My dog pooped on the carpet this morning and this is what I said....

[lovenotwar149]

So I am a training fosterer for a guide dog atm. Had him 10 days , very good boy on the whole. This morning I was just about to talke him out to do his poo , half hour or so after he had his breakfast, only to find he had done it on the carpet. First accident in 10 days.
He could have done this poo a minute after his breakfast or perhaps 25 mins, or somewhere in between. Idk as I was upstairs getting ready.
When I saw the poo on the carpet , he was following me at the time, I stopped looked at it with him and (this was very conscious as I wasn't angry at all, surprised, but not angry) said "oh dear, oh dear, oh dear" with a disappointed tone of voice. My dog looked sheepish thereafter. I didn't go on about it , and then carried on with other bits and we then got in the car to go to training school. He got the usual loving warmth from me afterwards and when I dropped him off. My tone shifted to 'we're all good now' so to speak.
Did I do the right thing?

Not really. Your trainers should be teaching you how to handle this but generally you ignore accidents and just clear them up. It happens. If you show emotion then they just learn not to do it in front of you - anywhere. So they'll sneak off and do it elsewhere in the house.

It wasn't the right thing but it's hardly a disaster either.

Dogs live in the moment, so why delayed consequence means nothing to them - all he'll have understood is that you've left him alone for half an hour and were then upset with him about something - he won't have any idea that it's related to the poo on the floor.

I see .Thank you for your replies. Noted.

Hopefully as this only happened today and I wont repeat a disappointed tone if he does it again, he wont be affected

Newpeep

Re showing emotion etc. Is showing emotion when he does it in the garden i.e. 'good boy' etc what to do?

Are you with Guide Dogs UK?

Have you been on Kalidus? There is a whole section about house training.

You should have a PDA if you're a puppy raiser? They should be your first call for anything you're worried about. If he's a dog in training then you can talk to his trainer or guideline if there's anything you're not sure about.

But yeah, sometimes dogs have accidents. It's no big thing, clean it up and try to make sure you're there for the next one so it goes in the right area. If you need to clean the carpet Dr Beckmann's do a pet carpet cleaner.

You can but really toilet training is habit. I go outside. I don’t go inside. So that’s why you have to be on them like a hawk whilst they’re forming habits. My pup was pretty reliable after a few weeks. We just did a very quiet ‘well done’ when she went outside. Praise doesn’t really have value on its own and if you treat a pup for going to the loo then you can guess what will happen 😉

Not an expert but on the very odd occasion ddog has had an accident, she's very sheepish so I just keep my voice light and say something like "oh dear, never mind" give her a belly rub and clear it up.
Accidents usually happened when I'm not quick enough opening the back door in the morning, like I need the loo and she's gone downstairs.
I now hold it until I sort ddog out.

Please don't worry about it having a negative impact - I can guarantee that every single dog owner has done something "wrong" at some point - none of us are perfect!

While a negative tone won't help him learn it really won't cause a problem either - unless you've caught him in the act and shouted, he'll just be a bit confused and carry on with his life, lol.

If you want to crack toilet training quickly then you really need to be on top of it. Leaving pup alone for 25 mins just after breakfast and before toileting is a high risk activity!

I'm presuming a lab or a retriever if a guide dog and they'll really quickly pick up the habit of going outside to toilet if you really watch them like a hawk in the early days and whisk them outside at the first signs of needing to go.

Thanks people, really appreciate your replies. Very useful/helpful for me. :)

coffeesaveslives

And thanks for that reassurance , I was worrying about that. Its all very new, I'm putting a bit too much pressure on myself most prob , and inadvertently may do that to the dog. I will chill. He really has been very settled, most prob I didn't get there in time after he had finished his break!

breakfast

With a training puppy I wouldn't give them a belly rub with high pitched praise after pooing inside, that's positive association and they may think it's a good thing to do.
(Different with an adult dog who knows where to poo and needs reassurance after a genuine accident)

With puppies tou just absolutely ignore and clean silently. No positive or negative reaction to build association

I would try not to leave him alone after his meals until he's been to the toilet - it's a bit of a pain but puppies don't have very long between their body telling them they need to go and then them actually going, it's often less than a minute.

Luckily that stage doesn't last long but you really do need eyes in the back of your head for the first couple of months!

Dogs don't understand human emotions. Your dog is a dog, not a human.

Your dog did not look sheepish because he had an accident. He was reacting to your tone of voice. He didn't even remember pooing on the carpet. Dogs' brains don't work like that. They do not have brain power for that type of linear thinking which is why punishing them for accidents doesn't work.

If you do that every time you see an accident they will eventually make a correlation between a mess on the floor and the punishment but not that they made a mess and, therefore are being punished, iyswim?

A one-off will not affect his training but in the future quietly clean up all messes without reacting and praise like mad when he goes in the right place.

I’m a puppy raiser at the moment for Guide dogs so the fact you are helping by fostering dogs means I salute you 👏

I was told to just ignore my Guide dog puppy in the house when he had accidents. But we did occasionally show a small amount of emotion which he took in his stride.

Highly doubt this dog will be mentally scared by you saying “oh dear” a few times and then moving on. They’re more robust than that!

Agree check on Kallidus and speak to your trainer. You should have a really strong routine with toilet training from day 1 and the location of toileting worked out in your garden.

If you are unclear check with your trainer how they want you to proceed - but you do need to stay with him when he eats and immediately get him outside to his toilet area.

You really need to prevent indoor toileting by being very vigilant

He just had his dinner and I took him outside after. He sniffed around a bit and then he ....
POOPED!! So pleased and he got a "well done" (plus a couple of treats) of course!
I will do the same after breakfast tomorrow! Thanks people! :)

Twiglets1

You're a puppy raiser?? Well I salute you too!! :)

Aw thanks ❤️

I'd say it might be a good idea to let him out first thing and feed him afterwards.

He'll probably need to go first thing, so facilitate that.

My 6 month old puppy won’t do anything outside until after breakfast as he’s too focused on being fed when we come downstairs. But they’re all different I guess.

Probably a good idea to give him the opportunity to toilet both before & after breakfast.