# Puppy pooping for attention?



## KidaPuppy (Jun 22, 2016)

Hi all! I am a first time dog owner. I've had my pup for about a week now. I understand things take time so im bring as patient as I can.

My Kida is a very smart and a quick learner. Within the week she's been with me, she had learned how to sit, and pee in the right place (most of the time). 

Before getting her, I prepped myself and read up a lot on training because I didn't want an out of control dog. So I immediately tried to correct her behavior (positive reinforcement) whenever she did something she wasn't supposed to do and tried not to reinforce bad behaviors by giving attention to it and such. I understand she's very young still and it will take her a while to grasp things but I wanted to start now.

So here is the issue: she loves her crate and willingly goes into it. Never whines at night. However, recently whenever I have to do my own thing (shower, eat) I have to put her in the crate so that she doesn't end up peeing or pooing on the ground or getting into things without supervision. But as soon as I'm out of sight she starts whining. I wouldn't go to her when she did because I didn't want her to learn that whining will get her way. It started out fine, she stopped whining after a couple minutes when I leave the room. 

But NOW: she found a way to get my attention immediately and her whining has increased for longer durations. when I hear her go quiet it's because pooped in her crate and I have to let her out immediately to clean it up cause she likes to eat the poop. 

Like I said, she's smart so I'm not sure if she learned that pooping = mommy lets her out. So she poops every.single.time. Or if it's cause she's starting to get separation anxiety and it's making her so anxious that she poops herself.

Today was especially bad- I couldn't even disappear for more than a few seconds before she whines and defecates herself.


How do I address this??? I don't want to give her attention when she whines bc it'll be a habit in the future but if I don't give it to her she poops herself.

Hope someone reads this long posts and can give some advice!!! 


Additional information: she's a 7 week golden retriever(possible golden lab mix). Yes I got her when she was six weeks old. Before I am judged, although I researched for months on owning a dog, and saw that pups are usually given up at 8 weeks the earliest, I didn't realize or read anything about 6 weeks on their social development. I did think it was strange that she was being taken away early but I didn't know about possible effects. It was only after I received her and looked up more things I found out she should have stayed with her mom and litter. As soon as I found that out, I immediately started training her on biting inhibition and have tried to take her to socialize with as many (vaccinated) dogs and humans as possible. Because she was given up early, I decided to stay with her all the time to train her and socialize her- she hasn't been apart from me yet. Could this be contributing to her new bout of whining and defecating when I'm out of sight?(possible separation anxiety?)

And lastly, just like humans, dogs all have different personalities and may respond better to different types of training. At which point do you know that the training method you're using isn't working and it's time to switch tactics? I realize it takes time, even months for some dogs to catch on to what you want from them. But at which point do you realize hey this isn't working, time to try something new. For instance, my ignoring her whining method isn't working - should I continue it? I want to try giving her a treat when she gets quiet but she only gets quiet when she's pooped herself...

Advice much appreciated !! Thanks


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

> So I immediately tried to correct her behavior (positive reinforcement) whenever she did something she wasn't supposed to do


This is something of a contradiction of terms-- how are you "correcting" behavior using positive reinforcement? 

I HIGHLY doubt she is pooping for attention. For one, its not really a way a dog's mind works and for two, at 7 weeks, she has minimal physical control of her bodily functions. 

She may be whining to tell you she needs to go and for puppies, the time between when they realize they need to go and when they are actually going is very short. Take her outside (if you have a safe area that there is no risk of unvaccinated dogs having been around in the past year) or to her potty pads if you need to use those until she is vaccinated on a schedule-- every 15 minutes basically. Then she can go into her crate if she has done her business, if she does not, then take her back out after 5 minutes and repeat until she has done her business. Then 15 minutes in the crate. Repeat.

If you are around her 24/7, you will want to start giving her little bits of time alone to help prevent anxiety. 

One big thing to keep in mind with potty training is that any sort of corrections for a dog eliminating in the wrong area can lead to a dog that refuses to eliminate in front of you and either sneaks off or waits till you're out of sight. The dog doesn't understand that the correction was intended to be connected to the location he peed in but instead generalizes that pee/poop itself is what makes the owner upset and causes the correction.


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

At seven weeks she has very little control over her bowel movements. Do you make sure she has gone before you leave her in the crate? If not, the minute she starts to get upset over being in the crate, she is going to have to go. Are you taking her outside or is she going on puppy pads? Puppies at that age are like babies, when they have to go, they go and usually do not get much warning till they are considerably older.


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## KidaPuppy (Jun 22, 2016)

Hello! Sorry I must have used the wrong word -- by correcting I just mean showing her the right way I want her to do something (i.e. When she pees in the right place I praise her to let her know that's what I want instead of peeinf on the carpet. That's what I mean by "correcting"). And when I said "immediately" I meant not waiting until she's older to break the habit. I don't do anything like punish her in her crate, smack her, shout, etc. 

thanks for your advice about taking her out to poop every 15 mins until she actually does it. I'll try it. I do try to get her to poop before crating her. although you both have said she can't hold it for long while young (understandable) but after she eats she won't poop for 1-2 hours. So eventually I have to crate her before she poops. I don't leave her in there for long it's literally just long enough to eat but I can never Finish cause she poos. I wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose but Today she did it each time I had to crate her and she only had one meal several hours prior. and each time even tho it was at different times and for no more than ten minutes she still pooped in there. Maybe it was a coincidence? I'll wait it out longer. I just am trying to nip bad habits in the bud.

To the other poster (sorry don't know how to quote two people)-- right now she's on pee pads, I'm waiting until she's vaccinated so I can start training her to go outside.


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## ireth0 (Feb 11, 2013)

If she is otherwise also upset about being in the crate, it could also be due to stress.

You can work on crate games to show her that the crate isn't a bad or scary place, and feed her meals in there as well.


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## Desiree S (Apr 2, 2016)

KidaPuppy said:


> Hello! Sorry I must have used the wrong word -- by correcting I just mean showing her the right way I want her to do something (i.e. When she pees in the right place I praise her to let her know that's what I want instead of peeinf on the carpet. That's what I mean by "correcting"). And when I said "immediately" I meant not waiting until she's older to break the habit. I don't do anything like punish her in her crate, smack her, shout, etc.
> 
> thanks for your advice about taking her out to poop every 15 mins until she actually does it. I'll try it. I do try to get her to poop before crating her. although you both have said she can't hold it for long while young (understandable) but after she eats she won't poop for 1-2 hours. So eventually I have to crate her before she poops. I don't leave her in there for long it's literally just long enough to eat but I can never Finish cause she poos. I wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose but Today she did it each time I had to crate her and she only had one meal several hours prior. and each time even tho it was at different times and for no more than ten minutes she still pooped in there. Maybe it was a coincidence? I'll wait it out longer. I just am trying to nip bad habits in the bud.
> 
> To the other poster (sorry don't know how to quote two people)-- right now she's on pee pads, I'm waiting until she's vaccinated so I can start training her to go outside.



Have you tried not using the crate at all? My pup was never crated and she learnt to use the pee pads from the first day I got her at 6 weeks. I just left her alone and she would do her business on the pads. I only used a baby gate for the first 2 days and she even ran to the pads if she had to go pee or poo. Naturally, with all pups there will be accidents as they sometimes can't hold it in but clean those up with an enzyme spray. You might want to puppy proof your home before you let her loose as there could be things like electrical wiring etc around. Try doing it one day and see if it will work for you. I also have a nice doggie bed in my bedroom that she sleeps in at night, but during the day she is free to sleep anywhere she wants.


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## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

Sounds like the crate is stressful for her, and that makes complete sense given the fact that she's been by your side 24/7 for the last week (from what you say). 

I would do the following: 

- Remove her bowl. From now on, feed her only from chew toys and inside her crate. When she's older, you can upgrade to puzzle toys and being fed outside the crate but right now you want to make a positive association with her and the crate. You can pre-stuff various chews and freeze them ahead of time so that all you have to do is go to the freezer and pull out her meals. If she eats kibble, you can measure out and soak the kibble and then spoon it into her chew to freeze. 

- Leave her cage door open and once in a while (without her seeing) just drop a treat in there for her to find. And if you catch her going in on her own, reward her. 

- Let her outside more frequently. Accidents indoors means she's not getting out often enough. REWARD her going outdoors so she begins to associate feeling=outside=reward. You can phase the rewards when she starts to 'get it' -- usually after about a week or so they start to piece it all together, faster if your pup is good at connecting the dots.  

- Clean up accidents with enzymatic cleaners, puppies will repeat 'accidents' usually in the same place, and this will carry into adulthood - adult dogs want to potty on the same substrate as they did as puppies. So cleaning up those accidents properly is super important to house training.


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## KidaPuppy (Jun 22, 2016)

Thanks for all your suggestions! I really appreciate everyone taking the time to read the long post and giving me some pointers. I'm trying the suggestions now, I'll update if she improves. Thanks again !


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