# Pooping & Peeing in the house



## donutboy (Nov 16, 2010)

Hi. Donuts about 8 months old now and its sad to say that he still poops and pees in the house. I usually take him out to pee first thing in the morning to prevent any accidents and that usually goes fine. But as soon as I leave him alone to eat his breakfast he leaves me a nice pile or two to clean up. Then I sit around and wait an hour or two for him to digest his food and then take him for an hour walk. Sometimes he would go but sometimes he won't. On the times he doesn't go it seems like he waits to go home to poop because the second I leave him alone he leaves a nice big pile for me. When he does go and I leave the house for a couple of hours, there would _always_ be a pile of poop and pee to clean up. I understand that he's still a puppy by why can't he hold it for four hours? I'm thinking of renaming him poopy boy instead...
On the walks he gets distracted very very easily by flying leaves, bags, tissue, birds, cars....just about everything!:bowl:  So it is very hard getting him to go outside. He gets walked twice a day. Is this not enough? My parents have started to strongly dislike him because of the mess he always makes. They refuse to help me take care of him and even suggested feeding him once a day to stop him from pooping so much 
What should I do?


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

At 8 months... he shouldn't be having any accidents in the house because of inability to hold it. At that point it is a training issue. Basically, he doesn't understand that he only is supposed to go outside. You need to make sure he poops on a regular schedule. And your parents need to monitor him when you aren't home and they are. If they aren't able to do that, then he needs to be kept to a single room with a tile floor that can be easily cleaned. 

I don't want to get into any food arguments here or suggest you switch your dog over to something that might cause diarrhea, but there are some kibbles that will reduce the amount of poop (times and amounts). I would go that route first before decreasing the meals.

ETA - and I'd encourage your dog to poop outside the house and on command. It's more convenient for those days when you do not feel like walking + you don't have to carry a bag of poop around when you want to be enjoying a walk.


----------



## iansgran (May 29, 2010)

Yes, I would agree it is back to stage one in house breaking. Take outside very frequently and praise like made when he goes. Treats, jolly him up, good boy, etc. And while you are in the house have him leashed to you so he is not out of your sight.


----------



## BajaOklahoma (Sep 27, 2009)

Is he crate trained at all? Dogs do not pee and poop where they sleep - unless there is no other option.

Banker has been here for 6 days. For the past 2 days, his only accidents are from our not paying attention to his signals. The petsitter came by twice today to let him out. That's on the leash, to do his thing, and straight back in the house. If we are not here, he goes in the crate. He's probably 12 lbs now and we use an intermediate crate.

I would suggest starting over with the potty training. If he doesn't go when you take him outside, you are supposed to crate him for 15 minutes. Then try again. Repeat until he goes, then he gets to stay out of the crate when he comes in. He will catch on.


----------



## ghuss37 (Nov 27, 2010)

Make sure you are feeding on a schedule and you should be able to predict when he is going to go. Also, dont leave him alone when he eats, watch him eat and then quickly take him outside and then praise him for going. If he doesn't go you should crate him inside then take him outside again and praise him if he goes. A doggy treat might help too


----------



## donutboy (Nov 16, 2010)

He is one confused boy . How many times a day do you suggest I walk him? He's usually alone for eight nine hours a day three days a week and I feel like those couple of days undo all the hard work.


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

For pooping - I'd wait 30 minutes at least. It doesn't go through a big dog's system that fast....  

And actually with your bigger goldens (again on a quality food that advertises fewer and smaller poops), you should have a predictable schedule when he has to go outside for poop. 

With my Jacks, it is in the morning when he gets up. And then in the evening after we come back from our walks. He might sometimes have to go in the afternoon, but in general we know for sure there are two times a day when he reliably has to go. 

As you go back to square one with the potty training, I don't think you need to be as frequently in and out as you would with a little puppy. But make sure you are getting that morning outing, the outing within an hour after breakfast, the early/midafternoon outing, the evening outing, and the before bedtime outing. 

Figure out what your dog's pooping schedule is (when he reliably has to poop), and make sure he gets to poop outside at those times.

ETA - And make sure you and your family are patient with the dog. 8-9 hours is a very long time to ask a puppy/young dog to hold. And like you said, he's likely pretty confused. I don't think it's impossible to "fix" if you are consistent and find a way to get him on an outing schedule. Even if it means asking a neighbor or friend to stop at the house and let him outside after four hours.


----------



## MyBuddy22 (Oct 29, 2010)

I always take Bauer out right after he eats. Its almost guaranteed he is gonna poop right after he eats. He needs to empty the canister to allow for more food to digest..LoL


----------



## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

When he does 'go' outdoors, praise him and offer a treat so he knows what's expected. 
Also, is he confined to a 'safe' room or crate when you're gone? Usually they won't poop/pee where they sleep.


----------



## donutboy (Nov 16, 2010)

He has never been crate trained before. I'm his third owner. His first owner passed away and his family did not want to take care of him anymore and his second owner's other dog didn't like him. So he's been moved around a lot.  I had him neutered at the ASPCA mobile clinic and when the put him in the cage he wouldn't stop barking and crying for a good hour while they were doing the intake. I don't think he ever stopped barking and crying until they put him under anesthesia because when I went to pick him up six hours later his eyes were all red and puffy and the fur around his face was really wet. The vet's helper even told me that he was really spoiled . I didn't think dogs can get mad at their owners but Donut was so mad at me he moved away from me when I tried to pet him. After that incident I couldn't let myself put him in any kind of cage but it looks like it would be better for him now.


----------



## LincolnsMom (Sep 28, 2010)

I would for sure start crating him when your not able to pay attention. We tried to housebreak Lincoln by taking him out frequently. It isn't the most effective. We started crating him when we aren't home or when we aren't able to watch him like a hawk. As soon as he comes out of a crate it's outside, we take him for about a 10-15 min walk so that he has plenty of opportunity to do both. If he doesn't go and I know he should have to I may either stay out longer or I will crate him when we get back inside and try again in about 20 min or so. Eventually he started getting the point that if he didn't at least try then he was in the crate until he went outside. Also 20 min after eating it is outside for a quick walk, he's only 4 months old though so it doesn't take that long to go through him.

As for crating him, since we never kept him crated all the time he wasn't happy at first. So we would crate him for short periods of time in another room and wouldn't go to him until he stopped crying. He's fine in the crate now cries for a min or two then goes to sleep or chews his toy. 

This system seems to be working out well for us, it's structured and hes doing much better than he was before. It's not 100% but I think over time as he gets older we will be able to not have to use the crate and he will be trusted with free roam of the house.


----------



## iansgran (May 29, 2010)

There is a DVD called Crate Games which would help you train him to like the crate, and there are parts of it on You Tube. With his history I imagine he has just never been really house broken. Regular feeding times (no free feeding) and frequent trips outside to the same place you want him to potty, plus tons and tons of praise and treats when he goes where you want, plus the keeping him tied close to you in the house is my best advice.


----------



## RKA (Sep 20, 2010)

I think you have two issues to deal with. Crating and then the housebreaking. Don't go overboard trying to crate him yet, or you'll create another headache. Do some searches on how to introduce them to the crate and get them to see it as a good thing (open door initially, lots of treats and praise). It may take a while to get there with an 8 mo old that already has a negative association with it. Ultimately that's your ticket to getting him housebroken. As others mentioned, you also have to learn his schedule. I would suggest a potty break before AND after each meal (assuming 3 meals a day) and walks of 20-30 mins 4 times a day. Associate a word ("poop") with it. He'll eventually catch on, and it will help on those rainy days when you just want him to go so you can get dry again. When you get him familiar with the crate it'll give you a place to put him while inside so he can't relieve himself with your back turned. You can manage this and get him trained, but leaving him unsupervised for 8-9 hours at a time on any given day is going to turn back the clock as you pointed out. 

With mine (now at 13 wks), he's spent an unusually large amount of time in the crate. I can count the accidents on one hand, and 4 were my fault for not knowing his schedule or turning my back for a second when I knew he would need to go soon. The last was because he was sick...couldn't really be helped. After 5 weeks in our house, he's just now getting a little freedom in the laundry room for short periods of time. Other rooms in the house, he is watched like a hawk (he just gets into too much trouble, so we have to go slow). Most of his activity and exercise is outside for now. The point is, you have to mimimize the opportunity for them to do things you don't like, and give them every chance to practice the desirable behaviors. Finally, clean the house well. There are products that will remove trace odors from the flooring so they aren't attracted back to the same spot to eliminate. Carpeting is a little harder to deal with since urine can soak down into the padding.


----------



## BetterThanYourBentley (Oct 16, 2010)

Id say crate training would be a good start... he wont pee or poop in his crate so that would be a great start. then go back to step one... make sure he poops outside before breakfast and dont go in till he does. Eventually he will learn that the sooner i poop the sooner we go inside. Then just take him out every hour or so till he gets the point. It definantly should not be a problem with holding it it should just be the fact he doesnt realize he needs to go outside not inside. GOOD LUCK!!


----------

