Help! Why Is He Pooping In My House?

[Guest dizzyLu72]

I've had Jacob a year.. he adjusted well with minor poop/pee accidents upon arrival. Since then.. no problems.

Well, fast forward to about a month ago.

 

I noticed Jacob's poo was a little "less firm" but his behavior, eating habits were same so I decided not to fret too much because I knew we had his annual exam coming up so I could inquire then if things hadn't cleared up.

I was in and out of town for a couple of weeks but have dependable and consistent pet sitter who said he pooped on floor 2 times in 4 days.

We went to vet and found out he has hookworms.. so he's been on meds and pro-biotic for about 2 weeks to get him cleared up. I Since this, he has pooped in the house about 5 times in 10 days. I chalked it up to medical issues.

 

But this morning, he pooped in the house TWICE!!

I took him out around 7:45am (no poo - which isn't unusual). He led me back in, I fed him and I went back to lay down for a few minutes.. 20 minutes later, I walk downstairs and he had pooped in the house.

 

Then, about an hour later I left the house for about 45 minutes and when I returned - he had pooped AGAIN!!

 

At first, I chalked it up to the new meds/pro-biotic getting his system back in order... but now Im feeling like its behavioral??

 

I never scold him or do any type of discipline about it.. other than appear disappointed that there's a big turd on my carpet and ask him what happened?? He never answers...

 

How do I know and if it is behavioral.. what do I do to stop it?? I don't want him to think it's acceptable to do this.

For the record.. he is not crated.. he was not crated by his previous owner who had him for about 8 months.

 

Thoughts, comments, ideas??

[Batmom]

Could be the worms, the probiotic, or the medication upsetting his innards. What medication is he on?

[greysmom]

Worms are notoriously hard to get rid of, and you may need another extended course of meds to truly be rid of them. I do not think it's behavioral. A dog who's lived in a home that long knows he's not to poop in the house - and doesn't want to! The only reason he does is because he can't hold it.

 

Get thee back to the vet for another test. And even if it comes back negative, try and talk your vet into pills anyway. You also might ask in Health and Medical about this.

[Guest dizzyLu72]

Could be the worms, the probiotic, or the medication upsetting his innards. What medication is he on?

 

The probiotic is FortaFlora they medicine is Interceptor and this week he will take 1 dose of Drontal and then in 2 more weeks he will take another Drontal.

 

Worms are notoriously hard to get rid of, and you may need another extended course of meds to truly be rid of them. I do not think it's behavioral. A dog who's lived in a home that long knows he's not to poop in the house - and doesn't want to! The only reason he does is because he can't hold it.

 

Get thee back to the vet for another test. And even if it comes back negative, try and talk your vet into pills anyway. You also might ask in Health and Medical about this.

 

 

I surely hope so.. I'll take this to H/M too.

 

Thanks!

[MaryJane]

You mentioned that you fed him and went back to sleep for 20 minutes and he had pooped in the interim -- maybe consider taking him out immediately after he eats and keeping him out for about 10 minutes because some dogs will go a "few times".

[Batmom]

Assuming you meant Interceptor as a monthly med, not a daily? Has he had a dose of Drontal already?

[GeorgeofNE]

A dog can't just muster up some nice poop to make a point!

 

Seems like a medical issue.

 

Does he get any exercise, or does he just go out in the yard to relieve himself? Just curious on that point (cause walking seems to get the poop moving along, and perhaps if you walked him, he'd be "pooped out" regardless of the cause.

[Guest dizzyLu72]

You mentioned that you fed him and went back to sleep for 20 minutes and he had pooped in the interim -- maybe consider taking him out immediately after he eats and keeping him out for about 10 minutes because some dogs will go a "few times".

I'd be willing to change the schedule if that is the reason for the poop.. however the routine we have had all year is that I take him out first, then feed him.

 

Assuming you meant Interceptor as a monthly med, not a daily? Has he had a dose of Drontal already?

Yes, Interceptor is monthly.. he will have his first Drontal on Tuesday

 

A dog can't just muster up some nice poop to make a point!

 

Seems like a medical issue.

 

Does he get any exercise, or does he just go out in the yard to relieve himself? Just curious on that point (cause walking seems to get the poop moving along, and perhaps if you walked him, he'd be "pooped out" regardless of the cause.

 

We live in a town home so he is a leash walker.. 3-4 longer walks a week.. but 3-4 regular walks a day.

Sooo, completely off topic, and I can't help but say this... butI love George of Noo England!!

[Batmom]

If he's only had Interceptor so far, he hasn't had any hookworm treatment and probably can't help himself. I'd get that dose of Drontal (or Nemex/StrongidT) in him ASAP, and follow with another dose at 2 weeks and another 2 weeks after that.

 

Interceptor does a reasonable job of *preventing* infection in most circumstances but it isn't strong enough to treat an infestation.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Without treatment, if the hooks are pretty significant, he's bound to be quite uncomfortable.

[Guest dizzyLu72]

Thanks for the feedback everyone..hearing this info makes me feel a little bit better.

He's a pretty resilient and tolerant fella.. so I'm guessing that even if he is slightly uncomfortable, he's probably not going to show it as much as some dogs would.

He's due for the Drontal dose on Tuesday and again 2 weeks after that.. etc.

For now I'll treat it as medical (vs. behavioral) and see how the next few weeks go.

 

So nice to have these boards to get good advice/info from to help our little 4-legged (well some 3 legged ones) buddies

[GeorgeofNE]

You do take him out AFTER he eats too, right? Because most dogs have to go after they eat. Time varies, but for George he ALWAYS poops after he eats, morning and evening.

 

Here's our routine: up at the butt crack of dawn, he goes out immediately for a few minutes just to piddle. Inside, I feed him. Then I drink the elixer of life (coffee!), and don my dog walking gear. We do our daily 2 mile walk (during which he poops once or twice, without fail). Of I go to work so that I can keep him in style, as he insists.

 

Home, out immediately. He piddles 5 or 6 times, and once in a while poops. Inside for cuddles, then he eats. One hour later, I take him out. This is his evening poop. One more time before bed, and that's that. So he does poop 2-4 times a day, and I expect if he didn't go out after he ate, he'd probably be pooping inside (which actually, he's never done except once when he had horrible diarrhea in the crate...).

 

Oh, and he says "thanks" for the compliment.

[Guest dizzyLu72]

You do take him out AFTER he eats too, right? Because most dogs have to go after they eat. Time varies, but for George he ALWAYS poops after he eats, morning and evening.

 

Here's our routine: up at the butt crack of dawn, he goes out immediately for a few minutes just to piddle. Inside, I feed him. Then I drink the elixer of life (coffee!), and don my dog walking gear. We do our daily 2 mile walk (during which he poops once or twice, without fail). Of I go to work so that I can keep him in style, as he insists.

 

Home, out immediately. He piddles 5 or 6 times, and once in a while poops. Inside for cuddles, then he eats. One hour later, I take him out. This is his evening poop. One more time before bed, and that's that. So he does poop 2-4 times a day, and I expect if he didn't go out after he ate, he'd probably be pooping inside (which actually, he's never done except once when he had horrible diarrhea in the crate...).

 

Oh, and he says "thanks" for the compliment.

 

Well we weren't at first.. and that schedule worked well for us for the first year but after these past couple of weeks I'm looking to make some adjustments.

I typically get 2-3 poops a day.. but lately it's been unpredictable.. I just want the little booger to get better. I get to drop off a "sample" to the vet tomorrow.. I plan to ask a few questions while I'm there.

 

Thanks for the feedback

[Guest dizzyLu72]

So I took the "sample" to the vet this afternoon and they said it was clear of hookworms.. but to continue him on his pro-biotic and Drontal as scheduled. However, I'm taking all the GT advice and continue to wonder if there may be something more going on. I'm going to see how the Drontal goes for the next 2 weeks. BUT... the pooping in the house issue is getting out of control.

 

 

I came home from work to a fairly stale pooh on the carpet.. meaning that he probably "could" have gone this morning but waited for me to leave to do so.

 

I then went to dinner for about 1.5 hours (took him out, pee but no pooh before I left)came back to another pooh on the carpet.

 

Let me add...I attempted to feed Jacob first, then let him out and he has no interest in eating first.

I also attempted to walk him more this morning.. but he "statued" and pretty much refused to do anything but pee and return to the house. He also statued this afternoon when I tried to walk him more around dinner time.

 

We have had a similar schedule for the year he has been here. I feel like he's getting comfortable with pooping on the carpet these past few weeks. How do I revert him back to poopin' in the yard (where it belongs)??

[Batmom]

If he wasn't pooping indoors before you started the probiotic, I'd stop it. He needs the worm meds; the probiotic is an extra that may not be doing him any good and may be upsetting his system.

 

Since you know there's some poop in there, so to speak .... I would plan extra time to get him to poop before you have to leave. I know that will be annoying, but could help to turn things around.

[GeorgeofNE]

I agree with Batmom. Any time something is happening with digestion, if my dogs is taking anything "extra" I stop it.

 

For what it's worth, I tried taking some probiotic stuff myself a while back, and quickly stopped as it had undesired effects on me.

[Guest Swifthounds]

I would stop the probiotic as well. The mire things you have in the mix that aren't absolutely necessary, the more suspects or contributing factors you have.

 

at the mention if 2-4 poops per day. I remember those days.