The Picky Pooper!

[Guest cvdrumsta]

Greetings!

 

So my new girl Moon is an angel on her leash, except for when it comes to doing her business. She'll sniff and circle and she'll pose like she's gonna pee or poop but then if she sees or hears something or if I look at her the wrong way, she'll abandon the operation, and often takes a long time before she makes another attempt.

 

I understand that she's accustomed to just being turned out to do her thing, but this is becoming a pretty big problem, and I was wondering if there was anything I could do about it. I have no problem waiting for her to do her thing, but sometimes I have to seriously extend our walks or even add walks to accommodate this behavior.

 

Anyone else have this problem? How did you solve it?

 

Thanks.

[a_daerr]

My dogs have a fenced in yard with a dog door. So sometimes when we go on vacations and they HAVE to potty on leash, they have some issues. I hook two 6" leashes together (in a secure area obviously) to give the dog a little more space. That seems to work well. Also, treat and reward for pooping. Before long, she'll be popping a squat wherever she can.

[Gryffenne]

Also, treat and reward for pooping. Before long, she'll be popping a squat wherever she can.

And if she thinks that she is smarter than you, she'll try a ghost squat to get that treat

 

First time Sammi tried a ghost squat, I leaned down, looked, and commented, "You need to produce something to get something!!"

 

Can try giving her privacy (turn your back) when she starts sniffing around.

[XTRAWLD]

Kasey is like that. The planets have to be aligned, the wind cannot blow, and the sun has to be at the right angle.

 

Honestly, if that's the way she is, you will have to be patient because it might just turn into a permanent thing. She might get a little better as time goes on, but I've experienced that for years with Kasey.

 

We used to have a yard, he would never go #2 on walks. When we got our new house without a fenced yard, and he had to learn to poop on walks...it took an eternity. Finally he had no choice. Honestly I was out there for 30-45 mins with him for the first couple of weeks. Even to this day, it might take him 10-15 for round 2.

 

Ryder goes the SECOND we are outside, he doesn't mess around. I can guarantee you, Kasey will take even longer in inclement weather. Every individual is different.

 

Edited to add: Try NOT to get frustrated with her taking so long. They sense this....and get upset. And then take longer. I know when we are in a hurry, Kasey looks up at us with a pleading look like "I gotta do my routine before I go mom, but the wind and rain are bugging me...."

Edited May 9, 2013 by XTRAWLD

[Guest Clawsandpaws]

What worked for my boy (he also is a picky pooper and we have no yard) is NOT accommodating him. This is what we did (you will have to do it when you have time, maybe on a day off from work) I walked him at a time when I knew he had to poop (ie first thing in the morning) 5 minutes, no poop? Go back in the house, wait 5-10 minutes, go out for another 5, no poop? Repeat. I would do this 3-4 times extending the time in between until he realized that he has a limited time frame to do the business. I don't know if this would work for every dog, but it's what my adoption group prez recommends. Now on our walks, we reach a certain landmark (ie tree or apt) and turn around for home, he usually realizes that he has too poop now, and quick! Or he won't get another chance.

 

 

Also, sometimes it helps to go to an area where they have pooped before, in the turn outs (at least with the dogs in our kennel) they all poop in the same area every time. So I would walk straight for this area, let him sniff around, if he doesn't make a quick decision, too bad, we go back inside and wait a while until we try again.

[XTRAWLD]

Now on our walks, we reach a certain landmark (ie tree or apt) and turn around for home, he usually realizes that he has too poop now, and quick! Or he won't get another chance.

This is great tip and I forgot to mention it as well. Kasey has 1 location that is his favorite, and is almost like a "no fail" area. Even if he thinks about it and doesn't in that spot the first time, I just re-circle again in that small area until he does....for some reason he is comfortable going there. He's an edge of the grass dog and enjoys "curb" walking.

[Guest OPointyDog]

Our Zoe is like this - when we first got her, we did not have a fenced yard, and she is VERY picky about the conditions she deems acceptable for pooping. She likes grass of a certain height, not too close to the sidewalk, and absolute quiet. She takes forever to get all set up, and then if a dog barks or the wind blows or a car goes by or she just doesn't like the look of things, she walks off without actually going. It's incredibly frustrating, especially if you are in a hurry. And it got a lot worse when we got our 2nd dog and I walk them together, because he just wants to bother her all the time!

 

I've done a combination of things. On mornings when I'm in more of a hurry, we do a short walk, which is in a different direction from our more leisurely walks. They seem to know that if we go that way, the walk will be short and they have to get things done. I also praise and give a cookie when she goes. It took many months, but she's much more reliable now! Be consistent and see if your walk can include a spot where she likes to go in particular.

 

I've also discovered that she WILL go when she really, really has to - I finally gave up one night last summer in frustration after we walked for an hour, and sure enough, on the midnight last-call, she just went in the yard! So if given every opportunity she doesn't go, you can just make her wait until the next opportunity. We do that sometimes and so far haven't had any accidents.

[Roo]

Eli was like that (not sure if he still is in the new home..). He was so finicky about pooping. As per vet instruction, he had to poop at night before going to bed because he had probably been having accidents and cleaning up. So we started adding in night walks around 10 pm and I just didn't have the energy to pace around the block for an hour waiting for the right mood to strike him I started carrying a handful of his kibble and as soon as he finished pooping (actually pooping, not just "posturing") I gave it to him with a very excited "Good poop!". Three days after I started this, he started pooping almsot as soon as we got outside. Definitely try offering a tasty treat after the poops happen!

[PrairieProf]

Wait'll it snows and gets all crusty and icy with no grass exposed. You ain't seen nothing yet about picky, bwaa ha haaa.

 

Which is just to say, some of them are. Like mine, in certain conditions such as the above -- I want to wring her neck. Getting her used to some habitual spots will help. Beth will also poop very quickly when we go on the local bike trails where there are woods, tall grass, etc. along the path.

Edited May 9, 2013 by PrairieProf

[Feisty49]

My girl has always P&Pd on a leash, at least since my adopting her. The first-morning P&P, about 6 AM, she occasionally gets a bit picky as to where she's going to do #2. I have a lot of land and have always walked her "back there" to poo. On the mornings she didn't like "back there," she'd wander here and there (always on our property), sniffing, looking, deciding. One day I said, "Enough!" and stood in the same spot while she wandered in a circle around me. She finally realized that her choices were limited to the length of a 6-foot leash and squatted. I use this on the occasional morning when she is just too fussy for my pre-coffee state of mind and it always works. Ya gotta go? Here's your 6 feet. Use it.

[Guest OPointyDog]

Wait'll it snows and gets all crusty and icy with no grass exposed. You ain't seen nothing yet about picky, bwaa ha haaa.

 

Ha! Oh yeah! We got our second dog on December 23rd, and 3 days later we got almost 2 feet of snow, and it formed these slot canyons on the sidewalks in our neighborhood. So not only was Zoe having to poop with another dog on the walk, but ALL the surfaces were covered with deep snow and she couldn't even go off the sidewalk. It got so frustrating I wanted to cry, and of course it was so cold and miserable out! We would walk for over an hour before sometimes she'd finally go....

[XTRAWLD]

Wait'll it snows and gets all crusty and icy with no grass exposed. You ain't seen nothing yet about picky, bwaa ha haaa.

 

Tru dat. When all else fails for Kasey, he finds flat and cleared patch of road......

 

Sorry to the OP to be reading all these stories, but I'm not sure it's something you can change about your pup. Time to get it done might get reduced, but her finickiness will prolly stick around. Just keep your wits and patience about you.

[Guest cvdrumsta]

 

Tru dat. When all else fails for Kasey, he finds flat and cleared patch of road......

 

Sorry to the OP to be reading all these stories, but I'm not sure it's something you can change about your pup. Time to get it done might get reduced, but her finickiness will prolly stick around. Just keep your wits and patience about you.

 

No worries, it isn't a huge deal, just an annoyance. There is good news: I bought a much lighter-weight leash with smaller hardware that doesn't drag Moon's collar down her neck or knock against her legs, and our walk tonight was significantly more pleasant. Only time will tell if the lighter leash is the cause or if tonight was just a good night, but I'm optimistic, especially given the fact that one of the major things that spooked her was the touching her body in the wrong way or the heavy leash clasp tugging on her collar.

[Guest Audeamus]

It took Gir the better part of 4.5 he could poop while leashed.

[Guest maidmarcia]

Has anyone here ever had issues with their dog only wanting to poop in long grass/shrubbery? Licorice is OBSESSED with pooping only in these places and will hold it in on a whole walk if he can't find one to his liking!!! I guess he likes the feeling of the plants on his butt or something?? It's so bizarre!

[Guest Clawsandpaws]

Has anyone here ever had issues with their dog only wanting to poop in long grass/shrubbery? Licorice is OBSESSED with pooping only in these places and will hold it in on a whole walk if he can't find one to his liking!!! I guess he likes the feeling of the plants on his butt or something?? It's so bizarre!

That's my boy Dudley. He MUST poop with some part of him in/on shrubbery

[Ragsysmum]

I'd try a longer lead/line and make sure there is no pressure on her collar when she thinks about going. Some dogs just like to be further away from you before they will do anything.

[Guest Waterdog66]

We are 4 weeks into the process with Audrey and we certainly did have some challenges teaching her to go "On Leash".

She has a regular ritual she goes through and any interruptions (Cars, People, other dogs) will certainly disrupt the process and we have to start over. Our walks go very smoothly early in the morning or late at night but mid-day walks still require a lot of patience with her. But otherwise, I think we have the routine down well and she realty looks forward to our walks now. (She will Roo at me with her tail looking like the propeller on a boat)

Some things I did that seemed to help:

1). Act like I am keeping watch for her when she is doing her business. (Instead of looking AT HER)
2). Offer a ton of praise when she is on "final approach" all the way through the "landing"

3). Use the word POTTY quite a bit so she associates the word with what she is doing.
4). Recognize that she needs to feel safe before she goes and the sit and reconnoiter really helps

5). Offer plenty of reassuring physical contact with her so she sees me as her "Wing Man" on our walks

Recently she has adopted a strategy where she will walk out of the house and plop down in the grass in the front yard. I originally thought this meant she did not have to go but I realize now that this is her way of observing the street (From a safe position) before venturing out. Now I just wait her out and she will get up after a minute of two of sniffing and grass eating. (She only eats grass when she has to "Drop the Kids Off At the Pool")

Good luck and hope that the whole experience becomes a positive bonding one for both you and your hound