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Dear Daniel,
I'm having a problem with my dog Bailey. He is a miniature dachshund about 4 years old. We got him from a shelter a year ago this January.
He just started in September this habit of pooping in the house, always in an area where we wouldn't see it. We suspect that he started this habit because the rainy season started here in Oregon, and he hates to go in the grass (which isn't too tall, but since he's a miniature dachshund, it's tall enough to touch his knee's, and the grass is very wet). He won't pee however in the house, because he's willing to pee on the patio furniture instead of the grass, but not willing to poop on the patio, he has to do that inside for some reason.
So, also we try and keep our eyes on him to catch him trying to poop in the house, but he's such a sneaky dog, I’ve never once caught him in the act. I'll be watching him all day, and answer the phone for a second, and he's already pooped somewhere in that minute.
We've tried (cause we saw it on the Newlyweds show with Nick and Jessica Simpson and their dog daisy) putting a fence that we can make a circle out of and put it around his poop and make him sit in the cage with his poop. But we've only tried that a few times.
The biggest problem we have is catching him in the act. It has become a daily thing, with him pooping in the house, it started out gradual, but now it happens everyday.
Please Help!!!
Thanks in advanced,
Sally Tripp
Hi Sally,
Thanks for your email regarding your 4 year old mini dachshund. Problems with dog’s toileting inside can become very annoying and very frustrating very quickly! There are several methods you can try however and I will outline these here.
Firstly I would like to briefly comment on the way you react to him when he poops inside. The two areas he poops need to be covered up somehow. I am very surprised neutralizer didn’t work in helping prevent him for toileting in this area. You may like to try putting an object on these areas (such as a pot plant or something appropriate for the area he is using). You could also try feeding your dog in these areas. Because dogs generally hate eating in the same area they poop, this should have an effect on him – however your dog sounds pretty determined not to poop outside!! I would recommend re-housetraining him to some extent. This is very hard to do of course when he is already toileting outside and is very clever to know to wait for you to turn your back before he poops inside. Only punish your dog when you catch him in the act of pooping, or when you believe he has finished pooping in the last 10 – 15 seconds. Punishing him after this time will not get through to him as he will most likely not associate the punishment with the act of pooping inside. It does make it hard I know. You exactly correct for not rubbing your dog’s face in his poop, but I also definitely would discourage you from putting your dog in a cage with its poop also. Do not continue with this method.
Whenever you catch Bailey in the act of pooping inside (which may not be very often – but when you do..) be sure to use a loud guttural voice to say "AAAAH" so that he knows what he is doing at that particular time is wrong. Further to this, when you do take him outside and watch him like a hawk until he poops, go CRAZY when he finally does. Give him PLENTY of vocal encouragement and rewards for doing so and perhaps even give him a special treat like some yummy food or even a walk. If you manage to catch Bailey in the act enough times and reward him when you see him poop enough times, you should eventually break through to him what is right and wrong. It may also be useful to find a particular area outside that isn’t wet. Do you have any sort of sheltered area out the back? If you can identify an area Bailey does poop on outside when you watch him closely, always lead him out to this spot and always reward him in this spot. If it is difficult to get Bailey to poop anywhere outside, you may want to consider using a litter pan with newspaper in the bottom and teaching him to poop in this somewhere outside undercover – say in a carport, old shed or somewhere with some shelter or away from wet grass. Obviously it would be ideal to get Bailey to poop on the patio. If you constantly take Bailey out to this spot and wait and reward him when he does poop here you may eventually be able to convince him to always poop here. Again the litter pan on the patio may help encourage him to this spot.
A back up option is always available and that is to train Bailey to poop inside in a certain area on a litter tray that has absorbable paper (i.e. newspaper) in the bottom of it. This can be done by taking Bailey to this spot at times he is likely to poop (after exercise and mealtimes as well as in the mornings and before bedtime). It is much more preferable of course to use persistence, consistency and patience until he realizes that pooping inside is not acceptable and is a behavior he will get reprimanding for as well as being rewarded for pooping outside in a particular area, rather than giving in to let him poop inside in a controlled manner. However if you are at your wits end and want an immediate result this may help. Even using a litter tray in the two areas he poops in now may be a very short term answer. However I believe you should be patient and try and retrain Bailey into pooping outside again.
A desired result will come to you if you use the right tone of voice for punishing Bailey and the most appropriate reward to get a response from him. Avoid putting feces in to the crate with Bailey. This will not help the situation or teach him anything.
Best of luck with Bailey – he sounds like a lovely dog despite this small problem. Remember the key to your success will be doing all that is possible to try and catch him in the act to tell him off. I realize this is a lot easier said than done, but it will be important in your case. The rewarding of him pooping outside will also be very important. Let us know how you get on in the months ahead.
Best of luck and kind regards,
Daniel Stevens and the Secrets to Dog Training Team
"Secrets to Dog Training - STOP Dog Behavior Problems!"
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