I have a 7 month old Puggle who I have had in my home for 4 months now. I have had a terrible time house training him! The last couple weeks has been GREAT, no accidents, has not went in his kennel. He was neutered last Friday and since then has been pooping in his kennel at night multiple times. I feed him about 7 AM and 4 PM and his last trip outside is about 10 PM, literally an hour later I will find him laying in his feces, clean it all up as well as him and put him back in there. Another hour later...same thing!! He is taken out plenty of times and he goes while outside so I dont understand why he would wait till I am asleep and not wine to go outside. He weighs 25 pounds and his kennel holds up to 40 pounds. I am feeding him Iams puppy formula and only give him the directed amounts, am I doing something wrong?? There are no signs of infection or worms in his stool...?? Any advice is welcomed, I just dont want the poor guy to have to keep laying in it at night!!

[mightymite]

It does sound like from your questions that you've done some reading and know something about housebreaking - so first - pat yourself on the back.

OK - now to begin with - here's some bad news:

Where did you get your Puggle? Many people who purchase these mixed breeds - especially if purchased from the internet or a pet shop are unaware that the vast majority of these designer mixed breed dogs are coming from puppy mills (there's even an Amish website devoted specifically to Puggles - and beleive me - I have NO intention of giving them a link here). Among the wide variety of problems with purchasing a dog from one of these establishments is that these dogs spend their entire puppyhood in a kennel - sometimes a wire pen not much bigger or wider than can contain a mother and her pups. While dog instinctively try to keep their dens clean (and thus the premise behind housebreaking), dogs who are born in the conditions I have just described cannot keep their dens clean and wind up developing the habit of going where they sleep. This is compounded in the pet shop, where again, puppies are kept in cages 24/7. So if your puppy comes from either of these situations, and not from a private breeder, you are in for an uphill battle and crate training may not work for you.

Now, you may also have had some backsliding because your dog has come out of surgery. He may have one accident in his kennel because he had a slight loose stool from the anestisia from his neutering. ONce his kennel smells like poo, he will start to go back there and use it as a latrine. Make sure you wash down his crate with an enzymatic cleaner like "Get Serious!" or "Nature's Miracle" and let it SIT for at least five minutes. Wash all bedding as well to get the scent out.

Next, are you regulating water and food intake and keeping a chart? You want to chart both the times he is going and the times he is drinking and eating. Try tweaking his schedule. If he is making mistakes in his crate at around the same time each day - that is what I call his "witching hour." Try to change your own schedule around to get him out of the house at that time and do not let him back into the house until he has releive himself (yes - that means you stay out too!). The key here is consistency!

Another thing - which may not be the root of the problem but could be adding to the problem - IAMS is a corn based dog food. If you look at the ingrediants, while corn is not the first ingrediant, you will see corn or corn meal in the ingrediant list. That is adding bulk to your dogs stool and may even be causing him to go to the bathroom more often. Try switching to an ultra premium brand with no fillers or corn or corn by products or corn meal. Your dogs bathroom needs may drop significantly. Whole Dog Journal prints an annual dog food review -most of the foods they recommend are top quality and none are corn based. whole dog journal

Thanks a BUNCH for the advice! My husband is a BullMastif fan, and unfortunately with 3 small children I was not willing to have literally another adult in the home LOL, so we agree'd on the puggle who looks a lot like but had the size I wanted. I purchased my pup from a Amish farmer that had an ad in the news paper, after driving 3 hours to go get him we did find that he was not the only "designer" breed they where selling, so it is very likely true what you have brought to my attention. Very sad!! Today I did some schedule changes with his meals, a little earlier and set my alarm for midnight so I could take him out before the action begins, hopefully it can be avoided. Poor guy, he looks so sad like he knows it was wrong and all I feel I can do is keep it from happening by watching him like a hawk. I am also going to check out those sites you suggested, I didnt realize the food may be the cause, I guess I just assumed it was the "best" shelve brand but I am more than willing to pay a little more for our little family member. Again thanks a lot and hopefully this little guy...and I can get a full nights sleep soon without a bath!

I am so happy my lil guy has done so well, all the changes have made the world of a difference, no mess! This morning was the only mistake the poor guy has had in 4 days but it was my fault, he;s used to going outside early and I slept threw my alarm...note to self DO NOT SLEEP THREW THE ALARM!! Other than that he has done so well, thanks for the advice!

Kathie

I haven't seen this until today... You got great advice, and if you have more problems please ask!!!!!!!!!!!