How To React When Your Dog Poops in House
If your dog has been good with his house training up until now, it can come as a surprise when he poops in the house. So what is the best way to deal with it and how can you make sure they don't do it again?
Don't Get Angry At Your Dog
Your initial response to the situation might be to get angry and tell your dog off, or punish them some how, but this won't help stop it happening again even though the thought of having to clear it up may make you feel justified.
Strangely, getting angry with your dog at the situation could have the opposite effect and make it more likely that some dogs will do it again.
I've heard some owners say that their dog has pooped in the house intentionally because they have been left alone and while there may be some truth in that, it won't be for reasons or spite or revenge, as they imagine. Your dog will have a good reason for doing what they've done, so lets look into some of them.
House Training Problems
If you've got a puppy, the answer could be very simple - they just haven't got the hang of the house training yet. For instance, if a puppy has pooped in their crate when you come down in the morning they most likely couldn't manage the whole night.
If being young is the problem, take them out during the day more regularly and ideally within 20 minutes of them eating, and try getting up a little earlier to let them out in the mornings until they've developed a little more.
If your dog poops in their crate and you don't think it is because of a timing issue, it is possible that they have other problems such as suffering from separation anxiety as dogs rarely poop or urinate in a small area that they also have to be in.
At the other end of the age scale, as dogs get older they can also become less able to last a long time between toileting and may even become incontinent. The way to deal with this is to watch them more closely and let them out more often. However, if you're concerned, it would be worth a visit to the vet as it could be a health related problem.
What Your Dog Eats
If your dog's suffering from diarrhoea it could be a result of the food they have eaten, exposure to toxins, or parasites. If it doesn't clear up quickly or if there are signs of blood in the poop, you should get it checked out with your vet.
However, once the diet related or health driven reasons have been cleared up, the dog should not continue to poop in the house. If they do, there is another problem there to deal with.
Look closely at your dogs diet. Have you made any changes recently, like changing the brand of food you give them? It can take their systems a few days to adjust to new food and vets often advise changing the food you give overtime, mixing the new in with the old to start and gradually increasing the proportion of the new food.
If your dogs diet is the same as usual, you could try cutting out any extra food they might get, like the things the kids might feed them under the table, or treats, and restrict them to a basic and bland diet to see if it helps. For a sensitive dog, hypo-allergenic food might be the answer you're looking for.
Change in Your Dogs Life
If you've now ruled out health, diet and toilet training as the reason for your dog pooping in the house, try looking at your circumstances.
Has anything significant altered in the dogs life? For instance, are there changes in the people or animals around them? Have you had a baby, moved in with a partner, your son gone off to university, or got a new dog? Have you change your location, or renovated your house? Does everything look different or smell different?
There are many changes that can affect a dog and pooping in the house can be a reaction to being unsettled by the change. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time for them to adapt. Be patient, clear up without making any fuss and the situation may sort itself out with time. Sadly, that may not be the case with an anxious dog.
Dog Anxiety
Dog separation anxiety can be started when things in your dogs life change that they don't know how to deal with and while a dog pooping in the house is one of the symptoms of anxiety, the reasons behind it may not be what you think.
To understand why they do it we need to look at a dogs natural instincts. In the wild their poop is used in three ways; as a way of scent marking their territory, as a warning to others to keep away and as a way of finding the pack den (remember that a dog sense of smell is up to 200 times better than our own).
So a dog pooping in the house could simply be using their instincts and leaving you a scent trail whenever you go out, so that you can find you way back home to the den. The only problem is that our sense of smell is not as good as theirs and we're not going to notice it until we walk in the door!
Separation anxiety in dogs is a result of them worrying where you have gone and not knowing when you will be back. Usually, they have assumed that they are pack leader which automatically makes them responsible for you and they know that they can't keep you safe while you're out. So they do the very best they can in the circumstances.
If you think your dog could be suffering from separation anxiety, the way to stop them from pooping in the house is to take away their feelings of being responsible for you. Learn how to show your dog that your are the Alpha and they should relax, knowing they have nothing to worry about.
Don't Get Angry At Your Dog
Your initial response to the situation might be to get angry and tell your dog off, or punish them some how, but this won't help stop it happening again even though the thought of having to clear it up may make you feel justified.
Strangely, getting angry with your dog at the situation could have the opposite effect and make it more likely that some dogs will do it again.
I've heard some owners say that their dog has pooped in the house intentionally because they have been left alone and while there may be some truth in that, it won't be for reasons or spite or revenge, as they imagine. Your dog will have a good reason for doing what they've done, so lets look into some of them.
House Training Problems
If you've got a puppy, the answer could be very simple - they just haven't got the hang of the house training yet. For instance, if a puppy has pooped in their crate when you come down in the morning they most likely couldn't manage the whole night.
If being young is the problem, take them out during the day more regularly and ideally within 20 minutes of them eating, and try getting up a little earlier to let them out in the mornings until they've developed a little more.
If your dog poops in their crate and you don't think it is because of a timing issue, it is possible that they have other problems such as suffering from separation anxiety as dogs rarely poop or urinate in a small area that they also have to be in.
At the other end of the age scale, as dogs get older they can also become less able to last a long time between toileting and may even become incontinent. The way to deal with this is to watch them more closely and let them out more often. However, if you're concerned, it would be worth a visit to the vet as it could be a health related problem.
What Your Dog Eats
If your dog's suffering from diarrhoea it could be a result of the food they have eaten, exposure to toxins, or parasites. If it doesn't clear up quickly or if there are signs of blood in the poop, you should get it checked out with your vet.
However, once the diet related or health driven reasons have been cleared up, the dog should not continue to poop in the house. If they do, there is another problem there to deal with.
Look closely at your dogs diet. Have you made any changes recently, like changing the brand of food you give them? It can take their systems a few days to adjust to new food and vets often advise changing the food you give overtime, mixing the new in with the old to start and gradually increasing the proportion of the new food.
If your dogs diet is the same as usual, you could try cutting out any extra food they might get, like the things the kids might feed them under the table, or treats, and restrict them to a basic and bland diet to see if it helps. For a sensitive dog, hypo-allergenic food might be the answer you're looking for.
Change in Your Dogs Life
If you've now ruled out health, diet and toilet training as the reason for your dog pooping in the house, try looking at your circumstances.
Has anything significant altered in the dogs life? For instance, are there changes in the people or animals around them? Have you had a baby, moved in with a partner, your son gone off to university, or got a new dog? Have you change your location, or renovated your house? Does everything look different or smell different?
There are many changes that can affect a dog and pooping in the house can be a reaction to being unsettled by the change. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time for them to adapt. Be patient, clear up without making any fuss and the situation may sort itself out with time. Sadly, that may not be the case with an anxious dog.
Dog Anxiety
Dog separation anxiety can be started when things in your dogs life change that they don't know how to deal with and while a dog pooping in the house is one of the symptoms of anxiety, the reasons behind it may not be what you think.
To understand why they do it we need to look at a dogs natural instincts. In the wild their poop is used in three ways; as a way of scent marking their territory, as a warning to others to keep away and as a way of finding the pack den (remember that a dog sense of smell is up to 200 times better than our own).
So a dog pooping in the house could simply be using their instincts and leaving you a scent trail whenever you go out, so that you can find you way back home to the den. The only problem is that our sense of smell is not as good as theirs and we're not going to notice it until we walk in the door!
Separation anxiety in dogs is a result of them worrying where you have gone and not knowing when you will be back. Usually, they have assumed that they are pack leader which automatically makes them responsible for you and they know that they can't keep you safe while you're out. So they do the very best they can in the circumstances.
If you think your dog could be suffering from separation anxiety, the way to stop them from pooping in the house is to take away their feelings of being responsible for you. Learn how to show your dog that your are the Alpha and they should relax, knowing they have nothing to worry about.
About the Author:
If you would like to discover more about Dog Anxiety we've created a useful, free report to help you identify the symptoms of anxiety in your dog, because when a dog poops in house, it could simply be the start of anxiety problems, so catch it and stop it fast.
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