My old dog, Harley, has started to defecate in the house on a regular basis. Usually I take them out before bed around 11:00 and he takes care of business. Lately, he’s not and I’m getting tired of waking up to a pile on my carpet every morning. Is there something I can give him to keep him from pooping or is it something I just need to suck up and deal with? He is probably around 13 or 14, not sure, he was a rescue. Last night he didn’t even get off the deck when I took them both out for a last walk after midnight (I’m a bit of a night owl) and sure enough, poop this morning.
Other than locking him in the bathroom or laundry room with a puppy pee pad? I expect some combination of arthritis and maybe senility or body functions slowing down. I wouldn’t want to mess with digestive tract either laxative or constipation. I’d look at why he won’t get off the deck at night
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My suggestion would be to ask your vet if a trial of anipryl might help, although I understand it can take about six weeks to see a difference.
I had a similar problem with a middle-aged dog who wouldn’t go pee at the last out of the night, then would wake me up at 3AM. I took it back to potty training and stood out there with him, telling him to “go pee”. Big praises when he did, then back in the house. Did that for about a week, then we were fine.
If this is not something you can train back into him, how about altering his feeding schedule so that he’s unlikely to have to poop in the middle of the night? Maybe feed him right before bed, or much earlier in the day? Your vet could probably advise on timing.
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This ^ is what has worked for us. And sometimes, I wait & wait UNTIL she dumps - as I hate getting up in the middle of the night !
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I have an old dog too that will get me up at 3am if she doesn’t go outside with the other dogs. I have to leash walk her till she goes then we can go to bed. Its a pain but better than the alternative.
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In short: you might consider diapers. I think there are now specific diapers for dogs.
Long version: I have a neighbor (former friend; not so much now) who for years had an incontinent dog --vet was unable to find a cause --suggested it was behavioral. Ultimately she put the dog in diapers and a child size onesie. We talked about her decision now and then --for me, a dog that is incontinent was a “deal breaker.” It was the cause of the decision over many years of dog ownership (and cat) to PTS our elderly dogs and cats (except the two that had cancer that became painful). My neighbor said her dog was still a great companion and otherwise had good health --so diapers it was. Her biggest problem was finding dog sitters/house sitters —few were willing to change a dog’s diapers for any amount of money. That was why we spoke about it so often --she’d call and ask if I knew of any new house sitters/farm sitters and see if they would agree to watch her house and change doggy diapers. I think the dog lived another 10 - 15 years in diapers. A choice, but not one I would make. FYI I stopped visiting her because despite her diligence in changing the dog’s diapers, her house smelled of doggy diaper . . .
That’s crazy! It would be a big no for me too. I had an acquaintance who worked at a vet clinic, a really tragic kind of person who was always trying to save hopeless cases. She had a paraplegic cat that couldn’t defecate on its own, and thus have the feces manually massaged out of him. I house sat for her and did it ONCE. Never again.
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@MadTrotter -there is probably a name for whatever she has that seems to make her choose the difficult path regardless of the situation. I think we all have done so at one time or another --attacked a lost cause --but few of us make it as much of a life-long, pubic display as she does (as I said, she’s a former friend --too exhausting to maintain). She bought (she called it adopted) a “special needs” pony --I picked it up for her (enabler). It was extremely old, foundered, and clearly not in good health. She paid for it, and $2K later it was diagnosed with kidney damage —another $2k later (stayed at the vets, IV all that), it died. $4K could buy a nice healthy pony.
I think many people feel joy in helping others and animals in need. However, they don’t make themselves poor (she lives on the edge of poverty) to do so; nor (my big gripe) is it their ONLY topic of conversation. The dog in the diapers was a continual conversation any time I was around her, lunch, trail rides, etc, complete with graphic descriptions of the dog and its diapers. We have long parted ways --I am sure she continues to do good deeds.
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Old dogs are hard.
If you have a fenced yard and typically just put them out, you might find that the older ones don’t actually feel comfortable going out in the dark. They can’t see that well, they often can’t hear either, so they feel vulnerable. So maybe one option is to go out with them if that’s possible.
I also had very good luck with an elderly dog getting accupuncture for weak hind end, which really helped with lots of things, including bathroom issues - whether it directly worked on the GI system, or whether it was just making him more capable of assuming the position - or both…not sure. But it helped.
I would say the same could be true of meds for arthritis pain, if that might be limiting.
My oldest just turned 13 so thinking about these issues again. He has limited vision and hearing already, so I know it will be something to consider over the next couple of years.
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My last old dog did this when he was reaching the end of his life. It started out as solid turds which weren’t too hard to clean up, but progressed to diarrhea. Imodium controlled the diarrhea well enough that he could hold it long enough for me to get him outside, but I was never able to wean him off it. I had to take him out several times a day to encourage him to do his business. Toward the end his care became quite time consuming, his quality of life wasn’t very good and it was not going to improve, so we euthanized him. I tell myself this was the right decision, but it haunts me to this day.
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He’s mostly deaf so telling him to go potty isn’t going to be a thing. If it gets to the point where he’s totally incontinent, I’ll PTS. Diapers are a no-go. This is my husband’s dog and while he gets good care, I don’t feel particularly close to him and not willing to spend hundreds of dollars so he doesn’t crap in the house. Other than that, he’s in pretty good health for his age and is able to get around on his own. Dumber than a box of rocks but he’s basically a good boy.
I’ve had a lot of dogs in my lifetime, and when they become incontinent, that’s the end for me. Usually it goes along with a lot of other health problems and the vet might ask why I think it’s time, but after 45 years with the same vet they seem to trust my judgement. I think it’s ok to let your boy move on the whatever comes after death when he is no longer really in charge of himself. My vet asked me once, how would you feel about living like this? That helped a lot.
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Maybe you can crate the dog overnight in a crate that is large enough for him to have a toilet area and a
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Back when I was a long-time client of a clinic owned by married veterinarians, the husband told me that once he’d heard his wife (board-certified) ask a pet owner with an old dog - one that suffered from recurring cancer with repeated surgeries - “How long does this dog have to live to be long enough for you?”
It took me aback a bit at the time, but I have thought of that question over the years when managing my own elderly animals.
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I was at the vet office one day and there was a woman there with an ancient GSD who couldn’t stand. The dog was crying in pain and was defecating on himself lying there on the floor and I commented about this poor dog. The receptionist said he had cancer and was doing really well compared to how he was before 
I was shocked and saddened that the owner and the vet kept this animal alive when it was clearly past its time to go.
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Can you change the dogs feeding time so that maybe he will need to “go” earlier in the evening?
At the least I would put a leash on him, get him up and take him for a walk and at least give him the opportunity to go. I wouldn’t give him a choice.
I have dealt with incontinence ( pee only) in a few of our old females while they slept but they slept on easily washed dog beds but I wouldn’t put up with this.
I was going to say the same thing CandyAppy did.
What time is dinner? Can you feed a heavier breakfast and maybe a large snack size dinner if you split meals?
OR if you feed only one time a day, slowly shift it to mid day, then a morning feed to get him digesting his food earlier before bedtime?
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They get a breakfast and a dinner around 6 PM. Last night was my own fault. I went to bed insanely early for me and woke up to a small pile. He’s in an out multiple times during the day to do his rounds. He didn’t eat his breakfast this morning so I’m sure he’ll be hungry this evening. He’s in pretty good shape for an old dog, still plays with Luna and follows me out to the barn for evening stables, hangs out with me when I’m gardening
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Adjust his feeding times. Dinner at 3pm maybe.
Put him somewhere at night to sleep with a hard surface so it’s easy clean up should he have an accident.
We did diapers for our ancient English setter. It wasn’t a terrible ordeal and most nights he didn’t have issues. He simply didn’t know it was happening so he couldn’t tell us he needed to go. There’s no reason for a house to smell like dog diapers, that’s simply terrible housekeeping.
