Hi everyone,
I’m really hoping someone here has been through this and has advice. My 9-week-old Italian Greyhound, Pippa, has started pooping in her crate overnight and then eating it. We only realised because we found tiny pellets instead of a normal poop in the morning, and later she actually threw it up. It happened again last night.

We live in a two-bedroom apartment with a balcony. We have a real grass toilet patch outside, and two fake grass patches with reusable pee pads inside. We're training her and our other puppy (a corgi, also 9 weeks old) to use both and eventually transition to outside on the balcony or downstairs in the shared yard (once vaccinated) only and eventually remove the indoor toilets.

At night, they sleep in a large crate together and the door is closed. We always try to get her to poop before bed but she often will not go. Then overnight she poops in the crate, and by the time we wake up it’s mostly gone. (This is even with us taking her to the toilet around 2-3 am if she whines) 

We’re doing our best and feel like we’ve tried everything. I’m honestly on the verge of a breakdown. Has anyone experienced this and figured out what worked? 

Here’s what we’ve tried or are considering:

Feeding earlier in the evening (around 5 to 6 pm)
Potty breaks just before bed
Cleaning all toilet areas thoroughly with enzymatic spray
Waking up around 3 to 4 am for a middle-of-the-night potty run
Wondering if the crate is too big since they can poop at one end and sleep at the other
Trying not to separate them but willing to if necessary
Looking into adding a supplement or deterrent to her food

Next step will be vet or puppy trainer, but If anyone has gone through this, especially with an Iggy or with two pups sharing a crate, I’d really appreciate any help or ideas. Thank you so much. 


Help - my Iggy puppy is eating her own 💩 in her crate at night 😫