# Housetraining a toy cavoodle - at night



## Lizz1155 (Jun 16, 2013)

I have a toy cavoodle who is just coming up to 11 weeks old - I've had him for two weeks. He is my first dog, and I'm having some toilet-training issues with him. From what I'd seen online in the way of "daily puppy schedules" I thought he was supposed to poop within 30 minutes to an hour of eating. However my puppy doesn't do this - he generally takes around three hours to need to go. I'm happy that he's predictable, however he always needs to poop at 1:30am and 6:30 am (before breakfast); the 1:30am journey to the garden is a bit of a pain and I was wondering if there was a way to train him out of this? 

At 1:30am he isn't woofing or whining to be uncrated - he's actually fairly sleepy and it takes a while to coax him out, but when he does go into the garden he realises that he needs to go poop. I have tried leaving him in his crate since he's not whining, but this results in him pooping in his crate, so at the moment it's easier to take him out even though he's sleepy. He's fed around 7am, 12pm and 4:30pm - I think he's technically still young enough for 4 meals per day, however he was on three meals per day when I got him, so I stuck to the same schedule. ( He's fed James Wellbeloved puppy dry mix.) 

Any ideas how to train him out of pooping at night?


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## 8tansox (Jan 29, 2010)

Aww he's just a tiny puppy, he can't possibly hang on over night. And you're right, puppies NEVER come with manuals, it's trial and error, what works for your puppy might not work for another.

All puppies poop. It usually takes anything between 3 and 6 months to get them really clean so try not to be too impatient. 

Others will come along and give your more details I'm sure on the do's and don'ts but a puppy this age is usually fed about four times a day I think.


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## Sleeping_Lion (Mar 19, 2009)

I'd have him on four meals per day to be honest, and I'd be getting up as you are, and then setting that time back so that eventually, you're waking up at a fairly normal hour. So get him up at about 2am, let him poop, don't make a fuss just a quiet praise, pop him back to bed, and over the next few weeks set that date further and further back. 

Some people hit lucky and their pups will sleep through straight away, I've always found mine need to have a break in the middle of the night .


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## Lizz1155 (Jun 16, 2013)

Thanks, I've changed him to four meals per day and he does seem to be happier on it


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## J E Dog Training Club (Jun 17, 2013)

It sounds like you're doing all the right things, he's a baby and though the midnight garden breaks are not ideal, it wont go on forever. 
In the long run he will learn faster with your encouragement even in the early hours of the morning!

Hopefully he will be housetrained before you know it.
Good Luck


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## Typewriter (May 12, 2013)

I have 2 cavapoo puppies, 5 months and 4 months. Mine are feed 3 times a day. At night they are shut in the kitchen/diner in a large bed. They go out at between 10.30 and 11pm for their last wee and they get up between 4.30 and 5am every morning. They will get better, mine started off where I used to dread getting up for what I might find. Paper and puppy training pads did not work, they would tear them all up and you can imagine the mess in the morning. 
I should have not got 2 puppies as it has been hard work training them. 

What time is your last feed? I feed mine between 7-7.30am, 12noon and 5-30pm. I give them 2 biscuits at about 8pm. What colour is your dog?


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## Lizz1155 (Jun 16, 2013)

Thanks for all your help, I've now got him to go til 3am rather than 1.30am (so I get a lie-in! ) I'm giving him his last feed around 7pm. @Typewriter - wow, coping with two puppies at once must be a handful, do you think one is waking the other up in the morning? Mine's a cream coloured cavoodle, however I think he may change colour a little as he ages (I hear that happens). 

Just one more question, since this is confusing me - my puppy's recently started doing a tiny amount of scooting; only 3-4 seconds a few times daily, often followed by some tail-chasing (which I ignore, since I don't want it to become an obsession for him). Is a tiny amount of scooting normal or should he not be doing any? I don't think he has impacted anal glands, since he doesn't smell fishy, and he has been recently wormed.


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## Typewriter (May 12, 2013)

They are a handful. One is 4 months and the other 5 months. One is ruby which is cream and her colour is changing and the other one is black with a bit of white on her chin and chest. The black one is so small and the ruby one is quite big. They both sleep together but Maisie the older one gets up at 4.15-4.30 every morning. I just can't seem to get her to sleep till 5am. Willow the small one I don't think would get up as early but Maisie scratches at the door, I know I should ignore it but I can't. I don't let mine upstairs, I want them to be clean before I do. I will try and put a picture on so you can see them. Lovely dogs.


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## tinamary (Aug 17, 2008)

My Tilly is 4 and half and i don't ever get a full nights sleep. She has me up in the night every night.
I have tried all sorts to get her to sleep all night but with no avail


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

OP, 
i regularly tell clients to set the alarm for 3-AM every night, from the time their pup comes home thru 15-WO.
That eliminates the pup waking, being unable to hold it, & either voiding in the crate or when the pup exits 
the crate & instantly voids.

Pups under 12-WO / 3-MO don't have functioning sphincter-muscles yet, when they're full, they empty - automatically.
They can choose -where- to a degree, as in 'on the lino or the rug?...', but not WHEN - it's not theirs to choose.

At 3-MO they begin to have some sphincter control, but first they must learn what 'full' feels like & means;
then they must develop muscle tone & be able to retain fluid or feces. It takes practice.
Lastly, they need to learn how to TELL AN ADULT that they need to toilet - & if there's no one there, 
the inevitable is not the dog's or pup's fault.

Most pups are dry overnight by 4-MO, hence the schedule for 3-AM trips, assuming U take Pup out 
as late as possible before an 11-pm to midnight bedtime, & get up between 7 & 8-AM.

Taking the pup's water up around 8-PM can also help, but the puppy MUST be in a temperature-controlled 
environment for that to be safe: not over 75 to 78-degrees F, & not unheated if it's below 65-degrees F.

When U get up, the pup goes out as soon as U Urself have peed; grab a coat, get shoes on, & go.
Don't forget *treats*! :001_smile: Pup is rewarded for right-place, right-time performances.
When U return, the water-bowl is available & stays available all the time, until 3 to 4 hours before bed.

Daytimes, pups can wait a maximum of their age in MONTHS + 1: a 10-WO pup is 2-mos + 1 = 3 hours, max,
from their last potty-trip. Logs are helpful - a simple sheet on the frig-door or exit door, with a pencil on a string.
Note the time, what was produced, how much, any unusual details [diarrhea, straining, pink / blood in urine...].

TRIGGERS are in addition to SCHEDULED potty-trips:
after a nap
after a meal or a large drink
after active play
after exciting events [visitors, etc]... 
pups need to ===> _*Go!...*_

Most pups are dry / clean overnite by 4-MO & dry / clean daytimes by 6-MO; daytimes take longer, 
as all the triggers [meals, etc] happen then, while we're up & about.

Congratulations on the puppy, & this is a short stage in the next decade or so - think of potty-training 
as an investment in a healthy, happy companion.  Children take a lot longer to potty-train!


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## Westy (Feb 19, 2013)

_My Tilly is 4 and half and i don't ever get a full nights sleep. She has me up in the night every night._

30 years ago I bought a Cavalier puppy. I struggled and struggled to housetrain her, never having had a problem with any other puppy before. In despair I rang her breeder for help, who kept 15+ in her large farmhouse kitchen at night. Her reply "I never come down in the morning to a clean floor. Didn't you know that they're dirty little dogs?"

I never did manage to get the bitch reliably clean in her life.


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## tinamary (Aug 17, 2008)

I have always had dogs that have slept all night. When we got tills she had a groin op when she was 6 months old and i think she is slightly incontinent. I get up with her in the night because she barks when she wants to go out.

Many of you will have read about her if you read chloe-rescued-cavalier-her-progress


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