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11 Week Old Shih Tzu is pooping in his crate at night...a lot!


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Hi all, I'm really hoping someone can help me! Three weeks ago, we acquired an 8 week old Shih-Tzu. His name is Max. He's the sweetest baby ever, but I'm having a lot of trouble crate-training him. We keep his crate next to our bed and are trying to develop a schedule for him, but it seems like no matter what we try to do, he's up multiple times during the night and is pooping in his crate. Last night, he had me up at 1:30 am so I took him out and he peed on his piddle pad. I put him back to bed and he began to bark at 3:30 so I went to get him and discovered he had pooped all over his crate. I got up this morning and he pooped all over the living room floor. We have had him checked with the veterinarian and there are no physical health problems. This is becoming a nightly issue and I'm not sure what to do? We have another shih-tzu that we had no problems crate-training. Maybe we're feeding him too much or giving too many treats? Per our veterinarian, I am feeding him three times per day and his last meal is around six pm. Can someone give me some advice? Thanks :)

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Pawz4me

Welcome, Hannah!

I don't think what you're experiencing is out of the realm of normal for an 11 week old puppy.  Sometimes they do poop a lot, and not on a convenient schedule. You're right to think about how much you're feeding. I wonder if making his 6:00 meal just a little smaller and giving him a little more earlier in the day might help? You could probably still give a small treat at bed time to make sure his little tummy doesn't go too long w/o food.

Also, has he had any worming medication recently? IME that can make some puppies poop more for a week or two, and sometimes make it softer than normal.

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Thanks for responding! And yes, now that I think of it, he had his second set of shots last week and they did do a dewormer. I did not know that could cause extra pooping and that would explain why it's been softer. We have to be careful about making sure there's always food in his tummy because he's a smaller shih-tzu and had a bout of low blood sugar when we first got him because the breeder wasn't properly taking care of him. 

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PipsMom

Just stopped by to tell you  Welcome!!!!

Edited by PipsMom
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Marlene

Do you take him out for a *good* walk before bedtime?  Sometimes if you just open the door or stand in the backyard, they do as little as possible.  If walked, and stimulated by smells they will be more likely to have a good poop result.

But yes.......he's just a baby and will need to be taken out during the night for potty.

Many years ago I was fostering a 6 week old Boxer puppy - Romeo.  I slept in the guest room with him on the bed (foolish on my part but he was just a beebee).  In the middle of the night I was aware he'd moved down to the foot of the bed and then soon was back up nestled by my neck.  I felt something wet on my face........Romeo had pooped on the foot of the bed, walked in it and then came up to tell me he was back :crazyeyes:

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I can't take him out for walks yet, because he's only had his second set of shots and our vet says he has to have all three sets + rabies shot before I can take him outside. He does, however, play pretty hard in the house with his brother and sister. He runs around, chases toys etc...we try to get him nice and tired before bed! 

I'm sorry, I had to laugh at your story because the same thing happened to me with my other shih-tzu, Moki. He sleeps in bed with us because we just couldn't crate train him and he pooped on the end of our bed one night and then walked up and laid on my head. I woke up to the smell Lol...it was awful! He had it in my hair, his hair etc...just gross. Gotta love them, though!

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Marlene

Washing cold puppy poop off your face, neck hands, nightie and cleaning off the puppy is not fun at 3AM.  Mother Nature knows what she's doing making puppies SO cute........otherwise we'd give them to the gypsies.  I used to tell my granddaughters that if they were naughty......"I'm going to give you to the gypsies!"  One of them asked me "Nana, do gypsies really steal children?  What's a gypsie?"

Edited by Marlene
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Sophie's Haven

:welcomeani:  Just wanted to welcome you and your paw family........have not dealt with this with my paws but looks like you got some good advise from the other paw members.  

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Sunlite

Welcome! It takes awhile for these little ones train us! That being said.. I've had Tzus for 20 yrs and have learned that no Tzu under a year of age is trustworthy in the potty department. You have received some good advice so I will just leave it at that. 

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