Not predictable pooper

Hi all, I am new to the forum and I am having a little bit of trouble with my 4 month old sheltie. Since getting him at 8 weeks old he has never been a predictable pooper. I read puppies usually poop soon after eating, but he could hold it for hours after. It made toilet training very hard to predict!

I tried him in a crate but he did very badly in it. He would poop and pee all over inside and lie in it even when he was taken out every hour. Crating him started him off on eating his poop which we are still battling with.

So the main problem I have is that I feed him twice a day, morning and evening, but he still manages to poop up to 6 times a day. I have a feeling that he poops so much because he eats his own poop, so it's gotta come out again. I'm feeding him a high meat content, quality dog food called Applaws. I can prevent him from eating his poop during the day but he always gets away with it at night when I'm asleep. He is last fed at 5pm and can go poop 30 mins later or 2 hours later. He will then poop around 10pm and always overnight too, which he will eat and leave stains on the Lino floor (he's confined to the kitchen). I clean all messes with natures miracle and herd him outside if I think he's about to go inside. When he goes outside its always a big party!

My vets think this level of pooping isn't anything to be concerned about, but I just cannot understand how he can eat 2 times a day and still poop so much. I try and clear out his bowels before bed, but he always seems to have a spare stash for an overnight poop and snack. I've tried walking him after eating and he never poops on walks either.

I have also got up in the night to take him out, he will wee but not poop. Unless I stand there all night I don't think I will get one out of him.

Is this just a phase we have to ride out or am i doing something wrong? Any suggestions?

They can poo a lot at that age. Make sure you are not feeding too muh food.

A lot of dogs eat their own poo. So long as it's not other dogs then it is easy to stop this once they are clean at night.

Hello. I have a nearly 16 week old puppy too. He poops a lot as well. Probably 5 times a day. Right now he's free fed, but soon I'm going to feed him regular meals.

I'm lucky in that he will not poop in his crate and while he interested in cat poo, he doesn't care about his own outdoors.

Keeping him on a strict schedule is supposed to help, but it didn't really help my puppy stop peeing in the house. That took constant supervision and correction.

I found that leashing him did NOT work. Most puppy house breaking things I read said to bring him leashed to a certain spot and wait until he goes. Much like you, I found myself waiting 30+ minutes (forever) with nothing. He disliked his leash big time and wouldn't go poop while on it. I was wondering what was wrong!

After doing some training to make sure he comes when called, so he doesn't pull a fast one (our yard isn't fenced) I let him out off leash and he pees and poops right away and then we're good to go. He's even found a favorite spot, though he likes to walk while pooping so it's kind of ehhh...

If you find he doesn't go while on his leash... that might be the issue. My puppy won't poop on walks either unless he REALLY has to go. I'm sure with time he'll learn to poop and pee on walks and on his leash in general.

As for eating the poop, it can be discouraged, but probably not stopped. It's a bad habit because he might eat other dogs poop as well, which can easily make him sick. Do your best to take any poop from him if you see him.

Where did you get him from? If they have been in cramped conditions or moved away from their mum too quickly they can display that sort of behaviour.

Poor you and poor him...especially with all that fur to clean each time!

Sometimes if their crate is too big they will see it as big enough to poo in but that doesn't explain the eating. Maybe the food does not suit him. Dogs will eat cat poo because it is fairly high in protein because of the cats food and how they digest it..or not.

What are his poos like? If there is a lot of it, it's particularly smelly and loose then a change of diet might be in order. He really should still be being fed 3 times a day until he is 6 months old, is there a reason you can't do this? How long is he being left?

Hopefully with some more info you'll be able to find a solution on here.

That's normal. A puppy isn't usually confident enough to leave his mark in unknown territory.

I would always keep him on a lead outside, then you can train a designated area and you know what pup is getting up to. Young pups can chew on many other things more dangerous than poo.

It's natural for a pup to want to be clean. Try putting newspaper in one half of his crate then he'll be able to keep his bedding clean. This may be what he's trying to do?

If you do change his food, introduce a small amount mixed with his normal food and build it up. I personally wouldn't change it. Does he seem very hungry? He's possibly needing more food? I have heard that pups eat poo because it goes through them quite fast and they haven't absorbed all the nutrients. Obviously watch his weight if you do give him more. It's a while since mine was a pup but I seem to remember him being on 3 meals per day at that age.
Train the leave it command. It won't help during the night but very soon he will be able to go through the night.
Does he whine before he needs to go? Why does he sleep in the kitchen when you have a crate? Could the crate go in your bedroom?

Betty pup poops about 8 times a day including waking us up to go about 2.30am and 4am. I think as others have said it's quite normal at this age to poop a lot. She goes in her crate too but we paper the front half and her bed is in the back half and she usually is very good and goes on the paper. Doesn't stop her standing in it in excitement when we come home home though.

Is the crate door set up so the paper can go at the side? Mind you, she'll probably still step in it with excitement, LOL.

No it has a top loading option or a door at the end. But it's not a huge problem she is just washed off under the tap when we get back if she has gone, and TBH she gets so excited I am not sure she wouldn't jump around where ever it was

As poor little Bella had the squits from day one until a month later - she pooed everytime she got up and still struggled to get outside on the verandah to do it bless her!

Once she got better she had a short spell of constipation - think it scared her having solid poos and her little bum was probly so sore too. Then she went to once a day and has stayed like that for 3 yrs apart from the occasional day when she doesn't go at all (but usually has 2 the next day!)

The only time she ever pood in a crate was when she was incarcerated in the vets and on the journey home from there when I took her away.

I'm sorry but this really made me laugh! When Ella had diarrhea last week, she hadn't had much to eat but she managed to pop 7 full sized poops into our bedroom. I have absolutely no idea where they came from, as they were, put together, about half her body size!

But I reckon it's normal for a puppy to poo that much and have not much control over it. Imagine a baby, they don't eat much but seem to fill up nappies all day long..