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!!
5 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
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!
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
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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.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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Published on December 5th, 2018
Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! She is quite adorable, that is for sure. I recommend that you pick up the feces and put it in the pads that can be used inside of the house for her to do it and have her smell it so that she knows that that is where she needs to go. Also, when she actually defecates in the pads, praise her and give her treats to help her understand that that was the desirable behavior. With consistency and time, this will likely work well for you. Best of luck!
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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Published on March 2nd, 2017
Poor Piper! I'm sorry to hear that you're having this problem. I don't think she's being stubborn - she just doesn't understand where she's supposed to poop :) Since she isn't fully housetrained, the first thing I would recommend is making sure that she is supervised at all times in the house to prevent accidents. Most dogs will give some predictable signs when they need to poop, such as sniffing the floor and circling - if you see her doing this, you can scoop her up right away and take her outside. When she poops outside, praise and reward with a treat. She is most likely to need to poop shortly after eating, and/or after waking up in the morning. Take her for a nice long walk at the time of day that she normally needs to go - if she poops on the walk, praise and give her a treat. If not, and you know she will probably need to go soon, put her in her crate for 15-30 minutes (or keep her on-leash with you in the house), then take her out to try again. After she poops, she can have some freedom in the house - until then, she needs to be crated or with you at all times. Continue with this plan until she's gone at least 14 days with no accidents, then you can start to relax the rules a bit. If you try this method and are still having trouble, I would recommend getting in touch with a good reward-based trainer who can help you in person. You can search for a qualified trainer in your area here: www.ccpdt.org
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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Published on November 14th, 2017
Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The easiest way though time consuming is to walk her frequently and when she does defecate celebrate it and praise her and give her treat. At the same time let her know that going inside is unacceptable. If you remain consistent she will learn to associate going outside with something positive. Good luck and have a good night!
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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