Housbreaking Problems

Question
Hi there
I have a four month old male Belgian Shepard,he eats 3 meals a day as advised by the vet.
During the day he goes  outside to wee and poop as he has full access to the garden,but my problem is that during the night I keep him inside due the fact that here in South Africa dogs have been known to be poisoned, while the owners sleep.He messes everywhere inside the the lounge while we all sleep and i dont know how to get him to go outside as it is in the very early hours of the morning. We have tried to get him to go outside before we sleep but he only makes a number one ,number twos come in the early hours of the morning.

Your advise in this matter would be greatly appreciated

Answer
Most animals have a fairly fixed time period between ingest and elimination aka regularity. You might solve the time issue by changing the feeding time. I am curious why the vet wants three meals per day when most young dogs eat twice or once per day by age 4 mo. I trust it is three small meals, but the frequent feeding leads to frequent elimination. While we have had/cared for some dogs with digestive system issues that required small meals, the normal pattern has been one meal in the AM and a small treat in the evening.

Regards,
Henry Ruhwiedel
Westwind Kennels LLC