only applies well to puppies who are behaviourally normal.

Thanks

Hi Katherine. As long as she’s awake for a substantial period in the night, she is going to also poo in her crate. This is definitely something bad both the short and the long-term as it will cause stress but also increase the chance of it happening again in the crate in the future. My only suggestion in addition to the above advice is to have a larger crate that has a toileting area in it as well – probably about twice the size of a regular one until she can sleep through the night. That way she at least won’t be going in the bed itself.

The third night was better still with the crying: 40 mins i think. I was determined to give her a toilet break this night, but two hours after putting her to sleep, I went down and there was poo everywhere. She’d pushed the pen around and smeared it all over, including her bed. I made no fuss, cleared it as well as I could, tried to toilet her (failed) and went back to bed. At 6 this morning, same problem.

How can I help her with the toileting issue in the night? I don’t want her in the habit of pooing in her bed area.

Thanks again, really grateful this advice exists online.

Katherine

Hi Kim. My advice was when the crate starts in the bedroom and you move the crate away, not the other way around. Your situation will be a lot harder to do gradually. Maybe you could still move the crate away from the couch first so that it’s far enough away that the puppy doesn’t know when you’re there any more before you go back to the bedroom.

I started with my 8 week old puppy on night one with her in the crate with the door unlocked, putting my hand in for comfort throughout the night. Night 2, I slept on the couch next to her crate with the door hinged and she cried about every 2 hours, with me letting her whine and then she went back to sleep. Night 3, the whining lasted over a minute so i took her out and she went for a pee on the pad- then back to sleep.
How do i start moving from the couch back to my bedroom? Its a long hallway from the living room to the bedroom with not much space in the bedroom using the 1 foot advice. Is this where I am the moving thing- like i move myself on a mattress a foot away each night?

Hi Stuart. There probably isn’t much you can do at this late stage, though I consultation with a behaviourist is highly recommended.