Older Dog Pooping in House with Puppy

[imported_Aggie1972]

I brought a new puppy home almost two weeks ago. The older dog was a little put off by it, but not aggressive.. Good news, the older dog is finally starting to warm up slightly to the situation. In fact, they played for 15 minutes last night until both of their tongues were hanging out. However, this morning, BOTH of them pooped in the house. It was raining out and could barely get them to go pee. This is the second time since I brought the puppy home that the older dog has pooped in the house....and she's NEVER done it before. I understand the puppy has some learning to do, but I don't know how to stop this in the older one. I don't know if it is stress related or if they really didn't want to get their paws wet, but it's unacceptable.

If it is stress related, should I talk to the vet about anxiolytics?

Any thoughts?

[Jen Greaves]

How are you house training your puppy? paper? crate? etc.
Is your older dog going in the same spots as the puppy?
When I brought my german shepherd home (4yrs) a year ago she wasn't house trained. I have three dogs. I went through a little period of everyone going where everyone else had gone. What a mess. And they were all med-large adults. Anyways, I started giving them ALL heck for every poop or pee even if there was only one. The two I already had stopped right away when they started getting heck too, they knew it was wrong, I think of it as they were just trying to get the new dog in trouble :lol:

[Joyce Keeton]

I brought a new puppy home almost two weeks ago. The older dog was a little put off by it, but not aggressive.. Good news, the older dog is finally starting to warm up slightly to the situation. In fact, they played for 15 minutes last night until both of their tongues were hanging out. However, this morning, BOTH of them pooped in the house. It was raining out and could barely get them to go pee. This is the second time since I brought the puppy home that the older dog has pooped in the house....and she's NEVER done it before. I understand the puppy has some learning to do, but I don't know how to stop this in the older one. I don't know if it is stress related or if they really didn't want to get their paws wet, but it's unacceptable.

If it is stress related, should I talk to the vet about anxiolytics?

Any thoughts?

This would be a good time for some potty 101. Introducing a new dog into the house upsets the ol' apple cart. Nothing like a refresher course to iron things out. Take both of your dogs out and take treats with you. When your dog(s) go, praise like crazy and then treat. If you catch them in the house, use just enough of a correction to get their attention then scoot them outside. If they finish pottying outside, praise and treat like crazy. If you find a mess and don't catch them, making a fuss does nothing but teach your dogs to be afraid of you. They aren't capable of understanding that the mess you are cleaning up is why you are angry.

Good luck! :)

[imported_Aggie1972]

Thanks for all of your advice. I've gone back to Potty Training 101, so hopefully things will stick. I'm sure I'll be back to ask other questions as a new two-dog mom!

Lisa

[Amber]

Also, I've noticed that when dogs play, sometimes they don't realize they have to "go" until it's too late and they just...go. My poodle, who is totally housebroken, started going on the carpets when playing with our new dog...but only when they played. Now she runs to be let outside, but at first she just squatted at went when she realized she had to go.