7months puppy .. now doing No2s at 5am

[Bboy]

Our adorable puppy has been great with toilet training. No accidents since he was tiny. Always let's us know when he needs to go. Been a dream dog really.

In the No 2 Dept he was  having mostly one a day, straight after his first meal around 8:30am. Perfect. Occasionally a little one during the day. But very regular.

Recently he has stopped doing this and despite us trying our best to try make him go before bed, he's waking up at 4-5am to go. This had been happening every night for the last two weeks.

We haven't changed anything regarding his diet and he gets his two walks/playtime at the same time each day. He has three meals a day. 8:30, 1300 and 1800.

He is really needing to go and when we let him out in the middle of the night... he is busting. So he's definitely not doing it for attention and he's trying to hold on to it seemingly. It's also making his sleep restless. We can hear him pacing around downstairs. He used to be quiet as a mouse. It's not good for him and not good for us either!

So what's puzzling us is why he's got himself out of his routine and now his pooing is happening in the middle of the night.

We take him outside at 2200 but he does his usual wee and comes back inside. No poos. Not interested.

Someone has suggested we take him for a little walk later in the evening to get things moving.

Has anyone experienced this?

He has a big play in the park about 1600 and comes back starving about and hour later. He's nearly taking the arm off us by the time we feed him at 6.  The rest of the evening he snoozes. Goes to his bed at 9. We wake him for toilet at 2200.

Looking at gathering as much info as we can before we alter anything, such as his feeding times

[Darwin]

You could maybe try a short 10min walk at 10pm.   We did this until Darwin was about a year or so old.  Now re-introduced as Darwin has nerve damage, so the 10pm 10min walk helps ensure no accidents over night.  Yes it’s a pain at this time of year, but if it works it’s worth it. 

[sodpot2000]

A quick walk before bed might do the trick. We take our two out late evening for pre-bedtime ablutions and this seems to work. Surprising how many of your neighbours you meet out with dogs and torches.

[its.sme]

The advise I was given was to leave the last poo where it was,  this would act as a reminder of where to go and could result in another one.

You often see a simula thing when dogs get out of the car at a park, they toddle off, sniff and then do a number 2 (or wee).