How Often Do Puppies Poop?

Every dog has its day! 69 million households have at least one dog in it. Many people buy older dogs, but owning a puppy can be rewarding and fun.

However, you have to spend many days training your puppy to use the bathroom and behave in your house. Yet you don't want to start potty training your puppy just yet. You need to get the facts about your puppy's bathroom habits. 

How often do puppies poop? What affects how your puppy poops, and what indicates a health problem? When should you start training your puppy, and how should you train it? 

Answer these questions and you can train your puppy the right way in no time. Here is your comprehensive guide.

Diet

Your puppy's diet can significantly impact when and how often it needs to poop. Growing puppies need essential nutrients like fiber, fatty acids, and beta-carotene. These nutrients cause frequent bowel movements, with healthy puppies pooping several times a day. 

Healthy puppies will make poop that is solid, smooth, and soft. If your puppy's poop is hard or liquid, it may have an intestinal problem. You may also need to adjust the diet so they have more fiber, which makes poop firmer and absorbs more water. 

You should give your puppy plenty of water to drink. It needs about one ounce of water per pound of its body weight every day. If it is active, it needs more water so it stays hydrated. 

The more water your puppy drinks, the more often it will use the bathroom. A one-month-old puppy can hold its bladder for roughly one hour before it needs to pee. Though it can be inconvenient for you to take your puppy outside to poop or pee, it is better for your puppy to use the bathroom regularly than for it to get dehydrated. 

Digestion

Most young puppies need four hours to digest their food. Larger puppies may take a few more hours to digest their food and produce bowel movements. Smaller puppies may empty their stomachs in one-and-a-half hours, leading to frequent potty breaks. 

This means you should time when you feed your puppy. If you feed it at 6:00 p.m., you will need to be up around 10:00 p.m. to take it outside.

Several factors can impact the digestion time. If your puppy is very active, it will break down the food in its stomach faster. This means it is more likely to use the bathroom sooner. 

Water helps your puppy chew its food and it activates enzymes in its stomach. The more water your dog drinks, the faster it will digest its food. 

Dry food takes longer to digest than wet food, in part because it is harder for your dog to chew. Both dry food and wet food can be healthy, so consider giving your dog dry food if you're looking to delay its potty breaks.

Age

Puppies cannot form solid bowel movements until they are roughly four weeks old. If you buy a newborn puppy, you should not expect it to need to poop until it becomes weaned off of its mother's milk. 

After four weeks, your puppy can start to eat solid food. Its metabolism is extremely high, so it will need a lot of food to eat and grow properly. This means you should expect your puppy to use the bathroom frequently.

As it gets older, its metabolism slows down and it needs less food. Your puppy will also be in better control of its bowels. It still may need to go to the bathroom multiple times a day until it becomes one year old. 

You can start puppy potty training whenever you want. The earlier you start with your puppy, the sooner it can learn how to use the bathroom well. Read a few potty training tips and tricks before you start potty training a puppy. 

Health Issues

Health issues can also affect how your puppy goes to the bathroom. If you think your puppy has a significant health issue, you should take it to the veterinarian. However, there are signs of health problems you should look for and ways you can reach the problem.

Diarrhea

Diarrhea will cause your puppy to poop more often. It may produce watery, misshapen, or discolored stools. Your puppy may also show other symptoms like abdominal pain or extreme thirst.

Many conditions can cause your puppy to develop diarrhea. A change in diet can upset your puppy's stomach, leading to loose bowel movements. Roundworms and hookworms can irritate your puppy's intestinal tract, causing it to release stools more often. 

Encourage your puppy to drink more water so it does not become dehydrated. Bring a bowl of water close to where it is sitting. If your puppy seems reluctant to drink water, you can mix some bouillon or broth into the water. 

Do not give your puppy any spicy or exciting foods. Unseasoned beef or chicken is easy for your dog to digest. Do not give your puppy grains or vegetables, which can be tough for it to chew and keep in its stomach.

Constipation

Constipation occurs when your puppy does not pass feces frequently. The feces it passes may be extremely small, dry, or hard. Your puppy may try to go to the bathroom, but it may not be able to pass anything, even after it strains. 

Puppies can become constipated if they do not have enough fiber or water in their diet. Some puppies become constipated if they are stressed out or in an unusual location. Digesting rawhide chews or inedible objects can also upset their digestive tracts, slowing bowel movements down. 

You should give your puppy more water if it seems dehydrated. Try comforting it by rubbing its neck and giving it fun toys to play with. However, do not give your puppy bones or rawhide treats, as these chews can make constipation worse.

Add natural fiber to your dog's diet. You can give it fiber supplements, or you can add foods rich in fiber like canned pumpkin. If your dog likes vegetables, give it carrot sticks or celery, which are full of water and fiber.

Intestinal Blockages

Intestinal blockages often occur when puppies swallow objects that are not food. Your puppy may eat its chew toy or another object like a shoe, thinking that it is something it can eat.

An intestinal blockage can cause constipation as well as other symptoms. Your puppy may become sluggish and have intestinal pain. It may also become bloated, as gas and water build up behind the object in its intestines. 

A blockage can be fatal, so take your dog to the vet immediately if you think it has a blockage. Surgery is sometimes necessary, but objects can pass on their own over time. 

Prevent blockages by removing objects that your dog can swallow. Place its toys in a box and put your shoes on shelves out of reach. 

How to Start Potty Training a Puppy

Potty training a puppy is not as complicated as you might think. You should follow a few steps so it is as easy as possible.

Create a Puppy Poop Schedule

Allowing your puppy to use the bathroom whenever it wants can lead to problems. Your puppy may interrupt you when you are in the middle of something. It may spread its poop on objects, which can cause foul scents and property damage. 

Control your puppy by creating a schedule for its potty breaks. Going at regular times every day can prevent your puppy from acting out or disturbing you.

As your puppy gets older, you can adjust its potty breaks. A three-month-old puppy can hold its urine and bowels for roughly four hours. For every month older your puppy is, you can add an additional hour.

Find a Location for Your Puppy

Dogs have a powerful sense of smell. They use strong-smelling substances like pee to mark locations and remind them of where they need to go. 

Do not allow your puppy to poop wherever it wants. Find a location where it can use the bathroom and take it to that location every time it needs to use the bathroom. 

If you're worried about the strong scent of puppy poop, you should take it outside. You can create an area for it to poop similar to a cat's litter box. 

But you can allow your puppy to poop indoors if you have a garden outside. Create a space with grass on trays that you can clean easily.

Take your puppy off the leash as it uses the bathroom. A leash can impede its ability to breathe or strain as it tries to poop. As soon as your puppy is done, you can put it back on the leash.

While you are walking your dog, try to bring your dog to the same locations where it poops. This will prompt it to go to the bathroom and keep it within an area you can control.

Use Verbal Cues

As your puppy squats down, you should say a word that identifies what it is doing. This reinforces what the puppy should do when it needs to use the bathroom. It also indicates that you approve of what it is doing. 

You can pick any cue word you want, as long as it is simple. "Poop" or "go poop" is fine. 

Encourage everyone in your family to use the cue when your puppy goes to the bathroom. Using different cue words for the same action can confuse your puppy.

After it has been productive, you should reward it. You can rub its neck, play a game with it, or give it a treat.

Avoid Common Mistakes

Many people get frustrated when their puppies have accidents. Do not yell, restrain, or hit your dog if it poops or pees in the wrong location or at the wrong time. This will cause your puppy to associate potty training with punishment, making it harder to train your puppy. 

When your puppy has an accident, move it away from the poop or pee and then clean the room up. You can use an odor neutralizer to kill the smell, then you can spray an antibacterial cleaner. 

You can point out to your puppy if it has made a mistake. But you need to do so within one minute of it making the mistake. Waiting for a few minutes may confuse your puppy. 

Opt to reward your puppy for doing something right instead of punishing it for doing something bad. Your puppy will be happier, and it will do its best to avoid accidents so it can please you. Come up with a positive thing you can do after it poops properly.

Puppies show several signs when they are about to use the bathroom. Your puppy may sniff the ground and walk in circles, trying to find a location to use the bathroom.

If you think it is about to poop, you can put it on a leash and guide it to the designated toilet area. You can pick up the poop with a glove and move it to the toilet area to show where your puppy should go.

So How Often Do Puppies Poop?

Many people have questions about their puppies' bathroom breaks. How often do puppies poop? The answer varies. 

If your puppy has a good diet, it may poop several times a day. It should always poop solid, smooth stools. Diarrhea and constipation can change the number of bathroom breaks.

You should start training your puppy now. Create a designated area for it to use the bathroom and make a routine of going to the bathroom.

Use tools to make potty training easy. Gotta Go Grass provides grass for puppy potty training. Browse our store today.