# Spring is here! My puppy is too distracted to poop!



## TobyJohn (Jan 21, 2013)

It sounds hilarious, but it's NOT. I'm so incredibly frustrated by my puppy's behavior right now, I could scream. He is 8 months old, and pretty well house-trained. He rings a bell to go outside. He did great during the winter months, no problem with snow.

It's the SPRING that's the problem! The snow is almost gone, and Toby is absolutely 100% obsessed with smelling every single blade of grass, clump of mud, tiny twig, old leaf, etc. He is distracted by geese flying by, squirrels in the trees, kids playing outside. He rings the bell to go out, but he won't poop! (for some reason, peeing is no problem at all)

I take him for 20-30 minute walks in the morning and afternoon. He always used to poop during these walks, but not anymore. He's too distracted by all of the wonders of Spring! 

So every day for the past 4 days, this has been going on. No pooping on walks, followed by multiple bell-ringing and me putting on his leash and taking him out so he can......NOT POOP! (we don't have a fenced in yard, so I have to leash him and take him out every time) And, inevitably, he ends up pooping in the kitchen, right next to the front door. Something he hasn't done in months. Now he's done it 4 days in a row. 

Advice!??!?!?


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## megs2219 (Feb 23, 2013)

I had that problem with my puppy during inital housebreaking - he was so distracted with outside smells that he wouldn't go and then when we'd get back inside he'd be like "oh, i'm bored now lets go potty". What worked best for me was taking him out and if he didn't go in the first 3 minutes we went right back inside and tried it again later (10 if I was sure he had to go like in the morning, maybe 30 minutes if I wasn't sure). If he did go then he got at least 10 minutes outside, a walk or playtime. It took a little while but then he finally made the connection. 

Now that was for doing either (i had issues with both), it might be a little tricker with just poop because they don't always have to do that but you might try something to that effect, especially when you know he needs to go (like first thing in the morning).


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

Is he fed on a schedule? If so, it should make KNOWING when he needs to poop a bit easier.

When you take him out in the yard to potty, or when you walk him, if he does NOT potty, then you basically know he still needs to potty. If he still needs to potty, he should not be allowed unsupervised access to the home. He should be right in your sight, even within your reach until you are finally able to get him to potty. Because the way it is now, you take him out, repeatedly, he doesn't potty, so you know he still has to go, then you bring him in, and let him off the leash, and a bit later he potties. You're almost setting him up to fail by not sticking with it til he poops.

When you take him out to poop, in the yard, how long do you stay? 
I would stay no more than 5 minutes. If he starts exploring flowers, birds, noises, etc, take him right back in. BUT, when you take him in, keep him right in your sight. In fact, keep him on the leash, and use the leash to tether him to you. Wait 5 minutes and try again outside. Basically this method is outside for 5 minutes to try to potty, then inside for 5 minutes to wait for the next outside try. Alternate, 5 minutes outside, 5 minutes inside. 
The most important part of this method is keeping your eyes right on him, and keeping him right there with you when you are on the 5 minutes inside part, so that you can see if it looks like he's about to poop in the yard, and you can rush him back out. If he's allowed to poop in the house on the 5 minutes inside part, then it defeats the purpose of trying this.

If you take him outside in the yard to poop, and you wait for 10-20 minutes or more, it really isn't sinking in to him that he's out there for potty time, it becomes one big play time. And, what you want is for him to learn to ring the bell just for potty time, and to get down to business right away. If you bring him in if he's just playing and exploring, then you are reinforcing "hey, we're not out here to play, buddy!"

Good luck!


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## TobyJohn (Jan 21, 2013)

doxiemommy said:


> Is he fed on a schedule? If so, it should make KNOWING when he needs to poop a bit easier.
> 
> When you take him out in the yard to potty, or when you walk him, if he does NOT potty, then you basically know he still needs to potty. If he still needs to potty, he should not be allowed unsupervised access to the home. He should be right in your sight, even within your reach until you are finally able to get him to potty. Because the way it is now, you take him out, repeatedly, he doesn't potty, so you know he still has to go, then you bring him in, and let him off the leash, and a bit later he potties. You're almost setting him up to fail by not sticking with it til he poops.
> 
> ...


He is fed in the morning, and again around 4. He usually poops first thing in the morning, upon getting out of the crate, and then again after his 4:00 feeding. 

When I take him out and he doesn't poop, I do bring him right back in -- usually only 3 minutes later! I don't reward with any playing around outside or "good boy!"s, etc. I keep saying, "Go potty!" 

But --- I like the idea of keeping him tethered to me inside when this is going on. We had a great puppy trainer who had us keep the leash on him at all times for "time outs", and it was great! But we just recently took it off him. We'll have to give that a try. THANKS!


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## KatrinaMae (Mar 12, 2013)

I have a 4 1/2 month lab pit mix that did the exact same thing when he was being house broken. He chased leaves and sticks, even rocks fascinated him. haha. Its also hard and incredibly frustrating because I live in apartments so there is always someone walking around or children playing. So what I started doing was just kind of tugging on his leash slighlty and telling him no. Eventually he somewhat learned not to get to distracted at least while on the leash. Also I asked my vet for advice and he told me not to talk to him when he is trying to do buisiness bc he is a puppy and a lab and gets distracted incredibly easily. So when we go out i just say "potty" once and dont talk to him until after hes done. It may help or may not. But i hope it all works out for you. I know how annoying it is.


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## Akiras_Dad (Mar 12, 2013)

Sometimes things need to be "worked out" some, so to speak. Exercise, sometimes more than just a walk, frequently helps dogs do their biz. It's a personal thing I guess, and a matter of how much time you want to spend with the dog, but Akira is 7 years old and she still gets like this every spring, and it's especially bad on the days when there is a slight breeze. She wants to play with the birds, sniff the flowers, smell every scent on the breeze. And to be honest, she's an indoor dog, so I let her, but instead of just standing there letting her walk around, I play with her, get her to run around some. After running around for 5 or 6 minutes, she can't hold it anymore and does her business, plus we got a quick playtime in as a bonus. Once she's had a few minutes of running and done her business, she's usually more than compliant about going back in and relaxing. Of course, this might be different with a puppy, and with different time constraints, I know.


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