Has anyone ever had the experience of their dog who has been sleeping through the night suddenly ask to go out in the middle of the night to poop? I mean a regular solid bowel movement, not diahrrea.
Meenah is a little over a year now. Other than a few times when she has had diahrrea, she has never asked to go out in the middle of the night. But recently, she's been wanting to go out anytime between midnight and 4am, and has had a solid poop each time. In the past two weeks, she has done this three times and her poops were normal, not runny.
Her schedule since she was a puppy has been: Get up at 6:30am and go outside for poo and pee. Breakfast at 7:30 am and poops sometime after that, usually in an hour or so. Walk around noon time, during which she sometimes poops. Dinner around 5:30 pm, sometimes followed by a poop in an hour or so. I take her water bowl away at 8pm. She does go outside a few other times to pee and have a sniff around. Goes out for a final pee around 9:30/10pm and goes right into her crate for bed. No sound from her all night.
The only thing different is the food. She was on California Natural dry and canned but was never enthusiastic about eating it so I decided to try Merricks dry with California Natural canned to see if she'd like that better. Since she didn't seem to like that much either, my husband bought Iams at the grocery store (I know I know) and she's been eating that lately with California Natural canned or rice and chicken mixed in. Is it possible that the Iams is disrupting her cycle? She is still pooping in the AM but sometimes not. Her other regular poops have been intermittent as well since she's been on this food.
Or do you think this might be some behavioral thing? I don't want to ignore her and then end up with a poopy crate and dog in the morning!
I ordered Natural Balance dry and canned from petco and have heard very good things about that. I know that's what Meenah's breeder uses for her dogs. I'm hoping she'll do better on that.
I know switching dog foods often can have a bad effect. But I have done it gradually and other than an episode of diahrrea with Merrick's canned food, which I immediately stopped giving her, she's been fine.
Thanks!!
Meenah is a little over a year now. Other than a few times when she has had diahrrea, she has never asked to go out in the middle of the night. But recently, she's been wanting to go out anytime between midnight and 4am, and has had a solid poop each time. In the past two weeks, she has done this three times and her poops were normal, not runny.
Her schedule since she was a puppy has been: Get up at 6:30am and go outside for poo and pee. Breakfast at 7:30 am and poops sometime after that, usually in an hour or so. Walk around noon time, during which she sometimes poops. Dinner around 5:30 pm, sometimes followed by a poop in an hour or so. I take her water bowl away at 8pm. She does go outside a few other times to pee and have a sniff around. Goes out for a final pee around 9:30/10pm and goes right into her crate for bed. No sound from her all night.
The only thing different is the food. She was on California Natural dry and canned but was never enthusiastic about eating it so I decided to try Merricks dry with California Natural canned to see if she'd like that better. Since she didn't seem to like that much either, my husband bought Iams at the grocery store (I know I know) and she's been eating that lately with California Natural canned or rice and chicken mixed in. Is it possible that the Iams is disrupting her cycle? She is still pooping in the AM but sometimes not. Her other regular poops have been intermittent as well since she's been on this food.
Or do you think this might be some behavioral thing? I don't want to ignore her and then end up with a poopy crate and dog in the morning!
I ordered Natural Balance dry and canned from petco and have heard very good things about that. I know that's what Meenah's breeder uses for her dogs. I'm hoping she'll do better on that.
I know switching dog foods often can have a bad effect. But I have done it gradually and other than an episode of diahrrea with Merrick's canned food, which I immediately stopped giving her, she's been fine.
Thanks!!