5 Months Old And Still Pooping Inside!

[nell.m]

Hey guys, well my 5 month fox terrier Ruby has lapsed back into a habit of pooing inside. I'm trying to do everything right- taking her outside first thing in the morning, after naps, food and a few times at night.

Early morning or late night seems to be when the inside pooing occurs- and ALWAYS when I'm elsewhere, like in the bathroom or another room. I've never caught her in the act, and she's usually by my side.

She has a special place where she poos, in the fartherest corner of the house. I chastise her (lightly) when I find it, and she looks guilty and sulks away.

I take her for long walks every afternoon, but she rarely poos then.

In her defense I'm in Queensland where it's been raining torrentially the past few days, and this habit of hers has been worse during this time. But we have still managed to go for some walks.

I thought I could solve the problem if I walked her first thing in the morning. This morning I took her for a walk and I was delighted when she did a poo. But a few hours later there was one in the corner again!

When she was at puppy school, the trainer said a good way to stop this habit was restricting her access in the house. I close bedroom doors, etc, but her special spot is in a room that's too big to "fence off".

Is this the only answer?

I feel like I've failed her somehow

Thanks in advance.

[Bundyburger]

Put her in a pen. Unless your eyes are on her EVERY second and you can see the "signs" of her going to toilet, thats where she stays. If you are in the bathroom and can't trust her to not popp while she is out of sight, she is in the pen. For 3 weeks our puppy basically LIVED in his pen because he was just thinking he could mess anywhere. Now it's something like a month later and aside from the fact he doesn't know how to tell us he needs to pee when the back door is shut(so as a result it's always open), he's basically house trained. YOu need to clean the area thoroughly and stop her from having access.

[nell.m]

Thanks very much! I don't own a pen but I'm going to fence off all rooms except the living room. She hasn't gone to the tiolet in there since a young pup, so I'm hoping that will do the trick...will let you know how I get on.

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Thanks very much! I don't own a pen but I'm going to fence off all rooms except the living room. She hasn't gone to the tiolet in there since a young pup, so I'm hoping that will do the trick...will let you know how I get on.

Go to Bunnings and buy one of their compost containers as they are wire mesh and perfect for containing a pup.

The key to house training is consistency and diligence. If you can't watch, confine. Confining a dog to a whole room isn't going to help the dog learn that the toilet is outside but confining the dog to a crate or pen will do the trick as long as you're consistently letting the dog out to toilet and ignoring any mistakes.

[newfsie]

The system I used with my 14 month old newf rescue was the "umbilical"method. It meant she was just attached to me all the time, unless she was in the dog kennel or out side. I had her tied to my waist initially for the first four weeks whilst i was on holiday. She was not potty trained and let me tell you her mistakes were huge. she is perfect now........... We never acknowledged mistakes and praised highly with food for the correct place. it took quite awhile, but she is now my velcro dog and so sweet and can be left in the house all day.

I also do it with our puppies, it takes less time. you just know what they are up to and where they are

Edited March 6, 2010 by newfsie

[Swiss Girl]

The system I used with my 14 month old newf rescue was the "umbilical"method. It meant she was just attached to me all the time, unless she was in the dog kennel or out side. I had her tied to my waist initially for the first four weeks whilst i was on holiday. She was not potty trained and let me tell you her mistakes were huge. she is perfect now........... We never acknowledged mistakes and praised highly with food for the correct place. it took quite awhile, but she is now my velcro dog and so sweet and can be left in the house all day.

I also do it with our puppies, it takes less time. you just know what they are up to and where they are

The ubilical method can work really well, and helps you and the dog bond as well.

I just wanted to mention that you have to get all the smell out of your floors/carpets, because if the dog can smell where it has gone before they often go there again.

Edited March 6, 2010 by Swiss Girl

[Danois]

There is no point in chastising a dog unless you catch them in the act - otherwise you are just confusing her. Guilt is not something dogs are capable of - her facial expression is from you telling her off.

If you know she is doing it when you are doing something else then like others have suggested, keep her with you or crate her.

[Mynewbestfriend]

There is no point in chastising a dog unless you catch them in the act - otherwise you are just confusing her. Guilt is not something dogs are capable of - her facial expression is from you telling her off.

If you know she is doing it when you are doing something else then like others have suggested, keep her with you or crate her.

I don't agree; even if you have missed the act & reprimanded, I'm guessing based on body language with this particular 'repeat' spot she knows exactly what's what. It seems to have become her corner and as you say, you're not yelling, just vocalising your frustration with the situation. I understand that there's no point to making a deal out of it once it's done however and catching in the act is everything to the house-training scenario. Can you section that corner off..? We too have a 5 1/2 month old pup and I watch him like an absolute hawk. If I can't keep my eyes on him, outside he goes for even a short few minutes. On that note, I'm not sure really when you can be certain or confident that they're fully housetrained. Anyone? We haven't had any mistakes for a while now BUT I let him out so often through the day he's probably out more than in at present.

[Danois]

There is no point in chastising a dog unless you catch them in the act - otherwise you are just confusing her. Guilt is not something dogs are capable of - her facial expression is from you telling her off.

If you know she is doing it when you are doing something else then like others have suggested, keep her with you or crate her.

I don't agree; even if you have missed the act & reprimanded, I'm guessing based on body language with this particular 'repeat' spot she knows exactly what's what. It seems to have become her corner and as you say, you're not yelling, just vocalising your frustration with the situation. I understand that there's no point to making a deal out of it once it's done however and catching in the act is everything to the house-training scenario. Can you section that corner off..? We too have a 5 1/2 month old pup and I watch him like an absolute hawk. If I can't keep my eyes on him, outside he goes for even a short few minutes. On that note, I'm not sure really when you can be certain or confident that they're fully housetrained. Anyone? We haven't had any mistakes for a while now BUT I let him out so often through the day he's probably out more than in at present.

Dogs simply do not possess that level of reasoning. He does not know he has done something wrong. He only knows he has done something wrong when there is a reprimand in conjunction with the act.

The dog is reacting to the body language of the owner - not displaying guilt. The owner is seeing guilt in their dog's body language as the owner knows the dog has done something it should not have. This is one of the most classic examples of anthropomorphism.

[nell.m]

Thank you everyone for your replies.

I sectioned off her pooping room and she went really well for a few days, then one morning she pushed her way through and pooped in her corner!! So I am guessing I will have to buy a special barrier!

She looked really guilty when I went to clean it up- she was slinking around and wouldn't come over.

It has only happened once since I posted this thread- so I am hoping this approach will work. I have repeatedly cleaned the area with disinfectant and mopped it...hopefully she'll forget her special corner in time?

[Cosmolo]

It is possible for a dog to understand faeces, presence of owner = bad. This comes from the dog being corrected with faeces in the room- but they do not connect that no they shouldn't have done that there and should have done it outside instead. They know you're upset and MAYBE know your upset when there is faeces present but they don't know why or how to avoid it!

Agree with what the others said re the toilet training.

[Dogsfevr]

go back to basics ,i also feel many people get caught out by believing there trained to early & forget the classic signals.