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Original poster

How can i stop my dog pooing on the floor???

33 replies

fifisworld · 28/09/2007 16:21

I have a boxer dog who is about 6 months old. He goes out for a run almost everyday and is always out in the garden etc, but he keeps coming in the kitchen and pooing on the floor even if he's been out for a hour or sometimes even if the back door is still open for him.
I dont know what to do about it.
Does anyone have any suggestions or experience with this??

OP posts:
winestein · 28/09/2007 16:25

If you see him doing it shout "NO!" very loudly. He should stop and then you calmly say "outside" (or whatever) and show him the door.

There is one other thing you can do - when dogs do have accidents in the house, we do all we can to clear up with disinfectants and the like, but they don' mask the smell for the dog. They smell it and go "well, this is where I go for a poo/wee as I can smell it" and unload themselves. Wash the area thoroughly in biological washing powder/liquid - the dog will no longer be able to smell his business and the trigger will have gone.

lucyellensmum · 28/09/2007 16:43

i wouldn't recommend the shouting, it will make his associate "going" with you shouting and he is likely to be anxious and possibly make it worse. Totally agree with the bio washing powder, was going to suggest that myself.

You can often anticipate when they are going to go as their behaviour changes slightly, he might look sheepish or start circling around, head down. How long has he been doing this? what does he eat?

Original poster
fifisworld · 28/09/2007 17:21

He just has dry food, i tend not to give him much meaty dog food as he always gets the runs with it.
He has been doing this sine we got him basically when he was 9 weeks old.
He was paper trained for when he couldnt go out and was fine with that, but now he's been going out since the end of June so he should be used to going out now.
He gets praised when he does anything outside but obviously i cant watch him all the time but as soon as i do see him looking like he needs to go i put him straight out.
I will try the washing powder on th efloor and see if that helps

OP posts:
lucyellensmum · 28/09/2007 18:13

It does sound like a behaviour issue rather than food. I would be inclined to use a relatively low protein food for such an active dog, stops them from being OTT. It is really a good idea to get the best quality food you can afford, especially if there is a sensitive tummy. I swear by James Wellbeloved, it is hypoallergenic so really good for any food intolerances. It is on the expensive side though.

Does he do this at specific times? Or just when no one actually around. The key i think would be to stick him outside when you are working around the house etc. A brilliant tool is a crate, dogs never want to soil their bed, so when he is mooching around and lazing, if he is in a cage he wont shit in there. It is a brilliant training device and place of retreat for a dog.

ARe there any stress issues that have arisen? Does he do this if you have been out, separation anxiety?

I'll let you into a secret, i'll get flamed, but it worked for me, my wee terrier (and my rottie before him) i rubbed his nose in it. Im not recommending you do this though as if there is an anxiety issue you could make it worse.

Again, with the crate, if he messes up (literally) straight to the crate, ignored.

scienceteacher · 28/09/2007 18:17

Our dog seemed to be a lost cause last year - probably around the six or seven month mark. She actually seemed to be getting worse. Then over the Christmas holidays she finally got it. I think with more vigilance and being let out really often, she got into the habit of going outside (with lots of praise, of course).

Any disapproval of mess in the house has to be immediate - the dog is unable to connect cause and effect. Then it should not really be shouting, but shunning him.

Original poster
fifisworld · 28/09/2007 18:21

Thanks for that.
Ive been told about rubbing the nose in it or near it, but he's so strong, i can bearly move him and im 29 weeks pg so cant really do that atm.
He doesnt have set times when he does it, it just seems to be as and when he wants to.
Theres been no changes to his routine, no stress etc.
I always have the back door open for him so he can come in and out as he pleases when im in, but sometimes he comes in to poo then goes back out.

OP posts:
flowerybeanbag · 28/09/2007 18:21

I'd just completely ignore it and just make a big fuss when he does it outside. Unless you catch him literally as he's about to do it, there's no point shouting or anything, just make absolutely no fuss whatever, ignore it. Positive reinforcement, really works.
And it's a pain I know, but it really happens quicker if you can manage to watch him virtually all the time, then you can catch his circling round etc and run him outside, then make a big fuss of him.

Difficult if you're busy but that way he can't make any mistakes so it soon won't occur to him to do it indoors, and he will be completely clean quicker. I had a horrible couple of weeks doing that with my puppy last year, just spending all day with him, watching him all the time so I could let him out, but he got it really quickly.

hercules1 · 28/09/2007 19:23

Please, please do not rub his nose in it. This practise has been seen as a cruel act for many years now and sorry but it beggars believe that people still do it today. Does nothing but humiliate the dog.

DarthVader · 28/09/2007 19:25

does he feel anxious?

Original poster
fifisworld · 28/09/2007 19:33

No he's not anxious, he'sa lovely happy dog and is very much loved and looked after, its just this issue we have

OP posts:
lucyellensmum · 28/09/2007 19:44

i did say i had done ith with my dog, the nose rubbing, i am not sure he considers it cruel, he eats his own shit!!!

I did say i didnt recommend to fifi though. I actually think it will settle with time and maybe a decent diet re hypoallergenic is the answer.

But cruelty, humiliation ITS A DOG!

beautifulgirls · 28/09/2007 22:27

Go back to puppy basics - out into the garden every 30 minutes, every opportunity to do the right thing and tonnes of praise when he does do the right thing. Dogs want to make you happy and teaching them by reward is far better than punishments.
If he does poo indoors you need to take him straight into the garden and then praise him for now being in the right place, even though perhaps is it probably too late to get the deed done in the garden. At least he has something positive about the experience to react to. The key to this is to make sure you work really hard to get the dog in the right place. Simply leaving the door open for the dog is not going to tell him that is where he needs to be. He will need you to take him out, see what he does and provide him with the encouragement he needs to want to repeat this "game".

Perhaps if the above is not clicking for the dog so easily you may prefer to try and stage this a bit more? Perhaps look to training your dog to use newspaper in the kitchen to go on. If you can get this consistent, then try putting a bit of newspaper in the garden to use. Hopefully it makes a more gradual transition for your dog if he doesn't get the one big step idea after a while. Personally I think the one step solution above is the better option though.

Tiggiwinkle · 28/09/2007 22:45

We had this with our new dog. She is 7 months now and clean, but at around the 5 month mark I was in despair as she also seemed to be getting worse. What finally cracked it for her was when we were on holiday and had the time to really watch her and take her out very frequently-as opposed to just putting her in the garden on her own. We also have a crate and put her in that when we went out.
I think if you could devote even a few days to really concentrate on him and take him out-and stay with him to praise him when he goes-it would probably do the trick.

pyjamagirl · 28/09/2007 22:56

our dog does it he has separation issues

the reason the last ppl had to let hm go was because he hated been alone

So even if I do the school run the d0g poos

Is your dog scared of been alone?

winestein · 28/09/2007 23:52

I didn't think that Fifisworld had suggested her dog had anxiety issues. With or without them though, rubbing a dogs nose in its own poo is frankly disgusting. I have cut and pasted the following from an internet site which you might find interesting re your dog eating it's own faeces too Lucyellensmum:

MYTH #1 : Rubbing the dogs nose in the mistake! (yes, people still do this):

FACT: If you rub the dog's nose in the poop, the dog will start hiding his mistakes--he will assume that pooping is wrong not that pooping in the house is wrong! OR, he may decide you want him to eat the poop!

I think Beautifulgirls suggestion is a great idea. I do think you need to shout "NO!" if you see him about to poo as it halts them and gives you time to show them the correct place, but I see that you subsequently posted that it's not really an issue when you are around.

Good luck! I hope you manage to get it sorted soon Fifi

EmsMum · 29/09/2007 00:16

When we got our new dog at 10 months he was a bit confused and did one in the house. I cleaned it up really thoroughly and took the offending article into the garden so that was now where the smell was. Praised him highly when he went outside.

You might need to do something like paper training perhaps?

Tiggiwinkle · 29/09/2007 08:12

winestein-on the subject of eating it, how do you stop them from doing it? The young dog I mentioned earlier has just started doing it (and I have never rubbed her nose in it-that would make me feel ill apart from anything else!)
She is a Jack Russell cross; I have always kept dogs- but never JRs- and have never had this problem before! It is not her own stuff but the ones done by our other dogs as far as I can tell. Yuk!!!

DarthVader · 29/09/2007 08:18

I have seen this happen on that TV programme about seperation issues, could it be that?

winestein · 29/09/2007 08:35

I'm not sure Tiggiwinkle! Yuk! The only thing I can think of is that dogs sometimes eat cat poo as it is so (there's no other way of putting this) meaty. With cat and dog diets being so different, I think there is a similar content of meat in cat poo to dog food or it at least resembles meat.

I have no idea here, but perhaps if a dog has too much meat in his diet it still seems "attractive" somehow?

Oh, yuk!

I'm clutching at straws, obviously! Perhaps Beutifulgirls might have a more reasoned explanation if she sees this.

Magicmayhem · 29/09/2007 08:36

fifisworld, you say your dog "goes out for a run almost everyday"... does this mean he only gets out of the garden once a day at the most? I'd made sure he gets at least 2 long walks a day to get into a routine of pooing and weeing on walks... and not in the house

winestein · 29/09/2007 08:38

well, looks like I wasn't so crazy, after all!

Tiggiwinkle · 29/09/2007 08:50

Oh god-it looks like it may be difficult to solve! Thanks for that link weinstein. All our dogs are already on a premium dry food diet (james wellbeloved). I clear it up as soon as I can but she seems to be getting there first-when I put them out first thing in the morning and they "go" for instance.
The trouble is no matter how much I feed her she is always on the lookout for more (a JR trait I believe!), so I dont think giving her food every time she comes in as suggested would solve it.
Our other dogs are a german shepherd and a Battersea mongrel (lab/collie/staff/goodness knows what) and this little new one has given us more trouble that they ever did!

winestein · 29/09/2007 08:59

It's not the competition thing then, is it? When my dog was a puppy, he used to often wander back up the garden path, casually chewing one of my cat's turds. Used to have me running away, screaming, I can tell you! He would have been about the same age as yours is now come to think of it - he just seemed to grow out of it. Which amazes me, as he is a bit of a foody, and if I throw birdseed out he gets there so fast it usually lands on his head.. [shrugs]

What about trying to give your dogs the pineapple/bonemeal additives to make it less attractive? ( at the thought of eating poo being attractive!)

I don't envy you Tiggy, I really don't!!

Tiggiwinkle · 29/09/2007 09:03

I will try the additives-although our German shepherd is so fussy she may turn up her nose at anything added to her food. The puppy did have the grace to look ashamed when I caught her at it this morning, so I think she knows it is wrong!

winestein · 29/09/2007 09:15

Don't get fooled by that look - dogs know no remorse - it is just an expression they use to appease you as they know you are angry! If you are consistent, she might realise it is the poo thing which makes you tell her off and stop doing it though.

Try pineapple as a treat rather than mixed in, maybe?

Dogs, huh? Who'd have em?