[smaruska]

Hi all, I'm having a bit of a problem with one of my Mastiff puppys. I currently have a fawn mastiff puppy and a brindle one. They are brothers and are kept in separate crates. They've been crate trained from day 1 and besides the random puppy accidents things were progressing ok. Slowly but ok. They are 3.5 months old and I obviously know not to expect them to be housebroken or have too much control yet but my issue is that the brindle puppy is pooping in his crate every night. Its getting to the point where I am starting to pull my hair out over it.

I feed them twice a day, I did feed 3 times a day but they wouldn't eat all their food so I moved the same quantity to twice a day in two bigger portions and they eat everything. I feed at the same time and I feed in the crates so they don't fight over the food. I let them out religiously about a half hour after they eat and they do their business outside just fine. I make sure to let them out of their crates for lots of playtime when I am home and my wife lets them out to play outside with her and our 2 year old all the time since she is a grad student and home during the day. In the evening I feed about 6:30 and they'll both poop 2-3 times in the course of the next 3-4 hours, I let them out literally right before I go upstairs to go to bed and they had been good going through the night until 5:30 AM until last week. Then I've started to get presents EVERY MORNING from the brindle puppy.

Neither of them will pee in their crate unless they can't hold it and those accidents almost never happen now but the random pooping in crate is driving me crazy. I even got up at 3 AM to let both puppys out last night and there was no mess in either crate then. They both peed and then sat and stared at me for a good 10 minutes while I zombied around the yard trying to get one or both to poop. Put them both back and I come down 2.5 hours later to do the morning routine and there is a mess in his crate... It was all I could do to not freak out on the pup and I had to walk away for a few minutes before coming back.

I've had pups before but never one that did this. Other pups I've trained would not want to go in their crates or if they couldn't hold it then it was pee. His crate is blockered off so he only has room to lay down and move a round a little bit. Doesn't seem to phase him, he steps in it and smears it around and its a pain to clean out of the textured plastic bottom without pulling the whole piece out and shooting it off with the hose.

So at this point not sure what else I can do, I clean up the mess thoroughly and he doesn't do it during the day at all, even when left in his crate for 2-3 hours mid-day if my wife is out and I'm at work. Only thing I can think of is he is on some sort of crazy routine in his head or some such? Poops are very solid, not runny at all, he is active, healthy, definitely the stupider one of the two though... I still can't trust him to be out in the house for a long time like I can with his brother, he will get excited and mess (pee or poop) on the floor if out for more than 20 min to a half hour.

Sorry about writing a book, I just want to give all the info I can. I take really good care of these puppies and my older dog and I am really trying to be patient but cleaning up a big pile of poop every morning when I am trying to wake up and get ready for work is getting really old really fast especially when his brother's crate is dry/clean and that pup will go out to pee/poop immediately as soon as I let him out in the morning...

Thanks in advance!
-Scott

[lange]

Hi. Usually when a dog has no qualms with lying in his filth it's because he's become accustomed to it previously. Dogs naturally try to keep their den clean but it's not always in their control. If someone doesn't come clean it for them they have no option but to deal with it. Every dog, even those from the same liter will be different. Your brindle may not have as strong bladder control as his brother.

The solution I have;

1- Change their food. Which kind do you feed? A better quality will result in less poop period. It sounds like they poop a lot which I would bet is the food. Look into this site: Dog Food Reviews - Main Index - Powered by ReviewPost It will help you find a better brand

2- Set your alarm on for a midnight potty run since he can't hold it. The good thing is it's not for forever. He will get better but he still needs more time.

3- Clean his crate out as soon as he messes it. The more he's left sitting in it the more he'll get used to it.

Good luck!

[smaruska]

Thanks for the reply. I am going to change their food to Kirkland premium which I have a big unopened bag leftover from the breeder. I had trouble getting them to eat it but while over my mother-in-law's house they got into her Rotweiler's uneaten Pedigree and they loved that so I started feeding it to them and they eat it like crazy. They are older now though and on a better feeding schedule. I will say the poops are solid and their coats are shiny/eyes bright etc... Was not aware of the carcinogenics in Pedigree though, the 52lb bag I just got from Coscto will only be around long enough to switch them back to Kirkland and then it is getting tossed...

I have had better luck with him lately though. I've started giving training treats to them when they poop and making a huge deal out of it. I've also started on a more regimented schedule and that seems to be working. Waking up at night thankfully is not something I appear to need to do as I have to drag both of them out of their crates at 3 AM to even get them to half-heartedly pee before beelining straight back to the crates to go back to sleep. Both of them went from midnight to 6AM with no accidents for the last night and today was the first day that neither one of them messed in their crates at all and that is still on the Pedigree.

I do put a small splash of very very watered down broth on their food to get them going so hopefully that will keep them eating like they have been on the new (old) food...