Sneak & "Poo"

[Deb1]

I have a little sneak on my hands! I have discovered that Teeka "poos" behind my couch! I can't seem to catch her in the act so how do I put a stop to this behavior? Good thing I have laminate floors!!!!

[AngelFae]

I know that it goes against popular belief but I didn't let Blazer get away with any of his accidents like that. He would sneak downstairs to poop sometimes so any time he went down there I went after him. If he pooped I brought him to it and told him "NO! BAD!" then brought him outside right away and praised him for any potty he did out there. I don't care if the poop I found was rock hard and old, he knows the scent of his own poop, he knows it's is his and now he knows that pooping in the house isn't acceptable. I also managed to catch him in the act a couple of times so would tell him no as I brought him outside to poop then praised the heck out of him.

Good luck!

[cindersellie]

I had to start telling Cinders no, then take her right to where she should go, and praise her when she did go in the right spot. I also used a smell eliminator where she went, after I cleaned it. That helped.

[ritapatt]

My son wedged empty folded cereal boxes between the wall and back of the couch so Ziva couldn't go back there and do naughty things. (empty tissue boxes work too)

[KendraE]

We had a sneaky couch pooper too...and did not know which of the 4 did it...we would show all 4 the "find"and tell them ALL no!!! About 2 months of couch pooping finally came to an end! STILL HAVE NO CLUE WHO THE CULPRIT WAS!! lol

[R_Z]

These dogs are smart. They understand the word NO. Bailey occasionally will pee on the carpet. When we call him upstairs to show him, he won't come up. He knows. So we bring him, show him and say NO. Then we go outside.

[AngelFae]

Originally Posted by R_Z

These dogs are smart. They understand the word NO. Bailey occasionally will pee on the carpet. When we call him upstairs to show him, he won't come up. He knows. So we bring him, show him and say NO. Then we go outside.

Yes, the sneaky "I did something bad" behavior! Dead giveaway EVERY time!!!!!! And to think that some people actually think that dogs don't really know when they've done wrong!

[Marhcarter]

I know when I'm gonna find something before I ever find it because of the slinking, guilty appearing furball that I see 1st. They know...

[Rachael1983]

Troy will tell on himself. If he does something like this, he will go in his crate and won't come out.

[Deb1]

Haha.....that's funny!

[Deb1]

I am home all day so she must do it when I am busy. She does get let out frequently through out the day and is given plenty of time to do her duty outside. She will go to the door when she has to potty and she does poo outside at least 2-3 time a day. I just can't see how she can poo that much! She is 6 months.......such a little stinker.....a smart, stubborn little stinker at that!

[kjc]

Just want to add: If you're trying to build confidence in a dog or working with an abused rescue, sometimes reprimanding them is too much for them and the behavior could get worse. In that case, I would suggest walking the dog outside until he/she poops or keep the dog in it's padded area til the deed is done and praise and reward.

When I first got Sapphire as a 2 year old, she would pee close to the pad, or sometimes on it, but was clueless. If I interupted her, she would do the cutest ever head tilt with the 'Oh yes Mommie, you want me?' look that just destroyed me every time. There was no way I could say 'no' and be stern to that innocent, clueless face. Plus she was quick, I never caught her in the act on the pad to reward her.

So I tried teaching her the phrase 'Go potty' first, and I happened to catch her 'going' on the rug, so I started there.... real quick I said 'Go Potty' and gave her a treat. This actually got her out of hiding so she was no longer fearful of 'doing the deed' in front of me, and then I was able to catch her 'going' on the pad. I raised the praise up about 10 notches and gave her a treat for hitting the pad, and after 2-3 times I saw the 'lightbulb' go on in her head, and I knew she understood what is was that I wanted her to do.

Some Yorkies are so smart when you tell them 'No' to pottying, they think that 'pottying' anywhere is bad, so they continue to hide it. They may not understand that you mean 'No potty here'. And some like attention so much, they'll take 'bad' attention along with the good attention they get when they do something right. In those cases, it's important to just ignore their mispotties, clean it up and move on, and only 'praise' the good behaviors.

[AngelFae]

Originally Posted by kjc

Just want to add: If you're trying to build confidence in a dog or working with an abused rescue, sometimes reprimanding them is too much for them and the behavior could get worse. In that case, I would suggest walking the dog outside until he/she poops or keep the dog in it's padded area til the deed is done and praise and reward.

When I first got Sapphire as a 2 year old, she would pee close to the pad, or sometimes on it, but was clueless. If I interupted her, she would do the cutest ever head tilt with the 'Oh yes Mommie, you want me?' look that just destroyed me every time. There was no way I could say 'no' and be stern to that innocent, clueless face. Plus she was quick, I never caught her in the act on the pad to reward her.

So I tried teaching her the phrase 'Go potty' first, and I happened to catch her 'going' on the rug, so I started there.... real quick I said 'Go Potty' and gave her a treat. This actually got her out of hiding so she was no longer fearful of 'doing the deed' in front of me, and then I was able to catch her 'going' on the pad. I raised the praise up about 10 notches and gave her a treat for hitting the pad, and after 2-3 times I saw the 'lightbulb' go on in her head, and I knew she understood what is was that I wanted her to do.

Some Yorkies are so smart when you tell them 'No' to pottying, they think that 'pottying' anywhere is bad, so they continue to hide it. They may not understand that you mean 'No potty here'. And some like attention so much, they'll take 'bad' attention along with the good attention they get when they do something right. In those cases, it's important to just ignore their mispotties, clean it up and move on, and only 'praise' the good behaviors.

I totally agree with this! Basically, with training of any sort it comes down to YOU knowing your dog. You need to try a few things to find out what works for you with their personality. What works for some dogs won't work at all for others (same goes for owners, LOL!) That's what I love about this site- people aren't scared to share the different techniques that they use. There is no one "right" way to do things and if one thing doesn't work for you there are always more options to try. =)

[Deb1]

I think going the positive route is best at this point in time. If she is hiding to do her poo, then she probably knows I will be upset if I see her pooing in the house. The thing is she does poo outside 2-3 times a day. She must have to go more often than that or is not going completely. I have always praised her right from the beginning and verbally tell her "go potty"! She does not potty on the floor for a while, just the poo. Thanks everyone for the input!

[kjc]

Originally Posted by Deb1

I think going the positive route is best at this point in time. If she is hiding to do her poo, then she probably knows I will be upset if I see her pooing in the house. The thing is she does poo outside 2-3 times a day. She must have to go more often than that or is not going completely. I have always praised her right from the beginning and verbally tell her "go potty"! She does not potty on the floor for a while, just the poo. Thanks everyone for the input!

My Peek a Boo also would pee outside then come in and poop. I watched him for weeks. Finally I noticed, after he peed, he would get too distracted to poop, then when he came back in, anywhere from 5-15 minutes later... he'd remember he needed to poop and would poop in the house. He was 5 years old at the time.

What worked for him, was that I needed to stop being upset with him, for starters. Then I would watch him like a hawk and when it was time, I just let him back outside to finish his business.

It wasn't long before he started going to the door a second time on his own. I thought what a pain in the butt, but then I wasn't doing anything anyway so I just incorporated the 2nd time out as part of his routine. A bit after that he began to stay out long enough to finish all his business in one fell swoop.

Now he poops outside, but it sticks to his hair till he gets back in the house and it drops off on the floor, lol!