How Often Do Puppies Poop? (Time-frames and 11 Quick Facts)

Puppies poop more than adult dogs. And the reason is quite simple. Newborn pups are regulating normal bowel movements, which can take anywhere between 4 – 8 months to control.

A 2-week-old puppy may defecate after every feeding. However, this frequency typically decreases to about 4 times per day by the age of 12 weeks. By the age of 6 months, the frequency may reduce further to about 3 times per day. By the age of 1 year, a puppy usually settles into its normal defecation habits. Adult dogs typically poop once a day, although some may go up to 3 times a day.

Certain factors determine how frequently a puppy poops (and whether or not it’s normal). Different breeds and diets can influence one’s stool-cycle. Health risks, potty-training, and genetics are also to be considered.

How Often Do Newborn Puppies Poop?

Quite often, newborn puppies poop every 30 minutes. This is because they’re still growing, and are somewhat reliant on milk, which can cause more frequent stools.

How Often Do Puppies Poop at 6 Weeks?

It’s not uncommon for a 6-week puppy to poop every 1 – 2 hours.

How Often Do Puppies Poop at 8 Weeks?

An 8-week old puppy is expected to poop every 3 hours. This will slowly increase over the next few days, and once again once they reach 10-weeks.

How Often Do Puppies Poop at 10 Weeks?

At 10-weeks, a puppy should be pooping every 3 – 4 hours. It’s not uncommon for 10-week old puppies to poop more than this though, as factors such as breed and potty training can play a part in it.

How Often Do Puppies Poop at 12 Weeks?

A 12-week puppy will approximately poop every 4 – 5 hours. Depending on the diet you’re giving your pooch, and how frequent you’re feeding him/her, will determine how often they poop.

How Often Do Puppies Poop at 4 Months?

Depending on the breed, it’s not uncommon for 4-month old puppies to poop no more than 3 times a day. Anything between 2 – 4 times a day for a puppy of this age to poop is a good sign. On the odd occasion — your puppy might poop less, or more than this, so long as the poop is a healthy color there should be no problems.

How Long After Eating Do Puppies Poop?

In the early stages, after your pup has finished his meal, spend 30 minutes monitoring your puppy, and proceed to take them outside in preparation to poop. As your pooch grows, the times he’ll poop after each meal will grow to one hour, two hours, and so forth.

Should Puppies Poop After Every Meal?

Ideally, your growing puppy should poop after every meal. Puppies typically eat 2 – 4 meals a day and drink plenty of water in-between, which is a good indicator to follow concerning potty-times.

What Does Healthy Puppy Poop Look Like?

The best poop indicator for a healthy puppy is a firm, chocolate brown-colored poop. This is the type of poop your puppy should be ejecting regularly. However, healthy puppy poop can also vary, depending on the circumstances.

Soft, brown poop can also indicate that your puppy is healthy and on track. The moment your puppy’s stool turns liquidy or remains soft for a prolonged period is when you might want to examine this further.

Sometimes, healthy puppy poop can also appear green — which basically indicates that your dog is consuming plenty of vegetables or grass. This doesn’t need to be a major concern, so long as your dog’s diet remains balanced.

At What Age Do Puppies Poop Less?

As most dog owners know, puppies poop at all times of the day. You can expect your puppy to start pooping less when he reaches the 8-month old mark. But even so, it’s important to remember these three things.

Different Breeds Mean Different Time-frames:

Not all pooch is the same, so different breeds can mean your puppy might poop more, or less, once he reaches 8-months old.

Potty Training Plays a Role:

If you’re actively potty training your pup, he/she might be able to hold in his poop for longer. Once you start dog training – you’ll notice your puppy being able to hold his poop for 30 mins, then 1-hour, then 2-hours, and so forth. Take into consideration that potty training does play a part in when your pup will start pooping less.

Age is of the Essence:

The fact of the matter is, once your pooch hits his adolescent/adult years, he’ll naturally poop less. This means, age is of the essence, and waiting until your puppy grows up might just be the key.

Do Puppies Poop When They Are Scared?

A sure sign that your puppy is either scared or anxious includes spontaneous pooping. If your puppy is feeling nervous or imbalanced within his environment, he’ll poop or vomit out of fear. Unfortunately, this emotional behavior must be dealt with adequately before it becomes worse.

About stress in dogs, recognizing these signs early on is key. Apart from poop, other signs that indicate if your dog is scared includes:

• Sudden biting
• Running away
• Erratic change in behavior
• Hiding or tucking his tail
• Decrease in appetite
• Avoidance of people
• Pacing around the home

If your puppy is pooping because he/she is scared, try implementing dog relief solutions while you tend to his potty-needs. Dog anxiety jackets, stress supplements, or even a snuggle puppy soft-toy might do the trick. Otherwise, slowly changing his diet or providing emotional comfort can also help.

Do Puppies Poop When They Wake Up?

Puppies poop during all times of the day- including when they wake up, right before bed, and even during the night. Similar to baby humans, puppies require potty training over an extensive period.

As your puppy grows, their bowel movements are still learning to regulate. It can take some time, repetition, and patience for your puppy to learn to control these sensations.

Although it can be annoying having to wake up early to let your puppy outside for his morning poop, consider this a good sign that your pooch is healthy. If he wasn’t pooping as soon as they woke up, that would be concerning.

Do Puppies Poop Blood When They Have Worms?

Spotting blood in your puppy’s poop can be a symptom that your pooch has worms. Bloody stools (both loose and firm) can indicate a possible worm-infection and should require medical attention.

The longer you leave a worm infection untreated, the more life-threatening it becomes to your dog. In addition to blood in your puppy’s poop, another symptom of worms include seeing white specks in your dog’s poop. Read more about it here.

Why Do Puppies Play With Their Poop?

Puppies play with their poop out of boredom or frustration. And although we humans wouldn’t dare replicate that, canines are a different species, that require training around the dangers of playing with poop.

If you notice your puppy playing pawing at his poop, it might be time to consider potty training. This can be done while they’re on a leash, spending plenty of time outdoors to serve as supervision.

It’s extremely common for puppies around the 10 – 16 week age to play with their poop, which means you should try to nip this behavior in the bud before it escalates and becomes harder to deter as an adolescent.

Is it Normal for Puppies to Have Soft Stool?

In the early stages, it can be normal for your puppy to have soft stools — especially during the transition from milk to food. Soft stool is a healthy sign, but it should also be carefully monitored, as ongoing soft stool might indicate health problems.

If your puppy is experiencing soft stool, hard stool, and then soft stool again (or similar), you should consider taking him to the vet, to make sure he isn’t hosting an infection. Otherwise, keeping track of whether your puppy’s soft stool hardens over 24 – 48 hours is a great place to start. And if it doesn’t, you know what to do.

Can a Puppy Eating Too Fast Cause Diarrhea?

Unfortunately, a puppy eating too fast can cause harsh effects to the body, one of those being diarrhea. If your puppy eats too fast, and the food they’re eating is unhealthy, loose stools can serve as a result. But this isn’t all.

Apart from diarrhea, here are some other things that can happen to your puppy if they eat too fast:

• Painful stomach
• Inflamed digestive tract
• Sudden vomiting
• Loss of breath (from swallowing too fast)
• Gagging
• Choking
• Become gassy

Is it Normal For Dogs to Eat Their Puppies Poop?

It’s normal for a mother canine to eat their puppies poop, as this is often referred to as coprophagia. Although this can be a yucky sight for a human to see, it’s quite a normal behavior for dogs.

The reason why female dogs sometimes eat their puppies poop is because they often clean their pups during their infant stages. Because pups are unable to bathe themselves, the mother will sometimes ingest their feces as a result of cleaning.

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