[lennox]

Every 4-6 weeks my 6 year old boxer has been defecating in the house.  He always uses the same room and never seems to be feeling ill prior to these incidents. I have tried many things including adjusting the amount of food that he gets, the time he gets his food, the type of food, breaking his feedings up in to two different times.  None of these has seemed to make a difference.  Other than this he is very well house broken.  They have happend at two different times; 1) while we are sleeping; 2) while we are at work.  He is only home alone from about 9 am until 4:15 pm.  I have him scheduled for a vet appt on Thursday but have a feeling that there will be nothing coming out of that either.  I just wanted to see if anyone else has had similar issues and if so what has been done about then.  My next step is the start creat training him and really would rather not do that.  

Please help Lennox

 

[Guest]

Maybe get someone to let him out during the day to poo and pee. Also let him out in the middle of the night (if you can wake up and go back to sleep). Sometimes I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and at work, so does your baby! Good luck at the vet and I hope nothing is wrong!

 

[boxerlove]

I agree...since it isn't an every night thing he may just have to go bad enough that he can't hold it until you get home or up.   Ours usually sleep through the night but there are times when they wake up and start pacing around whinning by our heads and really need to go out.  We take them down and they potty, come back in and back to sleep.  We put a baby gate across our bedroom door so they can't go out into the house (we do this because they go pile in our kids bed and end up kicking them out of bed since they hog the whole thing!  8O ).  If they need something they wake us up.

 

[samsonsmom]

As it only happens every 4-6 weeks, I'm inclined to agree with what has been said already....If he's doing it in the same room, one thing you may want to do is make sure the area is cleaned thoroughly with something like Nature's Miracle, it's possible the scent is attracting him to the same spot...

 

[JessiesMom]

adding to what others have said.  You can try to block this area off so that he cant get to it unless you are with him and then you can watch for the warning signs

 

[GabysDaddy]

sounds like you've already got some good advice, I also agree with what has been said....I get up almost every night to go to the bathroom, so I take advantage of this and let Gaby out as well, and then we go back to bed

 

[lennox]

Thank you for all of your advice.  I do try to let him out during the night as we have a 14 month old baby as well that wakes me often in the middle of the night.  Lennox is very well behaved and a typical boxer.  He is also very good with the baby and very protective of her.

Does anyone have any advice on crate training at his age (6)?

 

[48Dodge]

What dog food are you feeding him?  If it's one that has a lot of filler then that just means more poop in his system.  Something more nutrient dense means less waste.  Just a thought

 

[lennox]

Hey Great Name for your pup.  Cooper is actually my name.  Lennox is the dog.  As for food I have tried him on several different kinds.  He is currently on a lamb and rice by Kirkland that we recommended to me on another boxer forum.  That seemed to help some but we are still having the issue.  I think that I am just going to have to start crate training him during the night.