Dog pooping in the house?

[prairie_girl]

So, within the past month, our dog has taken to pooping in the house. He’s been to the vet about a month before this started and he got a clean Bill of health.

It doesn’t happen every day, maybe once a week. He poops when he goes outside so it’s not like he has no other chance to go. His diet is the same and we are careful to not even leave a crumb on the floor because he has a very sensitive stomach.

He doesn’t act sick at all. He sleeps a lot, but he’s 11 so he’s tired lol. He still has the same energy as always and doesn’t act like he’s in pain at all.

The ONLY good thing is that he always goes in the same spot, the non carpeted floor by the fridge. I don’t deal with it so I don’t know many detains, but I do know it’s solid...

So, any idea what’s going on? My husband is terrified that if we take him to the vet they’ll say to put him down but besides this, he’s still the same dog he’s been for years.

 

[Pembo]

Our golden started that when he got older. Out of the blue went in the basement when we weren't home. Our solution was easy...we just closed the basement door. Not sure why he started or why he stopped.
Make sure that when you clean up you spray the area with vinegar. It can be a deterrant to some dogs.

 

[RUDisney]

So, within the past month, our dog has taken to pooping in the house. He’s been to the vet about a month before this started and he got a clean Bill of health.

It doesn’t happen every day, maybe once a week. He poops when he goes outside so it’s not like he has no other chance to go. His diet is the same and we are careful to not even leave a crumb on the floor because he has a very sensitive stomach.

He doesn’t act sick at all. He sleeps a lot, but he’s 11 so he’s tired lol. He still has the same energy as always and doesn’t act like he’s in pain at all.

The ONLY good thing is that he always goes in the same spot, the non carpeted floor by the fridge. I don’t deal with it so I don’t know many detains, but I do know it’s solid...

So, any idea what’s going on? My husband is terrified that if we take him to the vet they’ll say to put him down but besides this, he’s still the same dog he’s been for years.

If your vet suggests putting him down because he is pooping in the house and he's 11, it's time to find a new vet.

I say this because my parents rescued a bichon years ago who had an oozing pimple on her face. The first vet told her that it was probably cancer and that they should put down an 18 month old dog. My parents found a new vet and after much trial and error, he suggested that they take her to Cornell's animal hospital. It turned out that she had an abscessed tooth that wasn't presenting as such. The extracted the tooth and my parents made the trip back to Ithaca to pick her up the next day.

Never trust a vet who says you should put down a healthy pet. And, never go with a "maybe" it's this, unless you also believe that it couldn't be something else. Their bichon lived a happy life for many, many more years.

Not what you asked, but it brought back bad memories of a lousy vet in our area.

 

[prairie_girl]

If your vet suggests putting him down because he is pooping in the house and he's 11, it's time to find a new vet.

I say this because my parents rescued a bichon years ago who had an oozing pimple on her face. The first vet told her that it was probably cancer and that they should put down an 18 month old dog. My parents found a new vet and after much trial and error, he suggested that they take her to Cornell's animal hospital. It turned out that she had an abscessed tooth that wasn't presenting as such. The extracted the tooth and my parents made the trip back to Ithaca to pick her up the next day.

Never trust a vet who says you should put down a healthy pet. And, never go with a "maybe" it's this, unless you also believe that it couldn't be something else. Their bichon lived a happy life for many, many more years.

Not what you asked, but it brought back bad memories of a lousy vet in our area.

The vet hasn't suggested that, and I don't think they would. It's just what my husband fears because he knows he's getting older. Like I said, besides this new issue, he's exactly the same as he's been for years.

 

[firefly_ris]

If it's always in the same spot, he might just need some re-training brush up. Alternatively, he might have had 1 accident there by mistake and now smells something there you can't that is signaling for him to go there again. I'd clean the area with vinegar as that can help clean the scent that you and I can't smell but he can. And barring that, perhaps limit his ability to get into the kitchen by himself and go back to praising him for pottying outdoors for a few weeks. If you happen to catch him in the act, quickly interrupt him and redirect him outdoors with whatever command you use for heading out to potty.

 

[Moliphino]

The beginnings of canine dementia? We're pretty sure our 16 year old dog has it and she's been getting increasingly bad about pottying in the house over the past couple years.

7 Signs of Dog Dementia

 

[Pea-n-Me]

What kind of dog is he? And I’m glad you included his age.

Sometimes at that age dogs can get weakness in the rear end, which essentially means the nerves that come from the spinal cord can become compressed, often from problems with the spine itself, like spondylosis of the spine. When that happens, they might have a little trouble controlling it if they get the urge to go.

You might want to give him more opportunities to go outside, especially after he eats, and keep him confined to the kitchen if there’s any worry about him going on the carpet.

I would talk to your vet about it because there may be medication that could help, if that’s the problem (like and NSAID that decreases inflammation). I don’t think they will recommend putting him down for that, so don’t worry. But it is something to watch and treat as he gets older. Good luck.

 

[firefly_ris]

Sometimes at that age dogs can get weakness in the rear end, which essentially means the nerves that come from the spinal cord can become compressed, often from problems with the spine itself, like spondylosis of the spine. When that happens, they might have a little trouble controlling it if they get the urge to go.

This happened to both of my dogs in their older ages (12, 15) where they eventually had so much muscle waste in their hind end that at the end of their lives they were going in their sleep, while they were walking, etc.

But OP noted that the dog always seems to go in the same exact spot, which is why I didn't think to bring that up -- seems more like a deliberate action? What do you think?

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

Sometimes older dogs start to lose control of body functions, just like older people. I mean, I'm almost 40 and I have kids, I laugh and sneeze very carefully at this point in my life! We are lucky to live in a time when we have products to address incontinence in pets, like diapers and pee pads. My last dog had epilepsy and lost control of his bowels during seizures pretty frequently his whole life, eventually I put up baby gates to confine him to the tile areas of the house. i felt bad for doing it because of course it wasn't his fault, but eventually the pee and poop would have soaked into the floorboards through the carpet and made the whole house smell like a public bathroom. You can find dog diapers in all sizes on Chewy.com, they even have cloth, washable ones.

 

[TLSnell1981]

If it's always in the same spot, he might just need some re-training brush up. Alternatively, he might have had 1 accident there by mistake and now smells something there you can't that is signaling for him to go there again. I'd clean the area with vinegar as that can help clean the scent that you and I can't smell but he can. And barring that, perhaps limit his ability to get into the kitchen by himself and go back to praising him for pottying outdoors for a few weeks. If you happen to catch him in the act, quickly interrupt him and redirect him outdoors with whatever command you use for heading out to potty.

I agree with a little retraining. Go back to when he was a puppy. Watch how long it takes before he needs to go outside after eating. Readjusting his routine may solve the problem.

 

[prairie_girl]

What kind of dog is he? And I’m glad you included his age.

Sometimes at that age dogs can get weakness in the rear end, which essentially means the nerves that come from the spinal cord can become compressed, often from problems with the spine itself, like spondylosis of the spine. When that happens, they might have a little trouble controlling it if they get the urge to go.

You might want to give him more opportunities to go outside, especially after he eats, and keep him confined to the kitchen if there’s any worry about him going on the carpet.

I would talk to your vet about it because there may be medication that could help, if that’s the problem (like and NSAID that decreases inflammation). I don’t think they will recommend putting him down for that, so don’t worry. But it is something to watch and treat as he gets older. Good luck.

He’s a mutt but mostly shih tzu. We are going to take him out for walks a few more times a day than we have been to see if that helps. We can’t really keep him confined because we’re in an open floor plan apartment and the only way to contain him would be to shut him in a bedroom...where the carpet is lol

I’ll try putting down vinegar and see if that does anything.

 

[RUDisney]

The vet hasn't suggested that, and I don't think they would. It's just what my husband fears because he knows he's getting older. Like I said, besides this new issue, he's exactly the same as he's been for years.

If you're going to the same vet for years, you probably won't hear that without a very good reason. My parents had only used the "put it down" vet twice. It was the second time... first time with an issue that they told my parents this. Started talking to others and it seems that office was more like a factory than a good veterinary office. The only dr who was good was the owner. All of his underling vets weren't very good. That is a key reflection on the owner vet.

You have my good thoughts to get your pup back in the game. The vinegar cleanup and puppy training are really good responses.

 

[unrequited23]

We've had really good luck with Nature's Miracle enzyme cleaner when dealing with accidents. If he tends to have his accidents around the same time of day, you may want to adjust his feeding schedule. As the dog slows down, their digestive system can slow as well, changing their going out times.

 

[RamblingMad]

He's a senior. Take him out more often as if he was a puppy. Treat him like an adult puppy. The last couple of years with a dog is rough.

 

[Moliphino]

He's a senior. Take him out more often as if he was a puppy. Treat him like an adult puppy. The last couple of years with a dog is rough.

That doesn't always help, sadly. We can take my dog out multiple times in a row and she'll do nothing, then poop inside 10 minutes later. It's exhausting, but she's basically senile at this point.

 

[prairie_girl]

That doesn't always help, sadly. We can take my dog out multiple times in a row and she'll do nothing, then poop inside 10 minutes later. It's exhausting, but she's basically senile at this point.

See, he’ll poop outside, and seem to be empty and then comes inside and within the hour he’s pooped inside too. Then he gets taken out and will poop again. He only gets a cup of food a day and sometimes only eats half that so I don’t know where it all comes deom LOL

Gross, but the poop is not liquidy which would indicate a stomach issue.

Ugh, ten years ago if you’d have told me I’d be talking to internet friends about my husbands dog pooping in the house I wouldn’t have believed you. Especially if you would have told me who I ended up marrying LOL

 

[tzolkin]

But OP noted that the dog always seems to go in the same exact spot, which is why I didn't think to bring that up -- seems more like a deliberate action? What do you think?

We had this issue with our last dog. He was deliberately going to the bathroom in the house in one spot. I thought it was separation anxiety related (he had issues with pacing and getting stressed out when we first adopted him but had never had an accident in the house).

I never reprimanded him or acknowledged the accidents because he would always do it when were not there to see him so I figured it was pointless to say something after the incident had occurred. I yelled at him once when I caught him in the act (I had gone upstairs and he thought I had left, but I could see him from the balcony). The next morning when my husband left for work the dog actually walked all around the entire house and pooped everywhere-- like circled the kitchen island and everything. When I came downstairs he just glared at me and wouldn't break eye contact.

We had to start crating him because the second someone would leave the house, he would walk over to the fireplace hearth and poop. This started after we had him for about two years. He was in another home for two years before ours and they had reported the same weird behavior before returning him.

 

[Moliphino]

See, he’ll poop outside, and seem to be empty and then comes inside and within the hour he’s pooped inside too. Then he gets taken out and will poop again. He only gets a cup of food a day and sometimes only eats half that so I don’t know where it all comes deom LOL

Gross, but the poop is not liquidy which would indicate a stomach issue.

Ugh, ten years ago if you’d have told me I’d be talking to internet friends about my husbands dog pooping in the house I wouldn’t have believed you. Especially if you would have told me who I ended up marrying LOL

Lord, yes. Ours is a bottomless source of poo, too. And she no longer wants to pee and poop on the same trip outside, once she does one or the other she's DONE and nothing you try will convince her to do more. So you have to bring her in and then take her out again 10 minutes later. She was never very good at letting us know she needed to go out, but she's now completely lost it. We just take her out all the time.
The 14 year old dog is still good with his housetraining, thank God.

 

[rottiemom]

Natures Miracle on the spot if vinegar isn't working.
Also, do you have any other pets that might be marking that spot? My dog started leaving gifts downstairs once we got a cat. The litterbox is downstairs so the dog must have thought "Oh, so we can go inside now?"

Try rewarding the dog when they go outside, a really yummy treat that they don't usually get and praise them up and down for going outside.

One other thing, and this may sound odd. Is there anything underneath the floor in the spot where the dog is going (like a lower floor or the basement?). There might be something under the floor that's triggering this. Just a guess.

Good luck. It sounds like your dog has a reason for this behaviour. Not a medical one but one that makes perfect sense to him.

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

Maybe get him those wee pads and put in the spot he goes. I know this sounds like encouraging the behavior, but you can continue to try to take him out also and rewarding when he goes outside. Sometimes problems like this happen when get older, I know we had some with our dog that was never an issue before.