Dog just went out (and pooped) 2 hours ago--pooped on dining room floor

[lissie]

Basically what the title says. We've had Fletcher (Beagle mix, approx 1 year, 11 months old) for a little over a year. He was crate trained before we got him, but we had to train him to poop on leash because the foster who had him for the shelter just let the dogs into her fenced yard to potty (we don't have a fenced yard).

We take him out 3 times a day, and he usually poops during the first two (about 7 a.m. before I take my daughter to the school bus, and between 2 and 3 p.m.). The third (between 8 and 9 p.m.), usually not.

Today, I took him out a bit late for the second potty break (about 3:45), and he pooped then, what I would call a normal amount for him.

My daughter and I were eating our dinner on the couch while we watched an old YouTube video around 6 p.m. (Fletcher had his dinner around 5:30, which is late-normal), and when I got up to put my plate in the kitchen, Fletcher had pooped on the dining room rug!

We consistently take him out three times a day, and although he's been mostly good about not going in the house, this still happens, and when it does, it is very frustrating because he's supposed to be house trained.

I'm almost convinced he's just marking or doing it for attention or something (do dogs do that for attention?) since he doesn't always have "accidents" like this, but when he does, it's always around this time of day and mostly in the dining room (with the occasional living room deposit if we're in the dining room at the time).

Why in the heck is he pooping in the house, and how can we stop it?

 

[oldbricklayer]

@lissie Are you cleaning with enzymatic cleaner? He might think it's an OK poo spot.

Has this happened often or just occasionally? He might have just really needed a poo.

Try taking him out after he eats.

 

[lissie]

@oldbricklayer It only happens occasionally. The spot is usually cleaned with Microban afterward.

 

[mrunk1975]

@lissie I'd start taking him out around the half hour mark after he eat, wait as long as you have to for him to poop, and then reward him with high value treats. Having a dog walk/run can get the poop flowing if he is refusing. Get rid of the carpet for a while too if necessary.

 

[lissie]

@mrunk1975 Getting rid of the carpet is out of the question; it's protecting the hard wood floor from the dining room table and chairs.

sigh We just barely got him down to three times a day last summer (or rather, my husband did while I had COVID). Before that it was five or more, and was disruptive to other parts of our lives. He's been mostly good about not needing to go so soon after having already gone so little time ago, so it's frustrating when this happens.

 

[annabanana1017]

@lissie Not trying to be rude here, but do you only use the bathroom 3 times a day? If the dog doesn't feel like you will take him out when he needs to go he will go in the house.

 

[andersl]

@annabanana1017 Yea! 3 times is not enough.

My dogs go out at least 5 times. Morning,noon, afternoon, after dinner and before bed. Just because they can hold there bladder doesn’t mean they should be forced to everyday.
Also ensuring the dog is being walked long enough to allow everything to come out. my one dog will poop 5min into a walk and again 20min.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@annabanana1017 I feel like this judgement is unfair. They walk the dog three times a day and they seem like good owners, it’s just a matter of changing his mealtime in my opinion, that’s what worked with our gsd.

 

[annabanana1017]

@imagebeastmarkbeast Yeah I really don't think it's unfair. Unless she left out that this is a service dog or they are unable to to move around easily. I would revoke judgment then, but I've never met a dog who only needed to pee or poop 3 times a day.

 

[lianap]

@annabanana1017 My adult dog must be an anomaly

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@annabanana1017 Perhaps our experiences are different then, mine is walked morning, evening, nighttime and she usually only poops on the afternoon walk, the others are just for her bladder and there’s been no issues in the two years we’ve had her. I think three is plenty (I will add that these are three lengthy walks, usually adding up to two hours every day)

 

[mrunk1975]

@lissie Find a different carpet that doesn't smell or feel like the one he has been using. If that's not possible, block off the area so that he can't get to it. If that's not possible, keep him beside you after he eats.

And look in to training him to let you know when he needs to go - like a bell at the door.

But you're going to have to get used to taking him out when he needs to go. What happens when his stomach is upset and he has the runs? Only taking a dog out when it's convenient for you when you know for a fact that he often needs to go out more is borderline cruelty. If you can't meet his needs, look at paper training him or find a more suitable home for him.

 

[marysnare]

@lissie My wife trained our Yorkie with the hanging doorbell, the one you can find on Amazon. Every time, she'd take him out, she will make him ring the bell with his paw and gave him a treat. He learned in 2 weeks. He is 3 now and we never (fingers crossed) had the incident for him to poo inside the house. Now, whenever he needs to pee/poo or feel like going out of the house, he goes and rings the bell

 

[aidenb]

@lissie Does he have a way of communicating to you when he needs to be taken out? My dog just sits at the door when he wants to go out at an unusual time

 

[lissie]

@aidenb Because we don't have a fenced yard, and therefore can't just let him outside to go, we take him out on a schedule. He almost never does this, but on the rare occasions that he does, it's usually during the shorter interval between the second and third "potty breaks" of the day, which makes absolutely no sense.

 

[aidenb]

@lissie That doesn't answer the question and also seems to assume most people have yards.

Does your dog have a way to let you know when he has to go out? If he eats something bad and has diarrhea, how will you know he has to go out? What methods have you instituted for your dog to let you know, "Hey, I know we just went out but I have to go out again."?

My dog sits at the door so I get dressed and put his harness on and we go out. When he had giardia I just left his harness 24/7 and slept in my clothes because we live in a hotel and there is no yard. He didn't poop inside though because he knows sitting at the door (and scratching it sometimes) lets me know he has to go out.

So what method does your dog use to alert you to an unscheduled need to potty? If you don't have a method for your dog to let you know he has to go back out, then this is going to happen again. This isn't about you having a yard, the question is about you training your dog to let you know when he has to go out.

Your current system seems to assume that his bladder and bowels are going to run like a Japanese train system and always be on time but that isn't how physiological systems work so what do you have in place for the times that he has to go outside but it isn't a scheduled outing.

If it is the middle of winter and he gets into the holiday food and it upsets his stomach, how will you know before he poops on the floor?

If he drinks more water than usual and has to pee before a scheduled break, how will you know before he goes inside?

What is your training regimen for unscheduled potty breaks?

 

[lissie]

@aidenb When he was sick, he mostly cried and whimpered to let us know he needed to go. And we took him.

We had the schedule so that he would not constantly be asking to go out when he didn't have to go. There are so many things he can see outside our back door, and he seems to want to either go play with them or chase them. I work at home, and taking him outside every single time he asks is not practical and is disruptive/can cause me to miss deadlines.

 

[aidenb]

@lissie So you haven't trained him to let you know when he has to potty offschedule? That's why he pooped on the floor. That's why he's going to poop on the floor again. Either train him better or invest in a good carpet cleaner.

YouTube and every dog training website and book in existence has resources for how to train your dog to alert you to potty breaks. PetSmart has good carpet cleaner.

 

[lissie]

@aidenb Do those resources tell you how to tell if he's just asking to go outside because he wants to go outside versus when he actually has to go?

Because having to poop less than two hours after having already done so (and the poop being normal consistency, so obviously not sick) is very weird.

 

[aidenb]

@lissie Not really, no it isn't. It's not even abmormal in humans and we have a much slower GI tract than they do.

Quick question, before I go and do all of the work for you, did you check any of the resources or have you just gone online to complain about your dog having to poop? Because this entire conversation has just been you making excuses for neglecting your dog.

I literally told you what the problem was, in black-and-white, and you're basically saying it's too hard for you to even Google the fix. Your dog's bowels are not a Japanese train. They are not going to run on a perfect timetable. Find a way to make it work or buy carpet cleaner. Those are literally your options.

Put the dog in a diaper. Go back to puppy pads. Do something besides complain online.