Pooping In The House.

[Guest Amba1027]

Arya has been pooping in the house and I don't understand why. When we first got her she did it once. I hadn't quite figured out her bathroom schedule yet so I expected an accident or two so that was fine. I don't really remember the circumstances surrounding the second time she did it so I can't comment on that one (but it was definitely after I figured out her schedule). Yesterday I took her for her morning walk and she showed no signs of needing to poop (and she doesn't usually poop on her morning walk anyway). But not long after we'd gotten back she pooped in the house. This morning I took her on a longer walk just in case. Again, she showed no signs of needing to poop. She didn't even make an attempt to look for a place to poop. And again, not long after we got back to the house, she pooped inside.

 

She knows not to go in the house. She knows how to let us know she needs to go. She had the chance to go outside. When the hurricane came through here she didn't want to be outside long enough to poop. I had expected an accident then and would have been fine with that. I didn't want to be outside in that either. So if she had gone then I would've understood, but she didn't. She held it until she could go outside. Based on all of this I don't see any reason for her to be going in the house. Any ideas?

[Batmom]

Not staying out long enough and/or not the right spot or pace. Pooping usually (tho not always) requires some dilly-dallying.

 

Not wearing a coat, is she?

[Guest mld]

Do you have a fenced yard? If so let her go there, praise her when she does, make the walk just for a walk and the yard for pee and poop.

Also if they have an accident in the house, don't make a fuss, just take her out and show her where to go. When cleaning up an accident, pick up as much as you can, rinse with water and then apply a enzyme cleaner, this will eliminate the smell so they won't continue to go in that spot.

[a_daerr]

She knows not to go in the house. She knows how to let us know she needs to go.

 

A lot of people assume this, but it's not always the case. You probably need to go back to Housebreaking 101. If you're not crating, then confine her to a smaller area. Then reward reward reward when she does her business outside. NEVER punish unless you catch her in the act (even then, a verbal "uh uh" is sufficient). How long have you had her? If it's only been a few weeks/months, then she shouldn't have the run of the entire house.

[CherylB]

(and she doesn't usually poop on her morning walk anyway)

 

Does she ever poop on walks? Several of my hounds wouldn't poop while on lead for months after I got them. It took Woot almost a year. So, maybe she has to go but is "shy", then comes back in and can't hold it. If you have a fenced yard, maybe you can leave her outside long enough for her to go after her walk. Just a thought.

[Guest Amba1027]

Not staying out long enough and/or not the right spot or pace. Pooping usually (tho not always) requires some dilly-dallying.

 

Not wearing a coat, is she?

 

No coat. Tried one once and she wouldn't do anything with it on so I don't use it. I walked her down to the place where she usually poops and she showed no interest in sniffing around to find a place to poop. She just started pulling back towards the house.

 

Do you have a fenced yard? If so let her go there, praise her when she does, make the walk just for a walk and the yard for pee and poop.

Also if they have an accident in the house, don't make a fuss, just take her out and show her where to go. When cleaning up an accident, pick up as much as you can, rinse with water and then apply a enzyme cleaner, this will eliminate the smell so they won't continue to go in that spot.

 

We don't have a fence so she can only go on walks.

 

She knows not to go in the house. She knows how to let us know she needs to go.

 

A lot of people assume this, but it's not always the case. You probably need to go back to Housebreaking 101. If you're not crating, then confine her to a smaller area. Then reward reward reward when she does her business outside. NEVER punish unless you catch her in the act (even then, a verbal "uh uh" is sufficient). How long have you had her? If it's only been a few weeks/months, then she shouldn't have the run of the entire house.

 

We've only had her since September but she has been doing fine all this time. It's just these past 2 days suddenly there's a problem. What would confining her to a smaller area do? She gets crated when no one is home.

 

(and she doesn't usually poop on her morning walk anyway)

 

Does she ever poop on walks? Several of my hounds wouldn't poop while on lead for months after I got them. It took Woot almost a year. So, maybe she has to go but is "shy", then comes back in and can't hold it. If you have a fenced yard, maybe you can leave her outside long enough for her to go after her walk. Just a thought.

 

We don't have a fenced yard so she can only go on walks. It took her a few days to get used to going on the leash in the beginning (which is why I expected her first accident) but she did get used to it and now she is fine going on the leash.

 

Honestly I am wondering if she is upset about being crated and left alone. We went on vacation recently so my brother was staying with her and was home more than we are so she wasn't alone as much. Then my fiancé's dad was visiting so she wasn't alone at all for that time either. So there were 2 weeks where she wasn't really ever crated or alone and now that's all done with and we're back to her getting crated and being alone for a few hours through out the day. I know she's not a fan of it so maybe she is upset and that is why? I don't know. That may be silly reasoning but it's the only thing that's changed and I feel like there must be some reason for this other than she doesn't understand not to go in the house.

[a_daerr]

We've only had her since September but she has been doing fine all this time. It's just these past 2 days suddenly there's a problem. What would confining her to a smaller area do? She gets crated when no one is home.

 

Confining goes back to the concept of dens. Dogs prefer to keep their dens clean and generally will not go to the bathroom there. A smaller space makes the area more "den-like." If she has the run of the house, she can poop somewhere, walk away, and not have to deal with it. Ideally, the dog needs to earn freedom within the house. Once they become more reliable with housetraining, you can expand the "den" room by room until the dog views the entire house as its den. It sounds like she's not 100% housebroken (and the incident with the storm may have been the catalyst that threw her off track). A dog is not considered "reliable" until it goes 30 days without an accident.

 

Honestly I am wondering if she is upset about being crated and left alone.

 

Doubt this has anything to do with it. Dogs aren't capable of human emotions like vengefulness or spite.

[Guest kkaiser104]

We've only had her since September but she has been doing fine all this time. It's just these past 2 days suddenly there's a problem. What would confining her to a smaller area do? She gets crated when no one is home.

 

Confining goes back to the concept of dens. Dogs prefer to keep their dens clean and generally will not go to the bathroom there. A smaller space makes the area more "den-like." If she has the run of the house, she can poop somewhere, walk away, and not have to deal with it. Ideally, the dog needs to earn freedom within the house. Once they become more reliable with housetraining, you can expand the "den" room by room until the dog views the entire house as its den. It sounds like she's not 100% housebroken (and the incident with the storm may have been the catalyst that threw her off track). A dog is not considered "reliable" until it goes 30 days without an accident.

 

Honestly I am wondering if she is upset about being crated and left alone.

 

Doubt this has anything to do with it. Dogs aren't capable of human emotions like vengefulness or spite.

 

I disagree with a lot of this. Dogs might not be capable of vengefulness or spite, but if she's experiencing SA she might potty in the house. Teddi would pee in the house after our morning walk because he knew I was going to go to work. He'd get himself upset about it before I even walked out of the door. Do you leave in the morning after her walk? It took Teddi several weeks to develop SA.

 

Also, when Teddi was upset he would pee in his bed. It's happened several times, and they were all emotionally-charged incidents. Does she seem to be upset when you leave or upon your return? Does she show any other signs of SA?

Edited November 28, 2012 by kkaiser104

[a_daerr]

I disagree with a lot of this. Dogs might not be capable of vengefulness or spite, but if she's experiencing SA she might potty in the house. Teddi would pee in the house after our morning walk because he knew I was going to go to work. He'd get himself upset about it before I even walked out of the door. Do you leave in the morning after her walk? It took Teddi several weeks to develop SA.

 

Also, when Teddi was upset he would pee in his bed. It's happened several times, and they were all emotionally-charged incidents. Does she seem to be upset when you leave or upon your return? Does she show any other signs of SA?

 

I wouldn't assume SA unless there are other anxiety-based behaviors present (barking, whining, pacing, peeing, being generally destructive). If she is agitated and poops when you're picking up your car keys or putting on your coat, then SA would be something to consider.

[Tallgreydogmom]

Maybe her food is disagreeing with her. What food is she on? She might need a low residue food. Not all bags of the same dog food are created equal. Did you start a new bag of food?

Edited November 28, 2012 by Tallgreydogmom

[Guest Amba1027]

We've only had her since September but she has been doing fine all this time. It's just these past 2 days suddenly there's a problem. What would confining her to a smaller area do? She gets crated when no one is home.

 

Confining goes back to the concept of dens. Dogs prefer to keep their dens clean and generally will not go to the bathroom there. A smaller space makes the area more "den-like." If she has the run of the house, she can poop somewhere, walk away, and not have to deal with it. Ideally, the dog needs to earn freedom within the house. Once they become more reliable with housetraining, you can expand the "den" room by room until the dog views the entire house as its den. It sounds like she's not 100% housebroken (and the incident with the storm may have been the catalyst that threw her off track). A dog is not considered "reliable" until it goes 30 days without an accident.

 

Honestly I am wondering if she is upset about being crated and left alone.

 

Doubt this has anything to do with it. Dogs aren't capable of human emotions like vengefulness or spite.

 

She has gone more than 30 days without an accident. I realized I misspoke in my first post about the number of accidents she's had. There was one in the first week we had her and now these 2 in the last 2 days. We got her mid September so that means she has gone all of October and most of November without an accident.

 

I did not mean that maybe she is angry at us for leaving so she poops out of anger or something. My feeling is that she is distressed about being alone and that's why she is doing it.

 

We've only had her since September but she has been doing fine all this time. It's just these past 2 days suddenly there's a problem. What would confining her to a smaller area do? She gets crated when no one is home.

 

Confining goes back to the concept of dens. Dogs prefer to keep their dens clean and generally will not go to the bathroom there. A smaller space makes the area more "den-like." If she has the run of the house, she can poop somewhere, walk away, and not have to deal with it. Ideally, the dog needs to earn freedom within the house. Once they become more reliable with housetraining, you can expand the "den" room by room until the dog views the entire house as its den. It sounds like she's not 100% housebroken (and the incident with the storm may have been the catalyst that threw her off track). A dog is not considered "reliable" until it goes 30 days without an accident.

 

Honestly I am wondering if she is upset about being crated and left alone.

 

Doubt this has anything to do with it. Dogs aren't capable of human emotions like vengefulness or spite.

 

I disagree with a lot of this. Dogs might not be capable of vengefulness or spite, but if she's experiencing SA she might potty in the house. Teddi would pee in the house after our morning walk because he knew I was going to go to work. He'd get himself upset about it before I even walked out of the door. Do you leave in the morning after her walk? It took Teddi several weeks to develop SA.

 

Also, when Teddi was upset he would pee in his bed. It's happened several times, and they were all emotionally-charged incidents. Does she seem to be upset when you leave or upon your return? Does she show any other signs of SA?

 

This is more along the lines of what I'm thinking. She doesn't get into any trouble while we are gone because she is in the crate but I really feel she would be showing some SA behaviors if she were out. She used to cry like crazy when we would get home. It would start the second you pulled up into the driveway (we could hear her as we walked up to the house). We recently moved her crate (making room for the Christmas tree) and she has not been crying since we did that. She doesn't ever seem upset to go into her crate but that might be because she is focused on the treat she is about to get. I do usually leave in the morning fairly soon after her walk but not immediately after. She has also recently started getting into the trash can in the bathroom. She doesn't seem to spend much time chewing on the stuff or anything but she goes in and takes a bunch of stuff out and leaves it all around our bedroom.

 

Maybe her food is disagreeing with her. What food is she on? She might need a low residue food. Not all bags of the same dog food are created equal. Did you start a new bag of food?

 

We feed her the original Beneful. We're about half way through a bag right now.