Thank you for the guidance. We have been treating and praising, and will continue to do so.
Here are my latest thoughts based on his behavior -- it seems he needs a little bit of time to poop. I've never seen him go out and poop right away, as I mentioned outside poops are typically occur on a walk.
I suspect that at his previous home he was banished to the outdoors for extended periods of time. Of course this was over the summer months, and he had other dogs to play with.
When we got him he was very reluctant to go outdoors -- we suspect because he hates getting stuck outside, but then again just a guess. Over the last several weeks he has progressed to wanting to go out, but not for long unless 1) There are squirrels which need attention, or 2) We go out with him.
We are vigilant to let him back in when he wants to come in to overcome what we perceive to be his fear of being left outside for long period.
After sending him out to pee this morning he came right back inside. I then went out and walk around the yard and he was happy to follow, and pooped in short order (immense praise and treat given). So what it _seems_ we are dealing with is he hates to be apart from us long enough to go poop. |