My pup is 5.5 months old. He's medium/large breed (an American bull dog mix, supposedly, and about 44 pounds). He's a pound puppy, and since we brought him home at 12 weeks he's been eating his own poop. We've combated this by being diligent about going potty outside, picking poops up, and taking him out of his crate when he indicates he has to go, etc. So far so good.
We've also recently started using Dis-Taste on his food, but it doesn't seem to help. Anyway...
He wants to go out for a poop around 4-5. Which is a giant pain in the butt because my alarm doesn't go off until 6, so some days I end up getting up an hour early or have trouble getting back to sleep for an hour.
At almost 6 months is it reasonable to expect that he should be able to hold everything from 11 pm (when he usually gets put up for the night) until around 6?
This morning he whined at about 5:30 and I ignored him, and when I got up at 7:30 (late night.. my fault lol) his towel was wet and when I took him out he didn't poop, which meant he probably went in his crate and ate it. Hot off the press. So gross. He will also lick his pee as he's actually peeing. He's so disgusting but both the shelter and my vet assure me it's a combination of learned behaviors from boredom at the shelter and just being a gross puppy and he'll outgrow it if we prevent the opportunities.
So... how do I get him to sleep through the night and not wet in his crate and/or eat poop during the night? I was thinking of a basket muzzle and maybe picking up his water sometime in the late evening?
He is very reliable in the house, but I notice he does like to pee on his towel or blanket. Could this be because in the shelter he wanted something other concrete to pee on? I tried leaving his crate bare and he peed and then laid in it, which resulted in a bath the next day.
Everyone tells me that shelter pups can be a bit gross because they have very little house breaking and exposure to "indoor living" and it can be a while before they're no longer disgusting little creatures. He was at the shelter from 6 weeks until 12 weeks, and was kept with his 6 brothers and sisters. So I imagine there was lots of pee and poop everywhere and very little opportunities to pee outside as often as young puppies do.
He's great in every other way. I just don't want him to pee in his crate, and I want to get him to sleep through the night without him possibly eating his poop before I get to him at 6 or 7.
Suggestions?
We've also recently started using Dis-Taste on his food, but it doesn't seem to help. Anyway...
He wants to go out for a poop around 4-5. Which is a giant pain in the butt because my alarm doesn't go off until 6, so some days I end up getting up an hour early or have trouble getting back to sleep for an hour.
At almost 6 months is it reasonable to expect that he should be able to hold everything from 11 pm (when he usually gets put up for the night) until around 6?
This morning he whined at about 5:30 and I ignored him, and when I got up at 7:30 (late night.. my fault lol) his towel was wet and when I took him out he didn't poop, which meant he probably went in his crate and ate it. Hot off the press. So gross. He will also lick his pee as he's actually peeing. He's so disgusting but both the shelter and my vet assure me it's a combination of learned behaviors from boredom at the shelter and just being a gross puppy and he'll outgrow it if we prevent the opportunities.
So... how do I get him to sleep through the night and not wet in his crate and/or eat poop during the night? I was thinking of a basket muzzle and maybe picking up his water sometime in the late evening?
He is very reliable in the house, but I notice he does like to pee on his towel or blanket. Could this be because in the shelter he wanted something other concrete to pee on? I tried leaving his crate bare and he peed and then laid in it, which resulted in a bath the next day.
Everyone tells me that shelter pups can be a bit gross because they have very little house breaking and exposure to "indoor living" and it can be a while before they're no longer disgusting little creatures. He was at the shelter from 6 weeks until 12 weeks, and was kept with his 6 brothers and sisters. So I imagine there was lots of pee and poop everywhere and very little opportunities to pee outside as often as young puppies do.
He's great in every other way. I just don't want him to pee in his crate, and I want to get him to sleep through the night without him possibly eating his poop before I get to him at 6 or 7.
Suggestions?