Dog doesn't seem to poo outside....Please help

0141607

Hi guys

My 5 year old bichon doesn't seem to poo outside. I know this is mostly our fault as she was kept in the garage while we worked until recently as she has a tendency to chase the cars so we couldn't trust her outside. Anyway we have now enclose the garden so she stays outside all day. She stays in the garage at night and I let her out first thing in the morning to go to the toilet but when I bring her back in to eat (she doesn't really eat if her food is left outside and we have have and a new pup who will just eat it on her) she eats and will poo in the garage. She will only be in there 5 mins and she will go. Same thing while I'm at work. I come home and bring her into the garage for food and again 5 mins later I will go in to let her back out and she will have pooed. Is there anything I can do?

Thanks

tk123

Did you ever toilet train the dog or has it been outside/in the shed for the past 5 years?

Edgarfrndly

You need to walk your dog if you want them to do their business. My dog is very particular about where he goes. I'm not sure if it's a territorial thing or not, but he sniffs areas on our walks to find the right spot before he goes. If they are not going, just bring them on a longer walk.

ShoulderChip

did you consider picking up the poo with a scooper and placing it in the garden yourself?

0141607

Thanks for the replies.

She is toilet trained. Spent the night in our room every night until recently when we got the new puppy and she never went indoors. She will pee no problem when left out but just seems to be a problem with pooing. She probably isn't walked as often as she should be but she can be hit and miss on her walk too. Will pee for Ireland but often on the walk which is 3kms she won't have pooed.

Thanks

Cows Go µ

In fairness, not all dogs pee and poo on walks, girls in particular seem to like to wait until they are at home (or at least that's my experience). Pepper will poo as soon as she gets home from a walk so I had to always let her out as soon as we got into the house.

You need to learn your dog's schedule, if she poos right after eating, you need to stay with her while she eats so you can put her out right away. And stay with her so you can praise her for doing it outside.

Ashbx

What does your new pup do? Does she go outside? You cant really blame her in fairness, you basically trained her to do it by letting her away with it the last 5 years.

Personally, if it was me I wouldn't let her into the garage until she has done a poo in the garden. Or do as you normally would when you were potty training her originally? You need to look at the garage as you would your own house. You wouldn't put up with her pooping on your living room floor would you? So I wouldn't let her poop on the garage floor either?

But as Cows Go said here, you need to learn their schedule. My dogs go like clock work so its great and easy for me but it took me a couple of months to really learn their schedule.

Do you leave your bichon in the back garden all day? Are they supposed to be outdoor dogs? I don't know anything about them but I assumed they were a toy dog.

mosi

OP, how does she get on with the new pup? If she stopped coming into the house since the pup came along, it could be that she is stressed by the newcomer. Being in the garage and outside all the time could be adding to the stress. Some dogs can be quite put out by newbies, especially pups. Bichons aren't dogs to be left isolated from the family. Even though she seems to not want to come into the house, she may just be trying to avoid the youngster? It must be quite a shock to go from sleeping in your room to being outside, even if she seems to be telling you that's what she wants. Dogs can be funny that way. I'm no expert but I think this sounds like more than a toilet training issue. Perhaps you could contact a qualified dog behaviourist to try and get to the root of the problem and to try and get you to be a happy, integrated family with the two dogs sharing the house space.

ShoulderChip

Any updates?

0141607

Hi guys

Still the same problem unfortunately. I guess it's not the end of the world as we have 2 year old twins so knowing she isn't pooing in the garden makes it easier in a sense but I'm not going to get into that mindset either and I am determined to sort this out.

I have waited with her while she eats and also afterwards but she won't poo when I am there so I can't stop her and bring her out to finish it then.

There is no problem with overnight in there as neither of them will go to the toiler during the night in there it just seems to be after she has eaten but like I said it can be within 2 minutes of having eaten so it's hard to change it. I may need to start feeding the pup indoors and the bichon outdoors and see if that will work.

Cows Go µ

0141607 wrote: »

I have waited with her while she eats and also afterwards but she won't poo when I am there so I can't stop her and bring her out to finish it then.

You're not meant to catch her pooing indoors. You're meant to bring her outside and praise her when she goes to the toilet outdoors. If you catch her midway through the act, you're just going to scare her. It's about rewarding wanted behaviours and preventing unwanted behaviours from happening (and if they happen they just have to be ignored. In my head if my dog does something wrong 99% of the time its my fault for putting her in the position that she will do something wrong)

If she poos really soon after eating, it's just a case of staying with her while she eats then bringing her outside right away. And I get the thing about her not pooing while you watch. I swear I have to hide so my dog will go to the toilet as if I'm in the garden that means it must be play time :rolleyes: