wont poop outside!

[Liz Gilbert]

Cocoa has been doing really good with his potty training. He hasn't had a peeing accident in the house for quite a while now.

He just wont poop outside. I keep his puppy pad down in the house because of this. He'll go on that, and if I pick it up, he goes on the floor. We were using them because for a while, he was home alone during the day.

He asks to go out, and is great at that. He sits patiently by the door, and he'll pee when we take him out, he just rarely will poop outside.

Every once in a while, he'll poop outside too, and he gets a big reward and everything... but then about 5 mins later, he'll go again in the house (like he only went a little bit outside to get the 'party')

What can we do so he'll poop ONLY outside??


Thanks!

Liz

[Grace Erick]

Liz, since I call Capri my wild child, maybe you should not take advise from me, because I have no rules for her, but she doesn't do anything wrong and I never have to correct her or be firm with her.

But, she does the opposite of your dog. She must poop outside. If I wake up and know I won't get out of bed, because I'm tired, I put her on the floor and she will pee on the pad but save her poop for outside.

I really don't see anything wrong with his pooping on the pad. At least it's not on the floor until you remove his pad. My dog also developed a particular spot in the yard she likes to poop in. I think they are just being a little quirky.
If the worst thing he does is poop on a puppy pad, you are lucky. Also, poops can be picked up and the pad is still useable.

The only thing I can think of is to take him out more often, but he may hold in his poops and reserve them for inside since that's what he likes. He's so cute!!!! Let the little pooper poop inside:)

[Hee Yung Lee]

Ok, now I have no idea if this is a good thing to do or if it even works, but I know that many people with showdogs will use a trick called "matching" in order to get their dog to poop before a show. I don't remember the exact way of doing it, so maybe someone else can help you, but, and this is going to sound kind of gross, they insert a match in the butt. Apparently this will make the dog want to poop because he will want to get the match out or something like that. The details I don't remember are-how far do you insert the match (I would assume not very far to prevent damage) and what kind of match? I know it was a specifc kind (either the wooden or paper ones). Anyway, if you find out more details and it sounds like something you would want to try, you could hopefully get him to poop outside, then praise him like crazy when he does and maybe he will catch on.

[Liz Gilbert]

Thanks for the advice.

We don't want him to go to the bathroom at all in the house. There isn't any reason to allow him to do this, and while it may seem cute to others, its not the best thing to look at or smell first thing in the morning when I'm trying to eat breakfast ;)

I've never heard the thing about the match thing, but I'll have to do some searches on the net and see what I can come up with.

Though, as soon as I posted this, he's been pooping outside almost all the time now :) lol It was funny, we had company over last night, and he was going outside all the time, and only had 2 accidents in the house yesterday and today. One was when we were gone to dinner, and the other time I think he was excited with our guests and just forgot to ask out.

We have stopped giving him treats when he only pees outside. We're reserving the treats and parties only for him pooping :)

Anyways, thanks again for the advice, hopefully he'll keep this up, and he'll do better.

~Liz

[Grace Erick]

Liz, I keep my poop pad in my bedroom, so it's hidden from guests and Capri only poops when we are both out of bed together since we sleep together, but I remember her puppy days now that you brought the aroma thing up.

I used to pile up clothes next to the bed as a ramp for her to get out of bed so she could get up early and pee, but she pooped too, and yes, it was not pleasant to wake up to and sometimes I got up just to flush it and go back to sleep so I know what you mean.

I always made a fuss and gave Capri treats when she went outside, then gave her less treats and gave her attention instead to wean her off of always needing treats. Now she is always happy after pooping or peeing outside. She runs in all happy!!! I don't know if all dogs do this because it is somewhat of a relief or I just taught her to be happy about it???:)

[Liz Gilbert]

I am so surprised at him :) I think it just clicked in for him this weekend for some reason. He did not have ANY accidents in the house today, and is doing great!

It figures that as soon as I post something asking for help, he 'gets it' :) lol

Liz

[Carole Milliman]

How old is your pup, may I ask?

[Liz Gilbert]

He's just about 8 months.

And now hes back to pooping in the house. lol :rolleyes:

~Liz

[Grace Erick]

Liz, come on, let him poop in the house. What an adorable face he has!!!!! He is going on the puppy pads right? Like I said before, I think it's becoming a quirk of his like my dog doing the opposite and only pooping outside and will only use the puppy pad for peeing.

I know I'm totally of no help to you but he's so darn cute!!!!:)

[Liz Gilbert]

Its not cute at all. He is peeing outside, so really there is no reason to allow him to do this in the house. And when we visit other's houses, I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate him pooping in their house.

To me, allowing him to continue to poop in the house is like potty training a toddler to only pee on the toilet and then poop in his diaper.

I know his face is adorable, lol its hard to even get mad at him, but I just don't want the mess (or expense, those pads are expensive!!), and really there isn't a good reason out there to allow him to keep doing this.

[Hee Yung Lee]

What about taking him for a little walk? Sometimes when I take Bogart outside in our yard to poop, he won't go even though I know he needs to. It helps if I walk him down the street or even around to the side of the house. You could try that and see if it helps any.

[Jill Ramsey]

Sometimes if you get them running around and playing they will go. I know when I'm in a hurry and I know Finn has to go, i'll throw the ball so he runs around a little, and that helps.

[Chris Smith]

Have you tried picking him up while he is pooping inside and putting him outside right at the moment? (while he is still going) It can be a little messy for you at first, but if you can catch him in the act and show him while he is going what you want with a command like "poo-poo outside", maybe he will get it.

I would watch him like a hawk after he comes inside and the second he squats and it starts coming out, grab him outside and put him down in his squat to finish his poop OUTSIDE. Then when he finishes (outside), give him the big party and tell him "good poo-poo outside".

I agree with Jill on the running around thing too - exercise and excitement seems to bring on poop for Nalu too.

[Liz Gilbert]

We haven't tried rushing him out while hes going, mainly because we live in a second story apartment, so that wont really work :( Which I think would help, but its not really possible. But maybe we can try it (though the times that we've picked him while pooping to move to his mat, he just keeps going).

What usually happens (with the exception of last weekend, where he pooped outside almost every time) is he asks to go out. We take him out, and he pees sometimes right away, others he'll walk around a bit until he finds that perfect spot ;) Most of the time, we'll walk him around outside to different areas and then will go in, because he isn't doing anything else. And then almost a few minutes after we come in, he'll go to his mat and poop.

Thanks for your help and advice!

Liz

[Grace Erick]

Liz, I'm telling you, let him poop inside, LMAO!!!!! I'm sorry for laughing, but he really likes pooping inside. All you have to do is pick it up and flush it. Rushing him outside when he poops will mean nothing to him, except maybe giving him a complex about pooping or pooping while you are around, because he will be confused and maybe scared from being picked up when he's trying to poop. He will know if he poops when you see him, you will grab him, so he will just try to avoid pooping in front of you.

I'm telling you, he has developed a quirk for liking to poop inside like Capri only poops outside:) You are lucky, my dog started out leaving "cigars" under my kitchen table and I thought that was my destiny, until one day she just stopped and pooped on the paper, then would only poop outside.

[Grace Erick]

Liz, let me say this first, I know you are tired of me saying to let the dog poop inside. I do understand, but he's so darn cute!!!!:)

[Vicki Pagano]

:( I'm not going to be any help here. But I will commiserate and tell you that I am experiencing the exact same thing. This morning, before I left for work at 7:00 am, I had Angel outside twice. She didn't poop at all. My neighbor, who lets her out around 11:00 am, called to tell me she pooped in her crate and that it looked like it was a few hours old.

Yesterday, I let Angel outside, she peed and came running back to the door. I told her to go poop, stepped outside with her, stayed there for 5 minutes. Nothing. I came inside, hung a load of laundry, came upstairs to a freshly made poop on the kitchen floor, right near the back door where she goes outside. Frustration doesn't begin to describe how I feel. What oh What am I doing wrong??

I wish this helped you but I guess it does help a little to know you are not alone. If anything improves, would you please let me know? I will do the same for you. :banghead:

[Valerie K]

I have been there and done all that so here is my suggestion. If they don't poop outside, when they come back in, don't let them out of your sight. Tether them to you, watch them like a hawk, dump them in the lap of another family member, whatever you have to do so they don't have a chance to poop in the house, and then in ten minutes, take them back out, on a leash (until they become reliable) so they can't get distracted. If they don't go, bring them back in the house, watch them like a hawk, and bring them back out again in another ten minutes. Keep repeating the cycle until they poop. Then, have the tasty treat with you and treat immediately after they poop. Make a big stupid deal of it, with the goofy voice that if the neighbors hear you they think you are nuts, and do the happy dance as well.

I know it is a pain. I know you don't always have time for it. But try, especially on the weekends when you are home with them all day to practice this kind of consistency. It is worse when you are in an apartment. I am in a townhouse with no yard and I had two in training at the same time. I made so many potty outside trips a day I wanted to cry. But that is how my girls finally got it. And walking does help with the poop process. One of my girls can poop as soon as she goes out the door now, but the other still needs to walk around a bit, smell everything, and find the perfect spot. If I rush her, it doesn't work. If you are feeding on a regular schedule, they should develop some kind of poop schedule (not always reliable I know) that will help with the timing of the process. Good luck.

[Liz Gilbert]

He's actually been doing great!! :) He went almost a week without pooping in the house at all.

He has had one or 2 accidents this week, and for a dog that didn't poop outside hardly ever, I'm happy with that :)

He gets soooo excited when he poops outside when he comes in :) He loves getting his treats and praise :)

Thank you again for your help!

~Liz

[Grace Erick]

Hi Liz, even though I wanted Capri trained to go on pads too, I did want her to mostly go outside and only use the pads for early morning if I get up late and in hotels or airport restrooms.

I did give her praise and treats sometimes, because you don't want them dependent on getting treats all the time for pooping, but Capri also comes in the house all happy after pooping. I don't know if it's because I had always praised her, or it just makes her feel good to poop:)

Sometimes I think there is a turning point with dogs and housebreaking where it seems they will never learn, then they just start going outside like it's no problem. I'm glad to hear he's going outside, so you don't have to do inside cleanups.

Bye, Grace

[Valerie K]

I am so glad to hear he is doing so well. My little Zoey, the one who took the longest to catch on, is also so pleased with herself when she comes back in from doing her business outside. She prances all the way home and races right to the fridge to wait for her treat. I don't treat every time for pee, but for poop, you betcha. Zoey did continue to have occasional indoor accidents for quite some time (until she was about 14 months old) but they were usually when I wasn't right there for her to tell. The accidents got closer and closer to the gate so I knew she was trying to do the right thing but didn't realize she could wait a bit. It also took her a while to understand she could tell anyone who was around, it didn't have to be me. Just keep at it and soon you will be on the other side.

BTW, we do use the pads during bad weather. I put one down on the garage floor when it is raining outside, bring them out on leash, show them that it is raining, and let them use the pad. During nice weather, we go out through the garage anyway and they are happy to go right outside. Works for us. Keeps all of us dry. Keeps the potty outside. Keeps the association with using the pad to being on leash and outside the door to the house.

[Liz Gilbert]

He's still doing great! He had one day last week where something spooked him, and he wouldn't poop outside. I'd say 97% of the time he's pooping outside :)

And he hasn't had a peeing accident in the house in months! Woohoo!! :) And he's not even a year old yet!

~Liz

[Valerie K]

See... We told you he would get it.... :D

[Liz Gilbert]

lol and this morning he pooped on his pad ;) but that was our fault. And usually when he goes inside its our fault anyway, so we cant really blame him.

:D

Liz