# My dog is suddenly pooping in the house!



## slegary (May 19, 2012)

I have a 1 1/2 year old lab/retriever mix. I thought she was house trained but all of the sudden she has started pooping in my basement. It is always the same spot, sometimes more than 1 time a day. It is not that she isn't being let out enough, because she has done it 5 minutes after coming in, and she is given adequate time outside. I am wondering if it is one of these reasons:
- We recently moved (2 weeks as of tomorrow). Could she still be upset from this move, eve though she appears to have adapted well?
- Could something out back have spooked her? (I don't see how as she still pees outside, and goes out willingly.)
- Could this be the terrible twos (I have noticed that she ignores me a lot now a-days, especially when I want her to leave my other dog alone)

She knows what she is doing is wrong because when I come upstairs from finding it she runs and hides. How can I teach her not to poop in the house? I can't rub her nose in it as once she knows that I know she will not willingly go don't stairs and i can't carry her. I have tried scolding her for what she has done and then putting her outside, but this doesn't work because she just sits there and cries and scratches the back door, and I don't want my neighbors to get angry (especially is I have to put her out at night). I have tried scolding her and putting her in her cage.

Nothing is seeming to work and I am getting frustrated! What should I do to correct this behavior?


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## odiesmom (May 31, 2007)

If its a new house and she is going in the same spot you need to clean that spot with a special cleaner like natures miracle that takes out the odor etc. She may smell something from another dog that lived in the house so is going in the same spot.
Can you block access to the basement ? That could be a very simple fix.
Rubbing her nose in it will do nothing but make her afraid of you and is totally gross !


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## KBLover (Sep 9, 2008)

slegary said:


> - We recently moved (2 weeks as of tomorrow). Could she still be upset from this move, eve though she appears to have adapted well?


Probably - new house, no scent of her there, new territory. Wally started marking in the temporary house and all the changes due to related events and the fact he was nervous there at the new house all contributed along with being in unknown territory. As I walked him through the neighborhood more, it got better, especially once I replaced his crate - he had a "haven" again.



slegary said:


> - Could something out back have spooked her? (I don't see how as she still pees outside, and goes out willingly.)


Possibly, though maybe less likely if she goes out there otherwise without issue. I guess something could have startled her just as she was going to poop. If you walk her around, can will she poop?



slegary said:


> She knows what she is doing is wrong because when I come upstairs from finding it she runs and hides. How can I teach her not to poop in the house? I can't rub her nose in it as once she knows that I know she will not willingly go don't stairs and i can't carry her. I have tried scolding her for what she has done and then putting her outside, but this doesn't work because she just sits there and cries and scratches the back door, and I don't want my neighbors to get angry (especially is I have to put her out at night). I have tried scolding her and putting her in her cage.


If you're not doing this AS she's pooping in the house (i.e. you catch her doing it or, better yet, about to squat, but not yet doing the deed), then she won't connect the scolding to the pooping. So she knows you're mad, but not necessarily what exactly you're mad about, except that there's poop there (no, she doesn't remember she put it there, if dogs did, we could correct "in the past" like that).

Agree with odiesmom, don't rub her nose in it. 

If you're not there to catch her, it's going to be harder. Can you crate her while you're away? Maybe adjust her feeding times so that it shifts when she'll need to poop?


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