Puppy won't poop outside


jake1133

New Member
New 8 week old dachshund. Have had her for 4 days now.

Most people say a dog will potty 5 to 30 minutes after eating. Not my dog, she will wait hours sometimes. When I take her outside she seems to distracted to potty.

This morning for example, I caught her just about to poop on the floor, so I picked her up and took her outside to the potty area. I stood there for 30 minutes with her on leash, but all she did was sniff around and play. That was 3 hours ago and 2 trips outside, still no poop.

When she woke up this morning she did go pee outside, but now after eating and drinking, nothing.

I thought that maybe I had to get her more tired first when we go outside, so we walked for about 45 minutes, she was tired, but wouldn't potty, brought her in and now she is sleeping.

So pee happens randomly, but not normal times like after eating, so hard to predict. Poop outside has never happened. She has pooped in her very small crate. When I catch her about to poop in the house and take her out, she won't go.

What am I doing wrong? Any help?
 

jake1133

New Member
Another example:

I caught her just starting to pee in the kitchen, just a little came out and she hadn't peed in hours and had water to drink so I know she needed to pee much more.

I picked her up and took her to the potty area outside, and all she did for 30 minutes was sniff around eat a little grass, lay down and roll around, play. I just brought her back in and now she is napping.

It's almost as if she is content to pee in little dribs and drabs in the house rather than go potty outside.

Also it's about 4 hours post breakfast and still no poop, even though i did catch her trying to start and took her out, but then nothing.

The breeder was using potty pads, but said she wasn't consistent in using them. So I am putting a potty pad in the bathroom area, but that doesn't seem to help any.
 

Nell

Member
Toilet Training

Hi Jake your puppy is still very young at eight weeks so no doubt you will need a lot of patience. On the positive it does seem like your puppy does have some control if she can hang on for such a long time. You said you took her out on the lead do you have an exercise area where she can play off lead, I know it sounds a bit funny but she may be "shy" and if she has been scolded for accidents in doors she may not want to go when she is so close to you? The other good things to try in doors are the puppy pads, if you can box off an area at home just large enough for her crate and a puppy pad outside then I am sure she will vacate the crate and use the pad. This would be a good start because if they get used to soiling in the crate it can be a hard habit to break. If you can find somewhere to just chill outside with your puppy I am sure this will help her relax, 45mins walk is an awful lot for an 8 week puppy, and don't forget to give her loads of praise when she does go outside. Good luck, and enjoy her as a baby, it goes too fast.
 

jake1133

New Member
Thanks for your advice, I really appreciate it. Here are two things I'm thinking of trying, which do you and others think is the best way to go.

I have a large wire crate, so I was thinking of putting potty pads in it and keeping it by the door. Since she has some experience with potty pads, I'm thinking that when it's time to go potty I can just go close her in the potty place and maybe get her tried there and the better she is then move the crate outside. So once it's going well, then itstead of putting her right in the potty crate, I will pick her up and the crate and take the crate in the garage, and then put her in it. Then after that goes well, start moving the crate to the outside potty area.
So Kind of complicated, but one idea.

The other idea is to get a small play pen, and put that in the potty area, that way if she is "shy", then she can be there off leash until she goes.
 

jake1133

New Member
Here is what just happened:

Since there hasn't been time for feedback here is what I did. I put the "potty crate" with a potty pad in it by the door we use to go outside to potty area. I put her in the crate and she immediately went pee and poop. So lots of praise and treats followed.

So should I keep with that plan since she is very willing to go there, or is the playpen outside a better idea?
 

Nell

Member
Hi Jake, sounds like you are making good progress, she is obviously happy to go on the puppy pad and that is excellent! I am a bit concerned that she will continue to associate the crate with toileting and not end up clean in her crate! I think I would try putting the puppy pads in the playpen outside and take put her in when you think she will need to go. The reward should be instant, when mine was a puppy I kept putting her on the pad and saying "go wee" she now wees to order when she is told! as soon as she did a wee I picked her up and made a big fuss and went back in the house with her. If you do put her in the puppy pen lift her out as soon as she goes and that will be the reward, keep trying I am sure things will work out.
 
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jake1133

New Member
The potty crate is a totally different crate than the one she sleeps in.

So are you thinking it just being a crate she will also associate that with the crate she sleeps in?
 

Nell

Member
Maybe?? I wouldn't take the chance, she needs to learn to go outside so I would go with the puppy pen. But there are often no right or wrong answers, every pup is different, I am hoping it was the puppy pad that enticed her and not the pen??
 

jake1133

New Member
Ok here is the next update.

I got the play pen set up outside in the bathroom area. So far she has gone pee 2 times. I guess she needed to be off the leash to do her things. Still no poop outside yet though.
She is definitely not a dog that goes 5 to 30 minutes after she eats. More like 1 to 2 hours for pee and many hours for poop. I think that is probably because she doesn't eat or drink very much. She is eating and drinking, but eats less than 1/4 cup more like a tablespoon or two at a time. She seems very happy and energetic, so I'm guessing she is eating enough. But that small amount is probably why she doesn't go to the bathroom consistently.
 

jake1133

New Member
Another question.

Since you are supposed to praise the puppy after they potty, how do you know if it only has to pee or poop to? If I praise after it pees, then it will get excited and not be focused on pooping. However if I don't praise when it pees, then I miss that chance at positive reinforcement.

I'm wondering if my praise when the puppy pees is getting in the way of it pooping and maybe that is why it pooped in its crate?
 

Nell

Member
Food - your pup is only eight weeks so should be on 4 meals a day if she is a small dachshund then a 1/4 of a cup is probably about right, she only has a tiny tummy. My puppy only went poop about two / three a day and needed to wee about every two hours, You will get to recognise the signs when she needs to poop she will run around sniffing for the right place. She wont poop and pee at exactly the same time so its really important to praise her for the wee, she did really well! I would take her out about every couple of hours tell her to go wee, then stretch it a little bit longer up to three hours and see how she goes. If she does poop in the crate again you will really need to scrub it well as she will go where the smell is.
 

jake1133

New Member
I really appreciate all your help.

Another update, she finally went poop outside. It was 2 hours after dinner. So I'm feeling better about everything. She will now pee and poop outside, so that is good.

She peed first and I gave a small praise and about 5 minutes later she pooped so she got a big praise and a treat.

Now I just have to be consistent taking her out.

How long is it until she will start going to the door and asking to go out?
 

sherlock

New Member
Hey guys, jumping in on your thread here :)

It's good you finally got her to poop outside! And yes, remember to be consistent. As for asking...every dog is different, of course. Watson wasn't *fully* trained until he was about a year old...he got it for a while around 9 months-ish and then regressed. When he finally got it down, he still wouldn't always ask, and I just had to keep an eye on him and how long it had been since he went out (he has a pretty regular schedule...something we like to call "kibbles in, kibbles out", aka he poops not long after eating.)

A few months after his first birthday though, I noticed he would ask to go out, or I would say "do you need to go outside/potty?" and he would run to the door.
 

jake1133

New Member
Ok, now a new problem to solve.

She keeps pooping in her crate at night. The crate she used last night was brand new, just bought it. It is very small, just big enough for her to turn and lay down, so there isn't a bathroom area, it's not big enough. If she poops and pees she basically has to lay in it.

She is going potty outside. I take her out every 2 or 3 hours during the day. Yesterday her last meal was at 4pm and her last drink was at 7pm and she went to bed at 10pm. She went pee several different times before bed and went poop about 2 hours after she had dinner.

At night I'm taking her out to potty every 2 or 3 hours. I feel like I'm doing the right things, so I don't understand how to get her to stop.

Any ideas?
 

jake1133

New Member
What about this idea? I have this crate that has a divider with a hole in it. So it is designed to set up a small bed area and then the other side is the potty area with a potty pad. So I could use that as its night time crate, and then do regular outside potty training during the day, so it still learns to go outside.

Would that be an option, or would it just confuse the dog so that it would slow down learning to potty outside?
 

Nell

Member
That sounds like a really good option, if a puppy can get off her bed to mess she will. This will reinforce the habit of going on the puppy pad and not her bed. Its really good she went outside at least things are going in the right direction! You didn't say what she is like is she a short haired, long haired or a wire and what colour is she?
 

jake1133

New Member
Great i'll give it a try tonight. I also think part of the problem is that sometimes I just not waiting long enough for her to poop. She is definitely not a dog that gets down to business. she will pee right away, but poop might be 15 minutes later.

She is a really sweet cream colored short hair. Very cuddly.
 

Nell

Member
She sounds lovely! good luck tonight and I bet you come down in the morning to a dry bed if she can get onto the pad! patience sounds like the key. Good luck.
 

jake1133

New Member
Just an update.

We used the crate with the potty area in it last night. She did really well. I was able to get her to poop outside after her dinner and she peed many times before bed. We went to bed at 10pm, she slept until 4am. She started whinning and I wasn't sure if she was just ready to play or needed to go out. I looked and her potty area was clean so I thought maybe she needed to potty and wanted to do it outside.

So I took her out and she peed and pooped. I brought her back in to her crate, she whined for about 15 mins or so then slept for about 30 more mins, and then seemed like she was just done with the crate, so we decided to get up and start our day a little after 5am.

So I'm really happy with how things are going. Definitely headed in the right direction. Thanks for everyone's help.
 

Nell

Member
I am so pleased for you. My pup used to wake about 3-4am for a wee etc, I came down let her out then put her straight back to bed. I didn't talk to her at all as I didn't want her to think night time was play time. It worked really well, she soon went through the night and now at six months I have to wake her at 7a.m some mornings! hope you get a good night tonight, but remember it does take time and patience so don't loose hope if she regresses a bit, hang in there.
 
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