5 year old with bowel control problems?

Question
QUESTION: Hi there,

We have a 5(almost 6) yr old female Cocker that seems to be having recent difficulties in holding in her bowels overnight.  This has been happening for about the last seven nights straight.  Our cocker has a regular day to day routine when it comes to eating and going potty so this has kind of come out of the blue.  No new diet either.  This is the regular day to day routine: We get up first thing in the morning and let her outside for her poop/pee. She is kennel trained...she sleeps there at night and goes in there when we're not home.  After that, she comes in and has her bowl of food for the day(she only eats 1 bowl/day) %26 some water and then goes outside again to do her business before we go to work.  When we get home from our eight hour work day, we let her out again and she'll go out and do her poop/pee once again.  She usually does this 2-3 more times before she goes to bed for the night...in which time you would think her bowels would be nearly empty...right?  Not so apparently.  This is where I'm getting confused and frustrated.  She is able to hold her bowels all day long on what you would think would be a full bladder/bowels...but she cannot over night with what you would think would be an empty bladder/bowels.  She sleeps downstairs(where it's cooler for her), and by the time I let her out of her house in the morning, to the time she makes it up the stairs to the back door, there is a scattered trail of little logs all the way to the door.  I am not sure what to do next.  The poops are hard and she doesn't seem sick...any suggestions?

Thanks!

ANSWER: First of all I'd say feeding her once a day is a big mistake.  And what are you feeding her?
And you don't mention "walks"...how often and how long is she walked?  And she's "almost 6 years" so when was her last Wellness check?

If you can give me more details that would be helpful.  But I will say feeding once a day is a mistake.  And poops being "hard" isn't necessarily good and can indicate constipation.
Delores

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Well when we had her last checkup(approx. 1 month ago), everything was fine.  The vet actually suggested feeding only once a day.  That's what we've stuck with and she never seems overly hungry.  She also goes for walks about twice a week.  I know that's probably not enough, but it's all we can provide with our schedules.  When I say "hard" poops...I mean solid(normal)...not runny.

Answer
Your vet is totally misinformed.  And a walk "twice a week" is hardly even reaching the bare minimum.  Please tell me what you're feeding her.  And understand this - vets spend about 4 hours of their 4 years of vet college on nutrition.  Which means they know next to nothing.
Delores