# Anxiety pooping?



## chameleon0913 (Jul 16, 2010)

I recently adopted a 1 year old male imperial shih-tzu about a month ago and he is showing some irregular behaviors that I can't find the solution for from traditional, by-the-book answers. 
His previous owner left him in his crate for 12 hours a day, went on vacation and just put him inside their garage over the weekends by himself so he developed a separation anxiety. 
So, when I got him, I couldn't even crate him anymore because if I put him in his crate(correct size), he will start to bark, whimper, chew on the door. If I ignore it, he would pee and poop in there and I would have to give him a bath. 
He is house trained for the most part.
But when he first got my house, he peed on my carpet when I'm looking away or doing something in another room. However, I caught him in the act a few times, so I stopped him, and took him outside to my backyard. 
He hasn't pooped or peed on my carpet for almost 2 weeks now when I'm home.
His separation anxiety symptoms were barking, whimpering, scratching and chewing the door, drooling all over his front paws until they are soaking wet, peeing and pooping everywhere, whenever I leave the house.
He has been taking Reconcile for about 2~3 weeks now for his separation anxiety and all of the other behaviors has dissapeared except for peeing and pooping everywhere.
I always make sure to take him out before I leave the house and I'm never gone for more than 4 hours. 
He sleeps with me on my bed and I've seen him hold it in for almost 10 hours while I'm sleeping. He is a very smart dog so I'm 99% sure that he knows he needs to go in my back yard and that I like it when he does that(I praise & treat him). And that is why he holds it in when I'm around. 
When he poops in the house when I'm gone, he does it in bits and pieces all over the floor like if he was drawing out a "connect-the-dots" with lots of poop crumbs.
He is on a fixed meal schedule, but he has access to water 24/7.
I tried cleaning up his mess with nature's miracle advanced, vinegar, baking soda but all it does is clean up the mess.
Obviously I can never catch him on the act, and I can't crate him because I can't give him a bath every day. 
Only theory I can come up with is that, 

1. He misses me so much that he is doing this as a sign of panic.

2. He is unhappy that I've left him alone. So he is retaliating because he knows I dislike it when he goes inside the house. 

3. He is doing that to get attention, since his separation anxiety is a result from neglection as a puppy. 

This is so weird that it's taking me so long to housebreak him because he is a VERY smart dog. His previous owner said he didn't teach him anything as a puppy but it took me 1 day to teach him how to sit, 3 days to teach him how to fetch, and 3 days to teach him how to stay until I give the break command.

I am a college student so I go to school every day but there are some days when he didn't go inside the house at all, sometimes in 2~3 consecutive days, but sometimes he goes inside the house for more than one consecutive days. 

I am so lost, confused and can't understand him so if anyone can actually interpret his behavior and give me some hints on how to work with him, that would really help me out.


----------



## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

I can interpret it  Insted of a crate maybe you can try a baby gate (or 2 stacked if he's a jumper) to contain him to a poo safe room. Yes dogs do poo out of anxiety because there is a certain chemical that is released with it, kind of like an endorphin rush. Ever heard the term anally fixated ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_stage )? Very similar with dogs. Pooing gives them a release of pressure and pleasure all at the same time. Dogs do not do things out of spite. That is a complex human emotion that dogs do not experience. He could possibly be doing it for attention being a neglected pup. At some point pup learns that ANY attention is good attention even if it is discipline. Diarrhea is a common side effect of Reconcile, and if he is having a connect the dots moment it may be partly the meds, partly the stress. What behavior mod training are you doing in conjunction with the drug? What you might want to do is set him up for success rather than leaving him alone for 4 hours at a time when you know he may have an episode. The majority of destructive behavior (and yes inappropriate potty habits can fall under destructive behavior) is done with in the first 15 minutes of you leaving. Take a weekend that you aren't obligated to anything else (ther sooner the better) and start training him by you leaving for 5 minutes then coming back, no accidents praise praise praise. Then 10 minutes then 15 and so on. Gradually build up the time you leave him alone so he realizes that you are coming back. Do this daily until you see no accidents or you are up to the 4 hours away. He has abandonment/neglect issues so this is a good start to recovery. DON'T coddle him. Coddling him makes his firm fair leader seem weak and indecisive. He needs a strong leader that never seems weak and seems that they always have the situation in control. When ever you want to soothe him or coddle, don't say "it's ok baby" that only enhances stress... say "good Boy" insted. It shows him that allowing himself to be in stressing situations is ok (even if all he wants to do is crawl up your skirt and hide) and that you won't let any harm come to him by staying there. Build his confidence thru instruction and fun games such as tug o war (which is an awsome confidence builder) let im win a couple, you win one, let him win a couple etc. The more he knows the more confident he will be. Make him stand on is own 4 feet. Don't allow him to become co-dependant on you for strength. His cuddle time is on YOUR terms, not his. it may seem cruel but killing him with kindness is only going to prolong and possibly add to his anxiety issues.


----------



## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

First off good on you for taking on this dog, he obviously was severely neglected in his past home.
I too would recommend a baby gate or an expen or something to restrict his movements somewhat without actually confining him to a space as small as a crate. 
I'm glad you went to medication for his severe SA, reconcile can take up to eight weeks to really kick in, so the fact that you already are seeing differences is a good sign that this medication is a good choice for your dog.
Like DS said, give it time and make sure you do the behaviour modification that is necessary for the dog to learn that you ARE going to come back and that it won't be three days later. He's still new to you AND suffers from severe anxiety about it so it will take time....
A really good book for SA is Patricia McConnells' "I'll be Home Soon" it breaks down the Beh mod well so you can set up a program.
Good luck with your boy. Be understanding of his distress, but don't pity him, give him the tools to work with and he'll improve.


----------



## tasie402 (Jul 8, 2012)

please, please, please tell me there's hope. i do not know my dog's past, but it sure sounds like it could match yours. he's 11 months now and i've had him 3 months. he's made a lot of progress in many ways, and was down to pooping about 1-2x/week while i was at work. i'm a teacher so i've just entered my summer vacation where i was hoping to do some heavy duty training with him and help to make him secure. nope, instead he's only NOT pooped in my house ONCE in the last 10 days while i've been gone.

this dog did not know his name when i got him (8 months), he did the exact same thing in the crate as yours, he also much prefers pooping on the cement outside rather than the grass...which i don't love, but can live with if he'd just go outside! but your story of being locked in the garage sounds like it could be similar to his story.

i'm working with a trainer, but since he does this when im not home it's hard to train. at her recommendation he's wearing a pheramone collar and there is a pheramone diffuser in the kitchen (where he is locked when i leave). i also either play the radio or a new recording i made of myself reading a story, but every paragraph or so i say, "it's ok, brody, you're ok". i've ordered him a thunder shirt as well, but am waiting for it to come. 

i've tried the whole build him up slowly, and it works as long as i'm not gone more than 7 minutes or so. i can honestly say i'm pretty much at wits end. i love this little guy, i really do. i can't imagine parting with him now, but really, i'm so done with this cleaning the kitchen every single time i leave...having to leave when i do'nt want to leave just so that he doesnt' have me too long, or only running one errand a day so that he's not having to go through the suffering again in a day.

to make it worse, my mom is going to be here for the next two weeks. she can't be left alone and doesn't go places, so he's going to be with me for the next 2 weeks non stop. i'm so afraid of wht is going to come. 

please, please, please tell me something worked for you. :'(


----------

