Quote:
Originally Posted by Mom2LilMax  If I let him sleep in our room, uncrated, we will always wake up to a pile whether he's been outside or not. Other times it honestly varies. If I know he pooped outside, and it's not our bedtime, he can run around the house. But even then sometimes he will poop in the house again. The only gaurantee is if he's crated all day and that's no fair to anyone. There is not a set time he does it. He eats around 7pm once a day. |
He eats only one meal? Is he not a morning eater? The one meal late night is probably making him poop early in the morning, before your wake up.
The key to solving the problem is consistency, a schedule that encourages a body rhythm that will help you anticipate his need to poop. One of my boys goes 3 times a day: early morning, afternoon, and evening. Not the exact time each day, but general windows of time. We feed meals and try to do our doggy activities around the same time each day. A daily walk helps too.
Crating him all day may be making things worse through inconsistency and lack of exercise -- plus the late evening meal.
I would also work on training him to alert you when he needs to go. Bells are the general method for dogs who don't develop their own method. You can use hanging bells on the doorknob or a simple office bell on the floor. There are dog specific bells sold on Amazon. To train, take your dog's paw and hit the bell each time before you go outside. Use keywords or phrases, like "Outside to potty!" and then when he goes, repeat the keyword, "Good Potty!" or whatever you choose.