Angry poop?
 

Hi everyone, this is my first post and I wanted to thank everyone in advance for a great forum. My wife and I adopted a 6 year old yorkie named Sissy last november. We love her so much and she has really brightened our lives. We both work and we have to leave her at home from about 8:30 am to 5pm. We have her on a schedule to go potty outside. 1 and 2 in the morning, 1 and 2 when we get home, and 1 at night before bed. She really hates being left alone and she has pooped and peed in the house before but she pooped on our bed for the first time since we've had her. My side. My wife was really hurt by this because Sissy knows better. We hadn't noticed until it was time for bed and it seems like she had forgotten that she had done that. As soon as she noticed us discovering our little "prize" she ran downstairs to her pillow on the couch and won't come back up. The little stinker knows she did wrong and we don't even have to say anything to her. We don't want to be mean to her but we have to draw the line, we want to discourage that. Sissy is the sweetest dog ever but i can't help but feel that she turns into Miss Hyde when we're not around. She is really smart, maybe too smart for her own good sometimes. She thinks shes the boss of us. Obviously she wants us around all day long so she has a lap to sit on but we can't do that. Any suggestions?

I just wrote in about my yorkie pooing on my couch when not given immediate attention.........Im at my wits end about this. I hope we both get some good advice.

My only suggestion is if you can afford to find her a pal. That may stop her from being so lonely during the day. If that is not possible, can you keep her confined to a smaller area and put a pee pad down in case she can't hold it. I hope you get some good suggestions.

I agree with Patti, confine Sassy to a single room or smaller area in the home with a piddle pad. Eight hours is a long time during the day for a Yorkie to go without a potty break.

sounds like stress incontinence. so the vet told me.

If it was urine, I might agree it is medical...stool is another thing.

I would confine her as suggested...I have over the years encountered this problem...some stopped with a change of situation...gating the "poop" room...they never did it again because the room was off limits...a couple never improved...
Right now..I have two friends who have healthy Yorkies wetting on their beds...nothing has worked so far..so they are not allowed in the bedroom...
Best wishes...let me know if you find a permenant solution.

I agree, confine her to a smaller area. I've experienced angry poop from Uni before. I do believe they know exactly what they are doing. I also believe that you don't need to catch them in the act of peeing or pooping to correct them. They know it's theirs, they know the smell. Plus there's no one else there. When we were training Uni, if we were to find a new spot, we'd take her back there, and we wouldn't even have to make her smell it, you can tell by the head and ear position that she was cowering a bit, and scared. A firm no, and bring her to the place where she is supposed to go.

You said you got her as an adult right? Perhaps she is still getting used to her surroundings? Give it some time, no dog will be 100% accident free in a new environment.

BTW, I see you are from DB, I grew up there. My dad still lives there, near the LA fitness on Golden Springs, closer to Rowland Hgts side. :) Have you ever been to the sushi place next to the Papa Johns by Ralphs I think at Grand and DB Blvd? That is my favorite sushi place in the world!

BF's d did it, she defined the derogatory usage of the term bitch...if we closed the bed room door leaving her out she'd poop right in front the door! She also dug my running shoes out of the sport shoes basket in our bathroom to pee on...only female (yes spayed) I knew personally that marked...
We had to kennel her then we forgot and she just didn't do it again...adjusted perhaps.
Until a friend stayed in our guest room while in town..she pooped in front of the door there too.

Congrats on your new little girl. Sounds like she has your heart completely! Thank you for taking her in ♥
I agree with the ladies above, is she allowed the run of the house when you are gone? I would try confining her to one room, with a potty pad in the corner so if she has to go she can. It is a long time to have to wait 8 hours, not that some can't do that.

Katie marks(spayed), holds her pee on walks to "spread it out" LOL. And Uni marked on her very first bully stick I ever gave her. I guess she didn't want anyone else to take it. But she wasn't spayed yet at the time.

Here's what I've been told: Small dogs are hard to housebreak because they are so small. Even a small apartment is so big to a Yorkie they can just run to the other side of the room and to them it's a whole nother part of the house, which makes it a perfect place for a bathroom. Also, dogs do not pee and poop out of anger towards you. Finally, scolding a dog after the fact doesn't work. After about 10 seconds the dog has no idea what you are scolding him for.

I would put down some pee pads, like I do for Ruger, and he does find them when he has to go. We still have a few accidents now and then, but I think that's part of owning a dog.

I don't agree with what I've bolded above. When we were training Uni, and then with Chuy, and then with Katie, if I found a spot and didn't know whose it was, I would bring each dog to the spot. If it was theirs, they would try to push away, ears down. If it wasn't, then they were really interested in the smell, nose really close, sniffing away, just like when they smell other dogs pee on a walk or in the park. Uni is even known to tattle on the others if she were to find a spot before I did.

A friend's dog came to visit and when around back the shop and peed. I took each one of the dogs to the spot, and wouldn't you know it, the one who did it tried to push away. The ones who didn't were very interested.

It looks like what you are saying here is that she has 3 potty breaks a day. Is this correct ? if so that's not enough. I agree with others that she needs to be confined to a smaller space With Piddle Pads so she can relieve herself when she needs to. Going that long without a potty break will most likely eventually lead to a urinary tract infection. By the way Welcome to YT:)

I would agree with this for sure. And to add to it, scolding a dog at all, is less effective or completely non-effective, than "correcting" his/her behavior. If you are scolding them for going potty (they can't really differentiate between that you're scolding for the "spot" they went potty vs for the "act" of going potty). Most times, out of fear of being scolded again, they will just find another spot, not a great way to train.
Imo, the best way to get it across, is either catch them in the act and immediately make a loud disruptive "noise" (not yelling) and then take them to the "correct" spot and praise after. Or, be so dilligent in watching them and never allowing them the opportunity to make a mistake, (by watching for their signals, teaching bell training, taking them out often enough, etc, that eventually it clicks and they are house trained :-)
I would also agree that they are not pottying or peeing out of anger or spite.
I don't think whether a dog is large or small makes them more or less difficult to train, jmo. I think it is in how we train them more than their ability to get it correct :)

Original poster, how is it going?

I agree completely!! Ask any reputable trainer or breeder and they will tell you the same thing! The idea is to keep them confined to an area that is easily cleaned and keep them on a schedule. If this baby was adopted at an older age she is probably still traumatized and wondering if you truly are her furever parents! Love, patience, consistency and schedule. We NEVER scold Teddi. After all it is only carpet or bedding or flooring or the couch. These are things. Teddi is our family. Things can be replaced and cleaned ~ Teddi can't. We just say in a kind voice "That's ok honey." and move on. He's been with us four months and he is already asking to go out to potty.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your precious little one! ♥

ps ~ Remember too that each pup is different and to try different solutions. These sensitive little guys really don't do things out of anger...just fear or anxiety sometimes. ♥

For those who do not believe in certain cases dogs do not poop or pee "in spite" or "anger" let me introduce you to one...it is marking...not to be confused with potty accidents though. Unfortunately many people think of a lack of potty training or potty accidents are anger or spite pottying-they are wrong as well.

Happy Easter and thank you.
 

Hi Everyone thank you for all your advice on Sissy. Just a little update. Sissy had to sleep on the couch the day she pooped on our bed. Every time we would hear her little footsteps we would say no and she would go back to the couch. She has not pooped in the house since. It has been over a month now and we think she got the message with just that one time. I would like to log on more often but my schedule does not allow it. Thanks again to everyone for sharing their experiences and yorkie wisdom.;)

Hi Sorry i did not respond sooner I don't log in too often but the sushi place I go to is called Yoko Yoko. It's right by the Albertson's on the same intersection. I have not tried the place by the Ralph's but I think I'll take your suggestion, I just pointed it out to my wife the other day. Thanks.

How wonderful of you to adopt that little girl. Mine is six, too. I'm glad everything is going so well.:)

Nothing to add....I just had to see what an angry poop was. :D

HAHAHAHA!! lmbo!

I know the OP has this problem resolved, but just to throw something out there - I DO think some dogs will potty in a certain area for some "reason" sometimes. When my son was born, our Beagle (who had been 110% housebroken since 4 months old) started pooping around the baby's crib when we weren't home. There's no way anyone is going to tell me it wasn't on purpose because of the baby, idk if she was nervous about it, or trying to mark a territory either out of jelously or protection, but dogs definatly will poop or pee in certain places out of some sort of stress (maybe not "anger", but something). I did something similar to what the OP did that worked also, we got a kennel:). Darla had NEVER been kenneled in her life and after one day spending 4 hours in there while we were gone, she never pooped by the crib (or anywhere else in the house) ever again and never needed to be kenneled again. We also would take her over to her "present" that she'd leave us and firmly tell her "NO". (mind you, this was a well housebroken 5 yr. old dog). I think potty "accidents" are a completely different story than deliberate pooping or peeing on an owner's bed, couch, or belongings and do need to be addressed differently;)