What do you do about your dog poo?

[Macbeth8]

Recently have got a lovely cocker spaniel. Have had a labrador before but he only pooped on his daily walk.
Cocker spaniel just seems to poo when shes let out in the garden even if
Its becoming a nightmare. We have a lovely garden, loads of grass but now kids are ending up coming in with dog muck on their shoes. Its weird cos she is doing poo around different areas of grass. When its seen its easy to just scoop it up but its when shes done it randomly n weve had no idea.
The consistency is always mushy-ish meaning not easy to scoop up and the grass just gets ruined.
AIBU to think this is difficult to manage with? Is there some other option that people do with their dogs?

When I was a child, my parents fenced off a little area as a dog toilet and covered it in sand, which made the poos easy to see and clean up. If the dog hadn't yet done a poo, it was only allowed in the main garden under supervision.

Yes, this. We get up really early to walk our dog - we throw our clothes on and get her out immediately. When it's not stupidly hot (so most of the year) she gets an early afternoon and a teatime walk, too. She wees but never poos in the garden.

Our garden is 1 acre and mostly grass! Maybe this gives this post more context to the rude, sarcastic responses Ive had 🙄 meaning when she is let out in the morning she runs off where she isnt in view (usually the far end where alot of her balls are)
If I have a quick 5 mins before the school dash ill have a quick scope but usually cant see anything but somehow there seems to be poo built up..we have cctv so I dont think its another dog. Maybe cats?
My main point of asking the question was not her pooing in the garden, its the consistency of her poos that are hard to just "scoop" up in a poo bag like people have said. Im basically pulling loads of grass out as its that sticky/mushy.
I will have a look at her diet deifnitely
I do give her some boiled chicken abd rice additionally which sometimes helps her poos

In response to people saying to give her a quick walk in the morning. How? When I have two young kids. It would take forever just to get them ready n out for a quick walk. Im usually dasing around to get them to eat breakfast and get ready to take them to nursery.
Our garden is huge and pur spaniel loves running around back and fourth which probably gives her just as much exercise than a 10 minute walk.
She is walked usually when I get back and never poos..
Similiary, on the weekends on morning walks she doesnt seem to poo?

You should have said you have an unusually large garden.

I’d fence off an area by the back door so you can just let the dog out into that bit.

You have to work with what you can realistically do OP 😊With a garden that size you don’t need to take her for a morning walk, but if you could screen off an area for her to poo in then that maybe that could help? Similarly diet- we swapped to a fish based kibble for sensitive stomachs and that helped, although he wasn’t keen on it. Kibble definitely makes his poos more solid than wet food and might be worth trying the probiotic someone linked to?

I pick it up as soon as he's done it. If it's difficult to pick up then I hose the grass afterwards, but there's never any poop in the garden with this method.

Do you have a DH or partner? If so, one of you needs get up early and take her round the block before the kids get up.

I appreciate you have a large garden but walks are about so much more than exercise - the sniffing and exploring where other dogs have toileted will encourage her to go as she'll be scent-marking the area like they have.

If you really can't manage a quick walk then you'll just need to do a poo check after she's been out in the garden and before the DC go to to play.

I have a spaniel and also two small kids. I only let Ddog out in the garden when I can supervise him. (It helps that if he's unsupervised he chomps on sticks that he's then likely to throw up at 3am, so I'm less tempted to just let him out!) I either walk him early before DH goes out or after the school run. If it's the latter he gets walked around the garden on-lead for a wee.

If you're worried about the breeder and food, just check with them. They won't want one of their pups to have a dodgy tummy and they might recommend something else. Our Ddog is great on Tails for what is worth.

Firstly change the diet, then work out her routine for pooing. If diet is decent, pooing will be fairly regular and predictable so you restrict her running about the garden at that time, either by fencing a section or putting on a lunge line. Once she had done her poo she can then have free run of garden for exercise.

You can’t walk her first thing in the morning.
You don’t want her to poo in your garden.
You don’t want to fence part of your garden.
You would like the dog to poo on walks only.
You decide the times of the walks and would like the dog to hold it until then.

I think ^^ this is possible and I know people whose dogs poo as your previous dog did ie on walks only. But they walk the dog first thing in the morning when they go for an early morning run themselves so their lifestyle facilities the dog’s toilet routine.

You said the spaniel is a recent addition so is just a baby really. You are expecting too much from her imo.

How is that a stealth boast 🤔

We use one garden for the dogs and one for the children and relaxing in. Dogs can join us in the main garden but are trained to sit calmly and not wander to avoid them doing wees or poos there. We play with the dogs in their garden and pick up the poo of course but it does mean the other garden is always clean to use.

Just spend time teaching her to go in a specific part of the garden if you can't walk her in the morning when she needs to go. All mine have free run of the garden, but know to only go to the loo in one place.

So you are too busy to take her out in the morning but you have an issue with her pooping int he garden! What on earth do you expect her to do if you won’t walk her. Perhaps you should have better assessed whether you had time for another dog if you can’t attend to her most basic needs such as going to the loo. And I am dumbfounded that you only just seem to have realised that a soft poo is an issue and her diet is obviously not agreeing with her - no matter who wrote it.

Sorry forgot to add where we got her from is a reputable dog trainer company/breeders. She was really expensive for that reason n we had a plan written up that she had to be on the same diet they've fed her - a mixture of raw food and royal canine.

We actively avoided litters where it looked like their breeders wanted to remain way too involved in a pup they'd sold. We swap photos from time to time and friendly advice is welcome but dictating brands of food is ridiculous.

I'd look at a change in diet so that poos are easier to pick up and leave next to nothing behind and try to encourage the use of one spot, by fencing or taking out on a lead. I personally wouldn't want a dog that will only go on a walk, so I wouldn't encourage that approach but ymmv.

Adding my vote to changing the diet. DDog used to do runny, frequent poos as a younger dog. Lots of bouts of gastritis, weight loss and itchy paws, and no amount of the vet's treatments helped.
I was highly sceptical that it was quackery, but we found a company who did a saliva test on ddog and it came back that they thought he was intolerant to corn, pork, chicken, turkey, tuna.
We exclude all of those now and feed a kibble based on lamb and salmon, plus occasional boiled or scrambled eggs, and we're very careful not to give anything saying "meat derivatives". Daily apple and raw carrot, and his poos are twice a day, regular as clockwork, dryish and easy to pick up on grass or tarmac.

(Caveat on the apple: he's a large dog, and the apple is tiny, so no toxicity worry. I wouldn't give a whole apple to a smaller dog though)

I think the breeders want you to stick to the food the pup has been used to to avoid digestion problems,but thats only for the short transition period in their new home.Its fine to change the diet now.

We changed our puppy’s diet about a month after we got him as they were very frequent and very squishy. Now on Butternut box and they are so easy to clear up! He does still go 3/4 times a day though - normally in the garden first thing and the rest on his walks. Running around always makes him go! My DC are older and have learnt to double check the garden if they’re playing football - I do go out frequently to pick up but it’s easy to miss sometimes

Change the food slowly to something that agrees with her and fence off ( ornamental fencing) an area right outside the back door , it’s really not that hard .

Loads of dogs can't take chicken which is in most dog food - so look at making sure thsts not in. We have been through loads of kinds and are now grain and chicken free on Ardrn Grange lamb and rice - did it from 6 mths snd all poo now firm.
No breeder would hold you to feeding a dog simething that's harming them.

It makes poo picking much easier. Then keep the grass short so you can poo pick before the toddler goes out.

@AAprilx

You clearly didnt read my post.. I said its the same on weekend when she had an early morning walk, she just doesnt seem to go during walks? Prefers to do her business in the garden..
When shes let out first thing in the morning she has a wee like most dogs do and then somehow manages to run off n have a poo even when were calling her to go on a walk.
Oh and my partner is working away incase anyone asks why he cant do it in the mornings (weekdays)
Her poo when we first got her was mostly solid tbh. Weve only had her less than 2 months! Its only recently that her poo seems more mushier.

She isnt a puppy. Shes 20 months old

I want to know the miraculous secret into how people get their 2 kids ready (1 and 4) early in the morning to take their excitable dog for a walk. Thats after them having breakfast and avoiding to murder each other in the process 🤣
The dog works around our family. Was sold as a family trained dog meaning its probably around 8.30/9am minimum by the time we get out for a long walk . Obviously, I cant keep her locked in that long. She needs a morning wee and thats usually when shes wandering away in our huge garden hence why I said the dog muck is in random places of the garden.

Royal Canin has a very low nutritional rate, about 38% I think.
Be more aware when she's in the garden. Anythings runny here gets hosed down.