# Do dogs always poop shortly after eating.....I need help



## BaileyandBella

Hi.....I am new here and new to being a dog owner. We adopted a 2 year old Golden Retriever one week ago from a family that could not keep their dogs. She is house trained from what we know.

When we first got her, I would take her outside every 2 hours or so with a treat. She rarely went potty or poop and just wanted to get a tummy rub. I ignore her and just say "Go potty". I will wait a few minutes and if nothing happens, we go back inside.

I realized she just doesn't need to go out that often so I started waiting longer. 2 nights ago, it was about 7PM, and she was whining and walking around the house a lot and I didn't realize she needed to go to the bathroom, I thought she was just missing her family.... Duh me. She went poop in the house. I remembered she had just eaten about an hour before. I read online that most dogs need to go poop about 20 mins to one hour after they eat.

OK, so now I had a new plan. Yesterday morning, I starting taking her out every 20 mins after she ate....no poop till 3 hours later. Last night, she ate dinner at 5PM and never pooped and our last time out was 11PM and still nothing. She never whined last night to go out. This morning I took her out at 5AM, she went potty, but still no poop. She did poop about one hour after her morning meal.

So..........do some dogs not always go poop after they eat? I was hoping to settle into some type of pattern/schedule so we can make plans around her etc.

I would appreciate if you could tell me what your dogs do in regard to eating and pooping.....LOL.

Thanks!


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## Renoman

My guys have always pooped after eating. It's the same schedule almost every day. I have to say that this is the schedule/routine I established from day one. 

I think if you're consistent with your schedule/routine, the dog will eventually adjust. Right now it might be following the previous owners schedule. 

Once the dog settles in, you'll be fine. Just remain consistent.


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## BaileyandBella

Thanks....how long afterwards do you take your dogs out?

Sometimes she won't even go potty when I take her out before bed and then ends up holding it for 10 hours or more. When I take her out in the morning, I would think she would hurry and potty right away and she doesn't...she lays down until I encourage her to get up....silly dog.


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## MegaMuttMom

My dog always poops after his meals (twice a day) but he almost asks to go immediately after eating, no 20 min delay. He really only needs to go out about 3 times a day, he doesn't even pee before bed. I guess he has a big bladder? It tooks us a while to figure out his schedule and really thought he had to go more than he does. You'll figure it out in a while too.


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## BaileyandBella

MegaMuttMom said:


> My dog always poops after his meals (twice a day) but he almost asks to go immediately after eating


Does he whine or stand at the door...or?


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## bluesbarby

It takes 6 to 12 hours (depending on the dog) for food to digest and waste to be released. A dog that poops 20 minutes after eating isn't releasing waste from that meal but the previous meal. Riley poops twice a day. Once in the morning (before he eats) and once in the late afternoon, about 10 hours after his morning meal. A healthy dog is almost always consistent. You just have to figure out his schedule. When I was house training Riley I wrote down everything. When he ate, drank, pottied etc. It helped me get a feel for how his body worked.


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## Renoman

Our routine goes pretty much like this:

Up and out first thing in the am - they pee
breakfast
out again as soon as they're done eating - they pee and poop

out many more times during the day

out when I get home from work - they pee
dinner
out as soon as they're done eating - they poop again - sometimes pee 

out just before bed - they pee

Every day, it's the same - out just as soon as they're done eating. 
Sometimes in the am they don't have to go right away - but when I let them out again just before I leave for work they will go then.


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## MegaMuttMom

We have bells hanging from the door that he nudges when he wants to go out. He learned by us knocking them every time we took him out.
Our routine:
7AM he is let out of crate
About 7:15 he gets fed and then goes to the door for pee&poop

Around 2PM he wakes up from his nap and sometimes asks to go out to pee

4PM or so he gets fed and immediately asks to out to poop&pee

Sometime around 7PM he may or may not ask to out to pee. It's quite amazing that he doesn't go out before bed. We used to send him out and he would sit on the deck looking at the house like "why in the world do I have to be out here?" Even so, he never rushes to go out when he wakes up.


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## Darkmoon

I usally feed Carter once in the morning around 10:30am then once around 7pm. Most days he goes twice, around 6:30pm and 11pm, other days he goes three times, others just once. He can easily go from 11:30pm to 12pm without needing to go out. I don't know if he has a bladder of steel or what, but I count myself lucky. 

When we first got him, we also did the whole every few hours take him out. He just got to the point, he wouldn't go outside unless he had to go potty (unless we are going for a walk, he doesn't care to be outdoors). Even now, I have problems understanding his "Mommy, I've gotta go potty" whines from the "Mommy I want attention" or "Mommy I think theres another dog outside" whines. I've finally taught him the "show me" command where he will show me what he wants. If he has to go out, he'll run to the back food, if he is hungry he will run to the door that has his food, treats, and toys in it and so forth. It has become a very good thing for us since all Carter does is whine for no reason.


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## Shaina

My dog will pretty much pee anytime I take her out, no matter when it is. Our normal potty break/meal schedule is as such (flexes w/in 30 minutes either way):

7:30am - Breakfast
8:30am - #1&2 

afternoon - #1

6:00pm - Dinner
7:00pm - #1&2 

~11pm (before bed) - #1

Sometimes she'll do her second #2 early if she runs really hard at the dog park in the afternoon or we go on a really long hike or jog...if so she generally does not do it again that evening, or will go right before bed.

If she has to go at a weird time she'll whine and pace between us and the door.


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## ch25violet

Wow, you guys are really aware of the poop-pee. I'm impressed. I don't know about all the other times of day, (my dog is mostly outside during the daytime) but he too poops right after breakfast. Within 20 minutes, for sure.


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## Jen D

Kramer I have to watch, he will pace and wine if he has to go out. I think he is the only dog that i have had that really didn't have a schedule and it is my fault. With Peek she was one smart girl she knew I was lazy so she rang a bell.


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## Flygirl

Jill is a morning pooper.  She eats at 6 am and again at 6 pm, but poops at 530 am. Sometimes she'll go again in the evening, but it's rare. She has finally learned that when we take her to one specific place in the yard we want her to potty. She's 4 1/2 and we've had her about 2 months now. I too was taking her out every 2 hours, then lengthened it to every 3-4. If she starts pacing near the door we take her out.


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## prolibertate

You've gotten some good advice; I just want to add that dogs sometimes need some retraining when they've moved into a new environment. Taking some time to do a bit of retraining, using the links below, might help solve your issues pretty quickly. I've found that dogs, regardless of age, will respond well to using clicker training; and if they're simply relearning already trained behavior, such as going potty outside, in a new environment, it can happen even faster using a clicker.

http://www.clickertraining.com/node/1171

http://www.clickertraining.com/housetraining

http://www.clickertraining.com/puppy


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## magldg41

I agree that getting a new dog is almost like having to retrain to go in thier new yard. They will have to find thier "places" to go. My dogs too stay outside most of the day, so I dont know exactly when they go, but I pick up poops out of the yard about once a week, and i know where in the yard they go so I can kind of count LOL and they all have thier own little section!!
I'm not sure about how big your yard is, but maybe get a longer lead so they can have thier privacy. I know some dogs hate pooping around others....


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