# Pooping in my kids' rooms!



## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

I'm sorry 

If this happened in my house, I would confine my puppy to the kitchen and main living area using baby gates. Religiously. As a matter of fact, my collie, Mack is 18 months old and has only ever had one poop incident after being housebroken and it was in my daughter's room. I still have a baby gate permanently up so that when I leave the house he can be confined to our kitchen/family room and not have access to the upstairs while I'm gone.
My husband isn't crazy about gates, but it's just the way we've been living for a while. It's worth it to me for not having to worry about anything. I have a 'hands free' gate that even my youngest child has no problem with.

Good luck, it sounds like you may need to go back a few steps for a while.


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## Pup (May 12, 2012)

I'd probably out up a baby gate so she can't get upstairs


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## Pied Piper (Dec 3, 2012)

We do put a gate at the bottom of the stairs, and she has no interest in jumping it, so that works, but sometimes the kids take it down. My trainer would give me a piece of her mind if she heard me blame it on my kids because I need to train them too, but it's just so hard to keep things a certain way in this madhouse. I want to get one of those gates that actually attaches to the door frame. But I also wish I could successfully teach her not to do it instead of just not giving her the chance, if that makes sense. I guess if we keep her away from those rooms long enough she'll kind of forget about doing it up there, hopefully.


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

Suggest revisiting house training basics - as you would do with a puppy. Take her out regularly. Go out with her, reward her for success, a couple of tiny food treats, lots of praise, a little party. Tell her what a good dog she is! Make it a big deal, tons of praise and rewards, if she asks to go out on her own.


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## Pied Piper (Dec 3, 2012)

So do you think this is purely a matter of her going poop in a room she's rarely in because she's rarely in it, or do you think it's some sort of assertive measure she's taking to try to be higher than them in the pack?


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## BajaOklahoma (Sep 27, 2009)

You also need to clean the areas with something like Nature's Miracle. To Piper, who has a much greater sense of smell than people, those areas smell like a bathroom. (Our school district sent one of the drug/explosive dogs by earlier this week, as therapy dogs, and their superior ability to smell came up in conversation with her handler).

Honestly, every single accident that my pups have ever had was my fault - or my husband's. Once I recognized that, I paid attention and no more accidents.


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## Pied Piper (Dec 3, 2012)

That's true. I have some odor neutralizer but have honestly been forgetting to use it.


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## mddolson (Jul 10, 2012)

We had a similar incident with our Bella when she was just 4 months.
She decided the place to go was in my office.
We purchased the enzime deoderizer spray, & a mini-steam cleaner for the carpet & a used baby gate. 
Keeping Bella out of her favourite squating zone & being extra vigilant helped break her of the habit veRy quickly.

Mike D (Bella's dad0


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## ArcticCat (Dec 1, 2012)

Sorry for laughing, when I read this. Maybe spray some apple cider/Vinegar at door on carpet each morning..


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## Pied Piper (Dec 3, 2012)

We don't have carpet, so the messes have at least been fairly easy to clean (when not on the bed). We've finally convinced the kids to do their very best to keep their doors closed, and we've had the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs almost all of the time, and it's been several days since the last incident. Actually, the last time she did this was Saturday night, and I was in the room, which was a first. The lights were off and I was tucking my girls in, and I could see Piper either squatting or sitting on the floor. I hit the light and saw right away that she'd peed. I corrected her and took her straight outside. I don't know if I caught her quickly enough--it was just after she'd done it, not while she was in the act--but I'm hoping. It's the closest I've come to being able to correct her.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Pied Piper said:


> So do you think this is purely a matter of her going poop in a room she's rarely in because she's rarely in it, or do you think it's some sort of assertive measure she's taking to try to be higher than them in the pack?


No dogs do not think in terms of asserting rank with humans, she is just pottying when she needs to go and was successful going there before . You need to baby gate the stair way with a gate that has a swing door (you can get pressure mount gates with a swing gate), and make sure your kids know they have to close it every single time. Back up on the house training as if she is a puppy for a while and praise, praise, praise when she poops outside.

Also, try putting bells on the door and teach her to ring it when she needs to go out, and make sure you immediately respond when she rings it.

Setting her up to "catch" her in the act and correct her is not a bad idea. Sometimes they need to be shown what is wrong.


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