Poop here not there

January 17, 2012 1:25 PM

I've seen questions on this before, but I have specific details that might make my question unique. My dog (a miniature poodle) has a doggy door and until 3 or 4 months ago we let her have unsupervised access to the backyard. Unfortunately, she decided she didn't like getting her feet wet by going on the grass and started going on the patio. At which point I launched operation supervised poop.

Operation supervised poop has gone pretty well. She understands that the patio is off limits when I'm watching and she pretty much goes on my command if she needs to go. I make sure to praise her and give her treats. What's the problem then? I'd like to take her training to the next level and get her to go in the side yard rather than just willy nilly picking a place in the backyard. This will make my life easier once I restore her unsupervised access to the back yard. This has been easy to do with No. 1 I take her to the side yard, give her the command and she goes and gets a treat. But we're still struggling with No. 2 When I bring her to that area and give her the command --- we've always used "go potty" with No. 1 and No. 2 probably a mistake--- she just looks confused and tries to go back to the main yard to poop. I know from experience that if she's not comfortable she'll just hold it until she has an accident inside. So what's the best way to do this? My trainer recommended using pungent wood chips, but that never really worked. Should I let her go on the grass and then "interrupt" her and move her to the side yard? Any other ideas?

posted by bananafish to Pets & Animals (4 answers total)

I'd start by taking her poop over there. Just anecdotally, I see that my dogs are very big on poopin' where the poop is. So let her go one more time in the normal place, and then take it over to the new place, then lead her back there later when it's time for the next one. It may take a few days for her to make the connection, but she probably will eventually.
posted by Lyn Never at 1:43 PM on January 17, 2012

Not to be a naysayer but I've got an older dog who is an erratic pooper and the exact opposite of Lyn's pooch. Mine won't poop if there's too much subsidiary poop in the area.

You could try staking her out with a radius only encompasing A) the area you want pooped in, or B) the area you don't want pooped in. I guess it depends on how you judge your dog's behavior and if she will go in an area she's confined in. After that the routine should take care of itself.
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:49 PM on January 17, 2012

I found scattering a little poop in the area I want the dogs to poop helps. I'd work on maybe getting her to poop near the area you want her to go but still in the main yard and then slowly work her across to where you want her to poop. Say reward her for pooping on that side of the yard, then once she's got the hang of that, in that corner, then sort of move the area back a little until she's down the side yard.

You might have trouble tough if there is anything down the side that makes her feel uncomfortable or say a dog next door or the neighbours walk up and down their side of the yard a lot so she feels exposed.
posted by wwax at 2:41 PM on January 17, 2012

When we moved I trained my dog from being a free-range pooper to poop in a particular spot by taking her out on leash for the first few weeks until she had the habit instilled. Years later she's still making a bee-line for the spot behind the shed. I've been too lazy for the new dog, but once the weather warms up, I intend to do the same.

I know you said that you think she'll just hold it, so it may take a lot of vigilance at first--watching for the particular "I have to go" signals and taking her out more often, just like when you were house training her, but I imagine it will work.
posted by rinosaur at 9:29 AM on January 18, 2012