Puppy pooping in the house.

[Margaritawithlime]

Hello! Would welcome any advice!
We have a beautiful 7 month old cocker. We worked with a puppy trainer and thought we had mostly cracked it except she was still pooing at night in the house. We moved her crate into the kitchen and hey presto no accidents overnight. This has worked really well and it’s obvious that she was marking or seeing our front room as an extension of her bathroom. (We cleaned with the enzyme stuff but it still seemed to happen)
What we are dealing with now is a puppy who poos and wees outside on walks etc but will sometimes - particularly when it’s cold (prima Donna) will not poop but when she comes back into the house will go on the floor. Yesterday after her long walk we kept her downstairs and brought the kids up to do bath and bedtime and in the space of thirty minutes she did three poos all over the front room and hallway floor.
Our kitchen is too small to keep her in there only and she’s a very much loved and snuggled pet so the front room is where she is loved on. We don’t have another room downstairs! Our carpet is totally ruined - not from her - and we are doing some redecorating so I’d really like to crack this before we get another floor.
Any tips?! We are clearly getting timings right as she is going when we return from walks. More high value treats when she goes outside? Anything else we can do?

Oh. And dog tax

Either stand outside with her for longer (might be 10 minutes, might be half an hour) or take her for another walk to poop. Letting her inside to poop is reinforcing the behaviour, so do what is needed to 100% stop that happening

very pretty.

Some dogs only like to go in their own garden.

Do you use a word for when she goes? I use 'busy'. So I say go busy, reward once done. High reward only used for that job. Repeat, every single time and gradually reduce. I would also limit the dogs space once back from a walk if no poo, so you only need to clean one area.

If you do this and it doesnt work I would contact a behaviourist.

Aah, she’s lovely. Silly question but how long are you walking her for? My old cocker spaniel would do several smaller poos while we out. Probably over the space of about 45 minutes. Maybe she hasn’t quite finished opening her bowels by the time you get back. You could always go out into the garden with her for 10 minutes or so when you get back from a walk.

We discovered that we weren't getting high pitched and excited enough when our boy went outside!
We were fussing him and rewarding him but the trainer said that we needed to get really high pitched and animated every time he did is business outside so that doggo knew it was a brilliant thing he did.
Worked and was fully house trained with a couple of weeks. Neighbours must have thought we were nuts though 😆

Also what are you feeding her? Mine improved considerably on the poo front when he went onto raw food.

😂High pitched and excited I can do! I think perhaps a combo of taking her back into the garden if she hasn’t pooed on a walk and mega excitement is the way forward.
She is on Harringtons. Our vet advised not to feed raw as we have small children who she loves to love on.
Her long walk is about an hour sometimes more it depends on how carried away my husband gets.

ok so high value reward just for that job, code word, high pitch excitement and restrict to smaller area if hasn’t gone. I can do this

thank you!

If it only happens when she's alone are you sure it's not down to anxiety?

It doesn’t only happen then - that was just yesterday as an example.
However I’m not sure! There’s not a lot I can do about having to put my children to bed if she can’t hang on thirty minutes but I don’t think it’s anxiety. Time will tell I suppose if we try the strategies suggested

If she's anxious it won't be about her being able to hang on, if that makes sense. Dogs will wee/poo when anxious out of instinct rather than because it's an active decision.

No I understand what you’re saying completely. Just not sure how to a) determine whether it’s anxiety and b) how to avoid leaving her alone if it is.
She has happily been left alone without accident several times and also happily pooped with us in the room so I don’t think it’s anxiousness!

It'll be easier for you if it's not

My dog (7) sometimes does a 'protest poo/wee' if she objects to what we are doing eg not taking her with us. It doesnt happen often, on occasion if she thinks she is coming and then doesnt get to go (not that she was ever going in the first place) she might do a protest. She is also a Jack Russell Terriorist so is a law unto herself! I have trained many breed of dogs over the years and this one drives me to distraction with her antics.

She is lucky she is cute.

Be consistent with your puppy OP and im sure it will all become a distant memory soon.

If she tends to do it when she comes in from a walk then bring her in and then take her straight out again. Or if she's small enough pick her up, walk around for a few minutes then take her outside, and repeat until she goes.
Dogs that poo and wee indoors simply haven't clicked that indoors isn't an option yet. The more she gets it right the more she'll get it right.

Thanks everyone!

No further advice to add but I recommend you go for hard flooring with reasonably priced rugs as frankly even when you crack the pooing indoors they always manage to vomit somewhere / drag in mud etc eventually .

Our Primary Donna working cocker still poops in the living room if she's alone in there and it's cold outside. She's 9! She absolutely has to go in the kitchen if we can't be watching her.
Our younger one is less of a princess and doesn't have the same problem but still gets the kitchen time, poor thing. They've got a big fluffy bed in there so I don't feel too guilty.

We are about to remodel the whole of downstairs and build an extension. I can’t WAIT to get rid of these crap carpets and put in a hard floor!

I fear this is my future also. She’s such a madam. God I love her though. 😍

I would put her in the crate after a walk if you think she still needs to poo. Then let her in the garden regularly until she does.
What are you feeding that is creating so much poo?
Mine do 2 each per day

Tbh at that age they should be going regularly enough that you know if they’re due a poo
ie our dog does one first thing then on the evening walk

so if on that walk they haven’t gone yet I’ll walk a bit more until they do

a better quality food like Millie’s wolf heart or Eden might help

Sorry i think my post across a bit blunt I didn’t mean it to be

Oh don’t worry! I’d like to change her food honestly. I don’t think it’s the worst but it isn’t the best either. It’s what she was weaned onto by her breeders and they really rated it (they’re our neighbours so VERY involved 😂 ) it’s good to have some recommendations honestly.

It’s not awful but there are better quality feeds out there that will cost similar to feed and will help keep them regular

no need to tell the neighbours what you’re feeding

https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk this website is helpful for comparing brands and quality & your budget

for example eden is more expensive than Haddington’s but you feed much less and it’s much closer to raw in quality

I would take her outside before you go up with the childrens bed time, then if she is happy in there pop her in her crate whilst you are upstairs.

When you come down again outside for wee and poo etc.