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Why is my puppy pooping in her crate at night despite training?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Labrador Retriever | Female | unspayed | 2 months and 18 days old | 20 lbs

She keeps pooping in her crate! She does not poop after she eats, but waits hours to go. At night, she quietly poops in her crate. We have a divider to make the area small, feed her Science Diet food, set an alarm to take her out in the middle of night. Nothing is working!!

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jessica Desrosiers

Veterinary Technician

Published on February 11th, 2019

Harley is very little still so may be a bit confused as to what she needs to be doing. Puppies are also VERY easily distracted as everything is new to them! It may be that you are not giving her enough time outside to give her the chance to go. You may need to be outside a good 15-20 minutes with her (even if she urinates) until she gets the urge to go and successfully goes potty outside. Running her around with a toy or on a leash can help exercise and get things moving. If she doesn't go, then bringing her inside, waiting 30-60 minutes, and then going right back out and trying again will give her plenty of opportunity to go potty outside. If she does go, offer lots of praise and treats to help her learn that both urine and stool should be done outside!

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Jessica Desrosiers

    Veterinary Technician

    Published on September 4th, 2019

    Timing and patience can help. Most puppies will pee right away but it can take a good 15-20 minutes of outside time before they realize "oh I have to go potty more". Running around with a ball to get the bowels moving while outside (or just running back and forth) may help speed up the process so you can get her to go outside and praise her for it. Puppies usually also have to potty about 15 m after waking, eating, drinking, and playing, so you can also use this to time her potty outings and give her more chances to pass stool outside.

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