# Year old too distracted to poop/wee outside



## Kansalis (Jan 11, 2015)

Our Libby just doesn't seem to want to learn that outside is the only place she should be leaving her little presents... But only at home!

Any time we take her to someone else's house, she is absolutely fine. Never messes inside, always goes outside on the grass. We stay at my parents' place a lot and she never has accidents there. We even went away for a week on their boat and at one point she held on for over 14 hours, waiting for a spot of grass.

But at home is a different story. I *think* it's a distraction issue. We have a large garden with lots of passing wildlife. There's an open woodland through the fence, which she tends to spend more time in than the garden. Also, horses on the other side of the garden. Every time she goes outside she is totally engrossed on whatever is out there at the time. I often leave the doors open to let her wander in & out, when weather permits.

But... Almost every day, she still comes back indoors to do her business. It's usually in the same places. Lounge carpet, or upstairs hallway. Never in the dining room or bedrooms, or any of the hard floors. I have a Vax carpet cleaner and regularly wash the carpet and always spray with Febreeze etc after cleaning up the mess. Also always clean the carpet with the cleaner when she wees.

I have tried positive reinforcement when she goes outside and ignoring accidents inside (as advised by a trainer). I've tried telling her off immediately after she does it & putting her outside. Also tried staying outside with her until she does her business before letting her back in. Not all at once, obviously. Have tried each approach for a period of time to hopefully make it sink in.

This morning, for example; She was outside for at least 30 minutes after eating her breakfast. I let her in, then sat down. About a minute later, she comes to me with her usual "I've been naughty" face on, having pooped on the landing.

I'm open to any and all suggestions on how to tackle this...!


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Can you make a smaller area of the garden immediately outside the door so she goes out to far less distraction and once she has been to the loo she can be given access to the rest of the garden


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## Kansalis (Jan 11, 2015)

I'm not sure that would work, as the horses are directly opposite the back door. There are usually a lot of partridges & pheasants etc in the field too. Short of building a new fence outside the back door, I'm not sure how I'd be able to restrict the distractions.

I did try taking her into the garden on a lead for a while, but she just doesn't go at all then. She's the same when on walks and waits to be let off before she does anything.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

I'm going to guess that it has less to do with distraction and more to do with habit and perhaps some territorial issues in the garden? Maybe something else used that as a toilet and she is respectfully not peeing on their land or close to their land? I'd do as 2nd suggested and build her a little rinsable grass toilet as close to the house as possible with a gravel foundation. Cover it with a carpet remnant and proceed as if she were a puppy again, that means going with her on lead and praising and treating each and every time. I'd also restrict her access to her indoor toileting areas. Once/if she gets it I'd cover the carpet with pee pads, wait a few days then remove the carpet, wait a few days then remove the pee pads. It'll take a lot of work but it might be worth a try.


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## Kansalis (Jan 11, 2015)

(grrr, the forum ate my long reply!)

Thank you for the suggestions Fairlie.

You may be right in part about the habit. When we were initially training Libby, she did have a lot of accidents in a few areas. We do have a carpet washer/cleaner which is used regularly with Pet-grade detergents, so hopefully the scents are long-gone.

The lounge door is mostly kept closed when there's no-one in there. We have had stair gates stopping Libby going upstairs since we got her to prevent her going up & down while growing. She had very little access to the upstairs hallway originally. We do still have the gate at the top, so she's not able to roam around the bedrooms unattended. However, since my last comment here, my daughter left the gate open for less than 2 minutes when getting something from her room, only to find pee in the hallway when she came out. Libby had quite literally just come in from outside, the back door was still open. It's almost as if she waits for an opportune moment to pounce....

There are a lot of deer droppings around the garden at the moment, so territory may also be a part of the issue. Though if anything, Libby is very sure she owns the garden judging by how vigorously she chases of any wildlife she may see. I do see her regularly going to the toilet pretty much anywhere in the garden. She just doesn't seem to quite grasp that she shouldn't do it inside.

I should probably have mentioned in my original post that she doesn't *always* go indoors. It's only the "occasional" accident, but recently it's been almost every day. There was a period of maybe a couple of months where she was completely clean, but shortly after I started to let her roam the house with less restrictions, the accidents started to happen again. Right now, she's pretty much only allowed where there's a person to keep an eye on her, but see above comment about pouncing!


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

I can understand your frustration, but if I am reading your post right - Libby is one year old - this habit is very firmly established and you will have to work hard to get over it.
To her, for whatever reason, the right place to pee or poop is in the lounge or upstairs hall way.
If she was my dog I would be stopping her from having access to these places - any time she is in the house she needs to be on a house line attached to your waist so she has no opportunity to sneak off to these places. If she is not attached to you then she is restricted to the kitchen.
I would also have a minimum of three and hopefully 4 walks a day - half an hour in the morning, first thing as soon as you get up - before breakfast. (It is tough, but you will feel really virtuous and once the habit is established then you'll actually enjoy it!!!) - somewhere she can race off lead and play while you walk along. If she poops or pees then you can reward her and attach a word - for mine I say 'Yay be quick' as they finish (if you say it too soon then they might stop mid flow!!!)
I would feed her half an hour to an hour after you get back, take her for a quick wander in the back garden and then put her in the kitchen to sleep.
Lunch time at least half an hour.
Later afternoon/early evening her main walk half an hour to an hour mostly off lead.
Walk around the block or to local green space before her bed time.
Always reward her when she does her stuff outside. 
Routine is vital. As an adult dog she should be able to hold herself between these times and if her routine is well established she will be able to hold on.
Other good idea is to have a friend come over with their dog and take them both out in your garden to pee - if the other dog pees your dog will probably over mark - because it is her territory and this might help her to find the right place to go.
If your dog has changed her toileting habits get her checked by the vet in case she has a urine infection or something.


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

agree with what Marzi has says, and do remember dogs don't think like us so she will not be doing it to annoy you or anything like that, she just has got confused about where she should be going, if she is crate trained it maybe an idea to give her some crate time if you cannot attach her to you with a line, as long as she has plenty of exercise that should be fine.


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## Kansalis (Jan 11, 2015)

Thanks for the suggestions Marzi!



> If she was my dog I would be stopping her from having access to these places - any time she is in the house she needs to be on a house line attached to your waist so she has no opportunity to sneak off to these places. If she is not attached to you then she is restricted to the kitchen.


Libby was completely restricted to hard floor areas downstairs when she was a puppy, unless someone actually took her into a room. As she was getting clean, the restrictions were slowly lifted. Probably 4-6 weeks ago, I took all the gates off the doors. That's when the relapse started.

She now has no access to her regular accident areas the vast majority of the time, unless there's a person with her. She never has any accidents in any of the hard floor areas, bedrooms or the dining room/office. The only places she goes are the lounge and upstairs hallway. The lounge door is kept closed, and the stair gate also closed. There was an accident yesterday where she was allowed in the hallway alone for less than two minutes. I think my daughter got the message about not doing that again!

I don't feel a need to attach her physically to me, she pretty much does that of her own accord the vast majority of the time. Right now, she is squeezed under my desk sitting on my feet. She is very clingy with me and follows me everywhere as it is, I would much prefer not to further encourage that behaviour if I can avoid it.

Having thought about it carefully, the accidents tend to happen pretty much straight after she has been outside for a while. I'll keep a closer eye on her each time she goes out and make sure she settles. If she looks like she's sniffing for a place to do her business, I'll put her back outside.



> I would also have a minimum of three and hopefully 4 walks a day - half an hour in the morning, first thing as soon as you get up - before breakfast. (It is tough, but you will feel really virtuous and once the habit is established then you'll actually enjoy it!!!) - somewhere she can race off lead and play while you walk along.


I must admit, Libby isn't walked nearly enough. We have a very large garden, with woodland at the edge and she does get a lot of exercise and play time there, but not so much away from the house/garden. Whilst I do work from home, my job really does tie me to my desk (or at least to my house) all day, for long hours. I can't be away from the phone long enough to walk during the day.

I'll have to bite the bullet and attempt the early morning walks. It's quite possible I need the exercise myself, let alone the dog! With 7am starts already though, it will certainly be a challenge...



> If she poops or pees then you can reward her and attach a word - for mine I say 'Yay be quick' as they finish (if you say it too soon then they might stop mid flow!!!)


I did do this when originally training, but got out of the habit as she got older. There was a period of time where she was clean for a couple of months, so I wasn't keeping up the training.



> I would feed her half an hour to an hour after you get back, take her for a quick wander in the back garden and then put her in the kitchen to sleep.
> Lunch time at least half an hour.
> Later afternoon/early evening her main walk half an hour to an hour mostly off lead.
> Walk around the block or to local green space before her bed time.


When we go for walks Libby is rarely on a lead. We have fields at the back of the house with a river and woodland, so we go there most of the time. There are various routes to take, so not always the same place to walk. Do you think it's valuable to take her elsewhere on the lead too? She's good on a lead and with other dogs, so doesn't need the time to "train" as such.



> Routine is vital. As an adult dog she should be able to hold herself between these times and if her routine is well established she will be able to hold on.


I can't remember the last time Libby had an accident while we were out. She can certainly hold herself with no problems. We went away for a week on my parents' boat recently, and she held on for over 14 hours at one point, because she didn't want to go on the boat. She waited until we found some grass. She also does the same while out walking. She won't go on the pavement and will always find some grass to go on. She's also completely clean when in anyone else's house, even given free roam overnight.



> If your dog has changed her toileting habits get her checked by the vet in case she has a urine infection or something.


Her habits/regularity don't seem to have varied at all. We feed her Natural Instincts raw food & she has never had an upset stomach (except one time she got hold of some human food at a party!). The saving grace of the raw food is that her poop is always solid & easy to clean up in the house if she does go!


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

I think that the answer to Libby's toileting in your house is all in your post.
You are lucky to live in a wonderful place with a gorgeous garden and to be able to work from home.
Cockapoos are fantastic bright active dogs who thrive on attention and interaction with their owners. When you have been away with her or with your parents Libby has your attention and lots of interaction - her day is full of her people, different environments and excitement.
When you are at home and busy working Libby's life is pretty dull - you are preoccupied and for long periods of time she must amuse herself or sleep. She is a young dog - approaching her prime - full of energy and intelligence that needs to be used and channeled. Maybe in her eyes when she toilets in the house she gets attention! It gets you away from your desk/phone and while it might not be positive rewarding attention - it is still attention. Making a dash up the stairs if the gate is open also gets attention - perfect!
The early walk will help - I'm out just after 6 every day - better in the summer than in the winter, but there is a surprising number of early morning dog walkers and it can be quite sociable... even when dressed in waterproofs and wellies and wielding a torch!
If you are really tied to your desk - maybe you need to look for a dog walker. Or plan in 5 or 6 ten minute breaks through the day and go and play with Libby in the garden - get some small hurdles and teach her to jump - if she loves a ball play fetch, do some basic obedience - the interaction is vital - just letting her outside is not the answer.
Inside you could get a large box and fill it with crumpled newspaper and hide treats and squeaky toys inside and let her have fun. 
There are no easy solutions - it is about spending time actively enjoying Libby and giving her the attention that she is obviously craving.


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