House trained Dog Going potty inside?!

arynras

Okay so my dog has been house trained for a good while now. He recently started pooping in the house again, and I have no idea why! His stool is solid so it's not like he has an upset stomach and can't hold it. The only things I can think of are 1) because I'm pregnant? 2) I just went back to work after having the summer off (but my boyfriend is home with him so separation anxiety shouldn't really be a problem). 3) I started taking him for walks every day during the summer and now that I'm back at work I haven't been able to because of my hours. When I would be able to, it's too hot outside. However, when I researched his breed everything I read said they are good apartment dogs because they don't need walks every day and are fine with 20-30 min of play time (he is a maltipoo). I walk him when I can but when I can't we play fetch or tug of war or run around the house for 20-30 min.

Have any of you had this problem with your pets? How can I fix it? He was completely potty trained, and I just don't get why he all of a sudden is going inside again! And only poop. He still pees outside.

Hazel622

I would take him to the vet just to rule out any medical reasons. I hope he is OK and that you find a quick solution to your problem.

arynras

I really don't have extra money to take him to the vet right now. The doctors bills are killing me financially and leaving me no wiggle room for extra things. He isn't acting sick and his stool is solid. He is still acting like his happy go lucky self.

mandapec

My dog was potty trained basically my entire pregnancy, as soon as I brought dd home she started pooping in the house. Mainly in my room and the babies room.

BankerBSN

Sounds like he was going out a whole lot more before. I would have the stay at home boyfriend take him on walks.

JulieSC81

He probably needs to keep going for his walks. Have SO do it if you cant. Thoroughly clean the area with special odor eliminator products made for this. You can go back to basic puppy housebreaking routines...taking him out when he wakes up, before bed, after he eats, and after he plays. It SOUNDS like it is based off of his routine changing with you stopping the walks and going back to work. Did you change his food? Was another dig or visitor in the home? He may have seperation anxiety from missing YOU. If he is used to pooping on walks, then your other exercise alternatives arent solving the pooping problem. If its hot, do a shorter walk or have SO do it. Make sure you catch your dog in the act of pooping and discipline him. If he is doing it when no one is home, you might have to crate train. If someone is home, keep an eye on him (keep him in the same room as you). Basically, re-house train and go back to routines. Lots of praise when he poops outside. I contacted a professional as my dog was doing the same thing with pee. This is the advice i was given. Keep an eye on him and nip it in the bud asap. My dog is fine now. It took a few weeks.

JulieSC81

P.S: my dog was only peeing in my son's playroom. We put a baby gate up to keep the dog out while we re-trained. My dog's routine had been changed too.

CandEChicago

It's do to you not being there and your BY not taking him out for as many walks as the fog got used to. Great advice above about taking 15 minutes or so when it is cooler out side for the morning and evening stroll.

Call the vet. Let them know about the changes to the environment (you) and the routine (reduced walks) so they have it as part of the dogs medical record. If it continues after you have made adjustments then probably want to get the dig in.

Just remember dogs are creatures of habit and you just changed two things up.

arynras

amw0914 said:

If you can't take him to the vet I would rec. calling them and asking them the question. It could be a number of things. It could be behavioral since you went back to work. If it is him having to get used to holding it a crate would not be a bad idea.

He is kennel trained. When we are both gone he goes to his kennel and does fine, but he has been going potty inside when we are home and just go in the other room for a minute or something. If we are home we don't want to put him in his kennel if he doesn't have to be in there.

arynras

BankerBSN said:

Sounds like he was going out a whole lot more before. I would have the stay at home boyfriend take him on walks.

He won't take him because when he goes for walks he goes for 3 miles and runs some. And he goes mid-day when it's really hot. My dog can't handle the heat for that long. We are in south texas...it's been getting up to the 100-teens. He's about to start working again too so that wouldn't work anyways.

arynras

twolittledogs said:

Dogs aren't vindictive. He's getting less attention than he was. Have bf do the walks or take him early in the morning or late at night once it cools off. Grab a book on behavior from the library.

I get up at 4am to leave at 6am for work. I don't have time to take him in the mornings. I usually take him around 7pm but by the time I get back and eat and shower it's 9:30/10 and I should already be in bed since I have to get up at 4 for work. That's why I've just been doing indoor play with him. When the time changes I'll be able to walk him after work again because the sun will go down sooner.

arynras

katehgee said:

I definitely recommend crate training him while he's alone, and when he's not alone someone needs to be watching for any signs that he's going to poop (sniffing, pacing, walking in a circle) and rushing him outside immediately.

Also, it's a bit concerning to me that a trip to the vet isn't in your budget. If your regular vet is very pricey, is there another less expensive option where you could bring him this time, or to keep in mind as a backup for the future? The shelter where we adopted our two dogs has a very low cost vet clinic on site where anyone can bring their pets for affordable veterinary care. Even if this particular issue is behavioral and not medical, you still owe it to your dog to provide him with medical care.

I normally can afford it but my doctors bill with the labor and delivery fee is about 400 a month so it's taking all my extra money away from me. And my bf just got laid off so that took half of our income away. In normal circumstances we can afford it but we are just struggling right now.

JulieSC81

Im sorry but there doesnt seem to be a reason why your SO cant take the dog for a 15 minute walk and THEN do his own run. When he returns to work, one of you will need to find the time if you want the problem solved. The issue seems to be the obvious that he needs to continue his walks...and that you need to keep the dog in the same room as you until you break the habit, whether you use a baby gate or long lead attached to you. You both need to figure out a time that the dog can go for his walks. If you cant, pay someone to do it at the same time each day.

arynras

I'll just take him for a shorter walk in the evening so I can try to get to bed on time still. I'll just cut the walk in half. And I'll make sure he stays in sight when we are home. I'll get him to the vet as soon as our financial situation gets better if it's still going on. Thanks for the advice everyone.

path75

It sounds like if you are only taking him out once a day, it is not enough but maybe I am misunderstanding. Do you take him out when he doesn't go for walks. You don't have to walk him to make sure he does his business outside. I have a pug and I can't always walk him but he definitely has to go out twice a day. Also, no offense but you have to find time for your pets. It will only get worse once the baby arrives so try and work out a plan now. Good luck to you.

MaineMama

I'm with all PPs on the walk issue, some how, some way, your dog needs a daily walk.

Another thing to consider is ***Gag alert!*** the dogs anal glands. My dog doesn't drag her butt when she needs them expressed, she has pooping issues instead. Its gross, but you can express them yourself at home.

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CandEChicago

How many walks a day does your dog get? They don't need to be formal walks. Ours gets at minimum 3 walks at 15 minute length. There are also times when we do a pee & flee to the corner and back in order to allow her to pee or poop.

arynras

path75 said:

It sounds like if you are only taking him out once a day, it is not enough but maybe I am misunderstanding. Do you take him out when he doesn't go for walks. You don't have to walk him to make sure he does his business outside. I have a pug and I can't always walk him but he definitely has to go out twice a day. Also, no offense but you have to find time for your pets. It will only get worse once the baby arrives so try and work out a plan now. Good luck to you.

I take him out when I get up in the morning and again before I leave for work. He goes out again midday and again when I come home from work, after he eats, and before bed. I do make time for him. I'm not walking him because of the heat. Not because I don't want to make time for him. I play with him inside for 20-30 min if I can't take him outside and he goes in the backyard any time he needs to.

arynras

Slaps said:

twolittledogs said:

If BF can go for runs, he can get out in the morning and take the dog around the block. I don't buy the excuses. The "lack of time" only gets worse when the baby comes.

I agree with this.
Does your bf not take the dog out because he doesn't want to be seen with a girly dog?
Why can he not take the dog before his run? Or in the evening for you if he is home?
My husband gets up at 4.30 for work, has his coffee, then takes our dogs out for a walk down the street before he goes to work.

He could. But like I said it doesn't matter at this point because he is about to go back to work so he won't be able to anyways and it will be up to me. Or both of us after work.

weezy29

I don't think a visit to the vet is necessary but some retraining in potty/behavior needs to happen.

It sounds like he is getting quite a bit less attention that he is used to. I would start by giving treats and lots of praise when he does go potty outside. Also, try bell training so that it's very obvious when he needs to go potty. Get a bell, hang on the door at his level and ring it every time you take him out for potty only, not walks. He will soon let you know when he needs to go, especially if he gets lots of praise afterwards.

I understand your busy schedule but your boyfriend is going to have to help a little. If you don't have time now, how are you going to find it after a baby is born? Dogs needs attention and quite a bit of it so you need to work it into your schedule now!!

arynras

Okay let me be clear. I don't live in an apartment, I live in a house. I just mentioned the apartment in the original post because it was information on the needs of his breed.

He gets let out to use the restroom any time he needs to when we are home. He usually goes to the door to tell us he needs to go. When we aren't home he goes in his kennel because he's kennel trained. He doesn't potty in his kennel. His accidents have been happening when we are home. He has stopped going to the door to let us know he needs to go.

I was walking him once a day for about 30 minutes until I started work again. I'm not ceasing to walk him because of lack of time. I'm not walking him because my work hours only allow for me to walk him during a really hot time of day and he cannot handle the heat (nor can I). Because I don't want to walk him in the heat, I play with him inside for the same amount of time so that he gets the attention and exercise.

We also let him out to potty at specific times of the day...after I wake up, after breakfast, before I leave for work, midday, when I get home, after dinner, and before bed. In addition, if we are home and he needs to go out we let him out.

The accidents are probably due to the change in routine like y'all said because he is used to me being home and now I am gone all day again. I'll keep working with him to get him back in routine. But please rest assured that I do not neglect my dog. He is our baby and is probably more spoiled than some children.

Eliz77

PPs have given you a lot of great suggestions. The only thing I can think of that I don't think I read-If he is leaving the room  to go poop while you are home, how about putting up baby gates and keeping him where you are so that you can monitor him better? As you and PPs have said-sounds like he may be having separation anxiety with you being gone, or is stressed by the change in his routine. Definitely sounds like you need to re-train house breaking habits, and implement a new routine that will now work with both of your schedules.

When your bf goes back to work, do you have a plan for the dog during the day? My H and I both work FT. I have a dog sitter, or my MIL, who comes to let our dogs out midday and spends 15 minutes playing with them. It's not the same as having someone around enough to replace you, but it helps. I don't have issues with in house accidents but I do keep them confide to two rooms and that seems to give them enough boundaries-much like you do with the kennel.

arynras

Eliz77 said:

PPs have given you a lot of great suggestions. The only thing I can think of that I don't think I read-If he is leaving the room  to go poop while you are home, how about putting up baby gates and keeping him where you are so that you can monitor him better? As you and PPs have said-sounds like he may be having separation anxiety with you being gone, or is stressed by the change in his routine. Definitely sounds like you need to re-train house breaking habits, and implement a new routine that will now work with both of your schedules.

When your bf goes back to work, do you have a plan for the dog during the day? My H and I both work FT. I have a dog sitter, or my MIL, who comes to let our dogs out midday and spends 15 minutes playing with them. It's not the same as having someone around enough to replace you, but it helps. I don't have issues with in house accidents but I do keep them confide to two rooms and that seems to give them enough boundaries-much like you do with the kennel.

He hops baby gates. We tried that when we first got him. But he usually stays with us because he doesn't like to be away from us when we are home. It's just been a few times that's he's wandered off to go poop somewhere recently. I'll just have to pay more attention when we are home. When we are both working my neighbor comes and lets him out midday. That's actually the routine he is used to when I work, so I think maybe my bf being home is throwing him off too.

Eliz77

A mati-poo that hops baby gates?? That's something! I have a Sheltie and an Aussie that are trained in Agility, so they know how to jump things but would never attempt the baby gates. LOL-I actually scared my dogs to not even try by propping baby gates against door ways. They are now much more afraid of the falling gates-even my cats won't jump them! My parents do the same and they have Border Collies and Boxers, so very easily could jump them! 

Good luck, I hope you can figure out a re-training method that works, and that a new routine will help deter this new habit.

arynras

Eliz77 said:

A mati-poo that hops baby gates?? That's something! I have a Sheltie and an Aussie that are trained in Agility, so they know how to jump things but would never attempt the baby gates. LOL-I actually scared my dogs to not even try by propping baby gates against door ways. They are now much more afraid of the falling gates-even my cats won't jump them! My parents do the same and they have Border Collies and Boxers, so very easily could jump them! 

Good luck, I hope you can figure out a re-training method that works, and that a new routine will help deter this new habit.

Lol well it's more like he hops onto them and then climbs them. But yeah, I'll get it figured out. Thanks

CandEChicago

arynras said:

Eliz77 said:

A mati-poo that hops baby gates?? That's something! I have a Sheltie and an Aussie that are trained in Agility, so they know how to jump things but would never attempt the baby gates. LOL-I actually scared my dogs to not even try by propping baby gates against door ways. They are now much more afraid of the falling gates-even my cats won't jump them! My parents do the same and they have Border Collies and Boxers, so very easily could jump them! 

Good luck, I hope you can figure out a re-training method that works, and that a new routine will help deter this new habit.

Lol well it's more like he hops onto them and then climbs them. But yeah, I'll get it figured out. Thanks

Sounds like baby might have a constant companion in it's room.

gmeyer1019

We were having the same problem with my pup when we moved back in with my parents. He learned some not so great habits from my parents dogs(who i swear are vindictive)such as going out to pee and coming right back in too poo. However I did get to nip that in the bud by taking him on walks(even though I love being able to just let him in to the back yard). I kind of force him to go outside lol so there's no more mess