potty, go potty!

January 24, 2006 6:35 PM

My new shelter pooch is refusing to do her bidness.

• She's little, jack russell/beagle mix
• She's obviously traumatized, constant vibration
• She refused food for days after I brought her home, but started eating (1 cup kibble and broth, water) today
• She primarily stays curled up on her little bed, doesn't wander, doesn't play
• Her last meaningful bathrooming activity happened on Sunday night

I'd say she was sick, but she's been taking great walks with me, multiple times each day. On these walks she has tons of energy and seems happy but doesn't seem to recognize clear opportunities to go to the bathroom. I've been taking her down to the yard (a nice, big quiet yard!) every two hours during the day and she still doesn't seem to "get it". After a while, she just curls up in the grass and shakes. At that point I relent and we go back inside. I've put down newspaper in all sorts of obvious places, all of it unused. Her bed isn't soiled.

How long is too long? What can I do to help her go? At what point should I get big vet man involved?

posted by cior to Pets & Animals (20 answers total)

Response by poster: super cute, why won't you poop?
posted by cior at 6:41 PM on January 24, 2006

If she hasn't been eating, what's to poop?
posted by crabintheocean at 6:42 PM on January 24, 2006

If she's backed up, some parrafin oil in her food should help get things moving, and can't do any harm. However, not pooping for this long is starting to be a bit of a concern - she might actually have a bowel obstruction, so if the parrafin oil doesn't work in the next 24 hours, I think a visit to the vet is well in order.
posted by Jimbob at 6:57 PM on January 24, 2006

If she doesn't go sometime overnight, please take her to the vet tomorrow, or at least call and describe the situation to them and get their opinion. It might also be worth calling the shelter to see if they know anything - whether her habits were normal while she was there (but call the vet regardless of what they say - use that as more info for the vet).

And please let us know things go.
posted by dilettante at 6:58 PM on January 24, 2006

Calling the shelter and vet are great ideas--but crabintheocean is right. Sounds like she's a little freaked out still. If the shelter says she pooped ok--and I'm sure they will or they wouldn't have given her to you--then she'll probably get over it.

But it would never hurt to call the vet, too.
posted by lester at 7:02 PM on January 24, 2006

I hear canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, but actual pumpkin) is a great doggie laxative.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:08 PM on January 24, 2006 [1 favorite]

Hmmm... this dog may have been scolded for going somewhere the owner wasnt pleased about??

If you get this dog to go outside I recommend HIGHLY choosing a word to associate with urinating and a BM and praise "good girl, go pee", etc. as she goes.

She'll know where to go and I would suggest never scold the dog for going inside, etc.

(Having a word for both has been invaluable to me-i use pee and poo you may want to use something less silly sounding if you have neighbors. When let my dog out before I leave he'll go out in the yard- piss on everything but i didnt watch to see if he took care of everything. When I say to him as he trots in "Did you go POO??" if he didn't he'll turn around and immediately do that. Makes me feel better that he isn't holding it if I am gone for several hours)
posted by beccaj at 7:12 PM on January 24, 2006

I was just going to suggest what TPS did. Pumpkin is a great equalizer for dog poo. If they have the runs it will firm it up. If they are constipated it will loosen them up. Not the pie mix, which has sugar. Straighten pumpkin. Libbys is probably what the grocery store will carry.

My guess is that everyone above is correct. Be patient, treat her well, and call the vet just in case. They'll be able to tell you what to do over the phone.

Good luck with the sweet girl.
posted by terrapin at 7:17 PM on January 24, 2006

Response by poster: Her shelter said she was a bit of a "holder" and had refused to go potty on walks when with her foster family. They seemed unconcerned and told me to give her time.

On Sunday, I took her out on a walk and on the way back remembered groceries that I'd left in the car. I put her inside and went back for the groceries. While she was unattended, she snuck into the back bedroom closet and created a glorious pile (surely a few days worth) on the carpet. She seemed really upset at this event, cowering and whimpering. I responded by picking her up and taking her to her bed, then going back to clean up the mess without her. I deduced at that point that she probably wasn't very trained, or at least had trauma around having accidents inside. Though no fresh trauma was added onto the Sunday event, she hasn't gone since then other than some dribbling on a towel near her bed.

I'm taking her out regularly, but she seems freaked out by the wind, crunchy leaves and pretty much everything. She's trying though, each time she wanders a bit farther away from me. I see her "scouting" a bit more today, whereas yesterday she wasn't having any of it. Unfortunately, this scouting has also led her to go crouch (scared, not squatting for bathroom) in a big ivy patch by the foundation of the house. I think she's doing this ivy cower out of frustration -- she's done listening to me say "go potty" and I haven't yet given up and agreed to go inside. I'm careful to make sure that my potty song is pleasant and reassuring, despite the cold. Beccaj: Thanks for the tip about function words.

I'll call the vet tomorrow. Any other tidbits of advice would be helpful. I'm going to take her out a few more times tonight, lay out more newspaper and hope for the best. An hour or so ago she downed a whole new cup of food, so things are looking up. Aside from laxatives, are there other techniques for helping a scared dog feel comfortable enough to potty? I'm reasonably sure that her problem is mental.

Where's Mr. Hanky when you need him?
posted by cior at 7:31 PM on January 24, 2006

If she hasn't had a recent vet exam, she should have one BEFORE you start adding anything at all to her food, don't treat the symptoms until you're sure what it's a symptom OF.

Pumpkin is a great idea (just make sure it's plain canned pumpkin and not pie filling), as is regular exercise, and possibly (if your vet advises it) a veterinary laxative or vegetable oil (I wouldn't give her paraffin oil). If the stool she had was fairly normal (i.e. not a dried-up bunny turd), it's probably just that she didn't have much food in there to do much with, also remember that dogs are like people, "normal" BM frequency varies pretty greatly, although one poop per meal is common (and all dogs should have their daily ration divided into at least two meals as far as I'm concerned).

I would also start some fun clicker training asap - it's a great way to start the bonding process, get the dog thinking about something fun (when done properly, clicker training should seem like a game to the dog), and also a way to get some more food into her (you can get good basic clicker books like Melissa Alexander's "Click for Joy" at PetSmart, as well as clickers), just don't overfeed her. Thank you for adopting this girl and I'm sure she just needs to settle into a routine.
posted by biscotti at 7:32 PM on January 24, 2006

I would definitely NOT use newspaper, paper training makes housetraining MUCH harder for the dog (and therefore for you). Inside is not the bathroom, period, don't confuse the dog by saying "inside is not the bathroom unless there's paper, but not my Sunday paper that I haven't read yet but left on the floor, you can pee on yesterday's paper, but only when it's in the kitchen and not when it's in the recycling pile and and and". Paper training is bad, m'kay? Not least because you need to be there to say "woo hoo! good doggie" when she goes where she's supposed to (i.e. outside). If you need to take her out during the night, do that, but don't paper train her (crate training, on the other hand, will be a HUGE benefit, especially if she's a scaredy dog, since crates are very comforting to most dogs).
posted by biscotti at 7:36 PM on January 24, 2006

Response by poster: I'm not intending that she'll be a paper dog. However, if that's what she was used to and was holding out for, I was happy to provide it until her nerves settled. That said, she's showing no interest in the paper at all.

Right-o on the crate, it's on the shopping list. I made her a cardboard box approximation of a crate tonight, she's already settled inside.
posted by cior at 8:14 PM on January 24, 2006

Aw, she IS cute! Don't scare her with a vet visit just yet. if she's relieved herself in the house once and has been eating lightly she's either holding it, hasn't ingested enough food to be processed out, or is hiding it really well in the house.

Crate training sounds like a great idea here. As to food.. maybe you can fill her up (thus giving her business to DO) with something more enticing than regular kibble? Chicken and rice (plainly cooked, nothing fancy) is a pretty irresistible meal for sick/scared dogs.
posted by cmyk at 8:40 PM on January 24, 2006

Response by poster: I've been adding broth to her kibble and giving her treats and chews. She's only just now, today, had normal dog quanities of food. Hopefully she'll make a nice contribution to the yard tomorrow morning.

I'll call the vet, but yeah, I'm not sure that taking her in the car to the vet would go over well. When her buzz starts up it sometimes takes hours for her to chill out.

Chicken and rice, sounds nice. Perhaps breakfast tomorrow. She ate dinner not too long ago and has scarfed up a few treats from our multiple, contemplative trips outside.

I was also thinking about giving her light belly massage. She seems more open to petting and attention. Can't hurt, right?
posted by cior at 8:51 PM on January 24, 2006

Petting will be great - that way she'll learn you're the bearer of good stuff like tummy rubs and ear scratches, not a gigantuous scary hairless ape who wants to eat her. Offering treats while you pet will be good, too. Dogs like food.

Do as much bonding-type stuff with the girlie as you can. You want her to trust you and get over her fear of you.
posted by cmyk at 9:15 PM on January 24, 2006

You may want to look around for a mobile veterinarian in your area. I once had a cat who was terrified to go in the car, so the vet visit was always traumatic, even for regular shots. I found an older vet whose customers (the people) were getting older and couldn't take their animals (his patients) into his office, so he sold the building, got a raised top van, and made house calls. He would come into the house to administer booster shots, and could even do blood tests in his van. It made everything so much better as my cat aged.
posted by seymour.skinner at 9:33 PM on January 24, 2006

She's a cutie and also part beagle so probably amazingly stubborn. Also it doesn't sound like she is used to being outdoors. If she were my dog I'd take her outside and stay there until she went, even if it took 4 hours, then reward. Dress warm and bring a book and try feeding her outside- feeding her will stimulate the poo response. I'd also try really hard to engage her in active play, it will make going outside a fun experience. Balls, tug toys, sticks drug through the dirt or simply pointing at things and saying "what's that!" in an excited voice then going to check it out will help you bond and her relax. Physically playing with her- tickling her, rubbing her ears, getting her to wrestle or play-bite your hand is a lot of fun for an only dog.

ditto on the vet check there is actually a condition in small dogs that causes tremors when they are nervous.
posted by fshgrl at 11:11 PM on January 24, 2006

Response by poster: Update: she peed for two minutes straight this morning in the front yard after 2-3 minutes of scouting!

I praised her, but she didn't seem interested in what I was saying or the treat I was trying to give her. We went back inside, she crawled up into her carboard box bed and accepted the treat.

After breakfast of chicken and rice we'll see if she goes for #2.

Thanks for the input last night. She was starting to scare me a little.
posted by cior at 5:35 AM on January 25, 2006

Make sure she's getting plenty of water. Sometimes when dogs are freaked out they won't drink or eat enough and become constipated. When I rescued a puppy she didn't go to the bathroom for the first day or so either, despite eating gobs of food and drinking water, and then the second and third day she needed to go all the time.

The chicken and rice should also help with her digestion. You might want to add some cooked carrots--a friend of mine had a dog with digestive problems, so she fed him a diet of cooked chicken, rice, and carrots.

(Your dog is adorable! Thank you so much for taking a shelter puppy in!)
posted by Anonymous at 7:42 AM on January 25, 2006

I had a similar situation with a shelter dog. He hated having a witness (as does our current shelter dog), and went 4-5 days. I bought baby suppositories, which are wax basically sticks that you insert in the dog's rectum. Not quite as horrible a task as it sounds, and very effective. Hadn't occurred to me to ask the vet - I just treated the dog like a child, and the vet later said it was perfectly fine. She look very sweet.
posted by theora55 at 9:27 AM on January 25, 2006