Ok, I have another question guys, so bear with me. As I stated in the other thread that I just made, I went to the vet yesterday. This is one of the questions I asked him.

I got my pup at 8 weeks old. They had been feeding her nitrisource but I couldn't find that dogfood anywhere and I had already decided to go with Blue buffalo. Well, after reading horror stories (which I probably shouldn't have done because who knows if they are true or not) I decided to get her off of BB, after she had been in it for a month, in fear of what some of the others were saying. I went to nutro ultra for about a week and it made her smell really strange. So I finally found a place that sold the same food that she had grown up on, the nutrisource. Well, since I started that, and it has been a full month, she really strains to poop. Now, the good thing is, her poops are TOTALLY solid...almost too solid and they were HUGE poops. I mean, she pooped one time and I was like "holy crap (no pun intended) Juno! Your craps are bigger than humans"...hahaha. But since I started her on the nutrisource, she has had to wake up in the middle of the night to poop. I decided I had had enough. I am seriously so tired of waking up two times a night to take her out to poop and pee. So I decided to switch food again. I am slowly switching her to Orijen which I have heard and studdied about. It is supposed to be a great food. I am switching her over slowly. Her poops have been a little on the runny side with a few of them being absolutely watery. I know this is common when you switch foods though. My vet told me to waight about 2-3 weeks after she has been on Orijen fully before I make any decision.

My question to you all is, has this every happened to any of you before? Have any of you had great experience with Orijen?

Thanks.

I dont think its that uncommon to wake up in the middle of the night to let a 4monthbold out to go to the bathroom.. Koda is months and i take him out atleast once in the middle of the nigjt sometimes twice thats part of takin care of a puppy

The letting her out to potty/poop in the middle of the night is completely normal. She is still a very young puppy; they poop and pee a lot. I was taking Sheba out in the middle of the night until around 6-7 months old. It's not fair to make them wait until next morning, and they are doing right by letting the owner know they have to go. If they have to go, they have to go. It's part of having dogs.

Orijen is a very good dog food that I highly recommend. If I remember correctly, it is pretty high in protein, so make sure to keep an eye on her poops. Other then that I really don't have anything to add. Good luck!

Oh and yes you definitely need to give the food time to be in her system before making any decisions on it. Your vet is very right about that part.

Yep! Mine does that too! She goes in the middle of the night to poop.

I agree with what the above said about it being normal to have to take a puppy out a few times during the night. I took Cally out every two hours for the first month or so we had her and then gradually made it longer and longer. I fed Blue Buffalo Wilderness to Cally and she did fairly well on it but I just recently switched her to Orijen and she has been doing absolutely amazing on it. Her poops are always firm, she eats all her meals (she wasn't on Blue, was skipping meals) and the vet says she is amazingly healthy. I definitely recommend Orijen. When we switched to Blue originally Cally had runny poops but they stiffened up eventually. Just remember she is a puppy so the higher protein content may cause her to have runnier stools or may be too much for her tummy.

That's right, waking up in the middle of the night is part of puppy parenthood. I'd say, If the poops are verging on watery, I'd slow down the food transition process. I know mine takes about twice as long to switch foods than people normally do, she's got a sensitive tummy like a lot of sibes, no formula will tell you better than her body how fast she needs to switch. Good luck!

Hey, give it a few years and we will all get up in the middle of the night for bathroom trips!

Night time potty trips are the standard for a few months. Straining with hard bowel movements is not standard. Ensure she always has free access to water so she can process all those solids. If changing the food helps, great. If it happens again, discuss it with your vet.

Sleep deprivation - yep. That's our punishment for getting a puppy instead of adopting an adult shelter dog.

Hang in there. She'll be able to hold it after a few months. I went through the same thing with Kavik. It took until he was 4 months to sleep through the night. Now he'll even sleep till 10 in the morning!
Sometimes it takes a little bit for a dog to adjust to the high protein food even if they were on a similar diet beforehand. I switched to TOTW and had a few runny poops, but it got better. I would take your vets advise and just watch her poops to see if they improve.

At what time do you give the last feeding and water? If you cut off a little bit earlier, say, feeding around 4:30-5ish, cutting off water around 7, and making sure she does their business before going to bed, it helps a lot.

@Epimetheus:
I don't see how taking a puppy out to pee is a punishment. They are a pain in the butt when learning everything, but you get to spend the maximum amount of time/years with the dog when you get them young. There's nothing quite like having a dog who grows knows the back of your hand better than you do.

Kavik_the_Havoc wrote:

@Epimetheus:
I don't see how taking a puppy out to pee is a punishment. They are a pain in the butt when learning everything, but you get to spend the maximum amount of time/years with the dog when you get them young. There's nothing quite like having a dog who grows knows the back of your hand better than you do.

I'm 99% sure that that statement was meant as a joke. I would also have to add that my rescue Kennedy knows a hell of a lot more about me and how to read me then Sheba who I have raised since she was a puppy. I think saying that is very short sighted of rescues quiet honestly.

Sheba&Kennedy wrote:

I'm 99% sure that that statement was meant as a joke. I would also have to add that my rescue Kennedy knows a hell of a lot more about me and how to read me then Sheba who I have raised since she was a puppy. I think saying that is very short sighted of rescues quiet honestly.

It's hard to tell through text if someone is joking, serious, or being pompous without hearing voice inflection. It's not shortsighted; it's emphasizing how I feel about choosing a puppy and raising it into adulthood. It doesn't mean that rescues aren't great or can't get to know you just as well. My point is it feels extra special to me when I get a dog while they are very young.

Thanks guys for all your comments.

On the getting up in the middle of the night to poop issue. I wouldn't have a problem if it was just peeing, but because she had to poop at such an odd time, it made me wonder if that was normal. Even my vet said she shouldn't be pooping in the middle of the night.

On my switching to her new food. She has some solid poops (slightly wet, and yes sorry for the description) and then she has some absolute almost nothing but watery poops. I have switched her pretty slowly. I remember she did this on the BB at first but they firmed up. I will still give it time because I really like the content of this food. But if it doesn't work, then I know I have other options.

On an amazing note, I let her sleep outside her crate last night. She LOVES to go under my bed if we are in my room. So at bedtime, she went there. I tried to get her out to put her in her crate for bedtime and then I thought to myself, ahh...lets just try it. (she looked so adorable anyways) She slept the whole night and didn't wake up until I did at 6!!!!!! WOW, I was so excited!