If your dog has spent weeks, months, even years without having a potty accident, then suddenly dropped a log in an unexpected place… you might wonder if they pooped in your house on purpose.
After all, they know better, right?
The timing might make you suspicious. Maybe they had an accident right after you scolding them or they did not get their way.
I believe you when you say you are observing these patterns. I think that living with an animal gives you a special power to understand their motivations and communicate with them in a nonverbal way.
But sometimes, we rely too much on our experiences with humans when we judge our dogs.
And if you’re dealing with the same issues over and over, you’re going to get frustrated. The only way to see a change, though, is to think differently about your relationship with your dog.
Doesn’t My Dog KNOW It’s Wrong To Poop There?
Even the most solidly potty-trained dog does not know that she has a moral obligation to keep your floor clean.
Dogs don’t think poop is yucky. They think it is wonderful, useful, with a pungent aroma that is packed with information about the gifter.
So, your dog will never understand that you hate cleaning up poop. She will never understand how embarrassing it is for it to appear when you have guests over.
When you potty-train your dog, all she learns is that it is rewarding to go potty outside or on her pad. Successful pottying becomes a habit. Not a moral obligation. Not an act of compliance or respect for your security deposit.
Instead of asking our dogs, “HOW dare you?” we need to ask, “WHY dare you?”
Please don’t take those random poops personally.
People do dumb things to get revenge. Dogs are pure. They just don’t think that way, and that’s why we don’t deserve them.
But if you’re annoyed, angry, exasperated… hang in there. This can be fixed so you and your dog can live together in happy harmony. And you won’t always have to pick up stray poops.
Do Some Dogs Just Prefer Pooping In The House?
Some situations might make pooping indoors more comfortable for your dog. For example, your dog might only have accidents in the winter or during rainstorms.
If you aren’t interesting in using potty pads part-time, you can teach your dog to poop outside in the snow.
Comfort and convenience can make your dog prefer pooping indoors, so you’ll have to motivate her to change those bad habits. At first, it’ll be an extra challenge, but your dog can and will get used to going outside to poop, even if it’s a little uncomfortable for her.
Who Isn’t A Nervous Pooper?
You ever have an upcoming date or job interview, and spend the whole morning pooping every hour?
No? Just me?
Stress and anxiety cause spasms in the gut. This causes the contents of the bowel to move faster, causing that EMERGENCY POOP feeling.
That’s why nervous poops aren’t that usual, “oh, maybe I’ll head to the bathroom in a few minutes,” they’re more like “OH MY GOD I HAVE TO GO.”
Dogs have a much shorter digestive tract than people. That’s why they seem to poop after every meal, or even more. Food moves through them really quickly.
That handy biological trait plus anxiety can make a previously potty trained dog turn into nervous random pooper.
That’s Why Dogs Don’t Poop For Revenge.
I keep hearing stories of dogs who were told off, and then immediately went and pooped on their owner’s bed.
The explanation seems pretty simple to me – your dog may even start acting up because they’re trying to get your attention to go potty. They might have targeted your bed because it’s drenched in the comforting scent of you… even if you’re not being very comforting to them at the moment.
Events like these are just one reason why I advocate for positive training – punishing your dog, or in the case of small, emotionally unstable dogs (most Chihuahuas and many others) even raising your voice can cause enough stress to make your dog poop somewhere unusual.
Don’t beat yourself up if you’ve ever yelled at your dog or overreacted to a poop. Dogs are imperfect, and so are people. They manage to love us anyway. You’ll do better next time, and so will your dog.
What Should I Do Now?
First, consider a vet appointment. If it’s actually a pee problem, your dog will need to get checked for a urinary tract infection.
How are your dog’s poops? They should be firm enough to roll around, not stick to the floor. A healthy poop is actually very easy to clean up and barely leaves a mark on the surface, though you’ll still want to disinfect the area.
If your dog does not have any health issues, make sure that her favorite forbidden potty spots are completely clean. That means using an enzyme cleaner like Nature’s Miracle to break down any trace of a lingering scent.
You can use crates and pet gates to keep your dog away from those forbidden areas.
If you suspect your dog is anxious, you can try Tellington Touch Belly Lifts, a simple exercise that helps calm nervous dogs and those with digestive issues.
There are a lot of variables when it comes to solving poop issues. You can leave a comment to discuss what’s going on with your dog. You may also want to enlist the help of a trainer or behaviorist who can figure out exactly why your dog is having accidents so you can find a real, lasting solution.
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She also uses her pet copywriting business to make sure the best pet products and services get found online through catchy copy and fun, informative blog posts. She also provides product description writing services for ecommerce companies.
As a dog mom to Matilda and Cow, she spends most of her days taking long walks and practicing new tricks, and most nights trying to make the best of a very modest portion of her bed.
You'll also find her baking bread and making homemade pizza, laughing, painting and shopping.
You’re so right, we Don’t deserve them, but thankfully we’ve been given the gift of dogs anyway! I learned by careful observation that when it gets super cold or there’s snow in the potty area, Phoebe can potentially have an “accident”. Now I put a sweater on her, time her potty breaks to ensure she goes Outside every few hours, and we shovel a patch of snow so she can potty in comfort. Works like a charm! Awesome post.
Love & Biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
Great info! Because I have senior dogs I’m always aware of any changes in behaviour. A perfectly housetrained dog that starts pooping indoors would definitely have me headed to the vet’s office.
My youngest dog will occasionally have accidents inside if I don’t get him out in time. He’s funny, because he won’t ask to go outside, he’ll just resort to going on the floor. Luckily feeding and walking him on a pretty strict schedule has eliminated his accidents, for the most part.
The first dog training book I ever read had this magic phrase: “It’s much easier to teach your dog to potty in the one spot you want them to than the thousands of spots you don’t.”
Timely, timely post – our little guy, Spike has turned 13 and has taken to showing no interest in going outside to take care of business. He has IVDD so I think his neck hurts and he no longer can use the doggy door – my husband was not so sure. Thanks for this info – it helps in our discussion!
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I’m not a dog person since I’ve always had cats and I must say dogs got cats beat in the lack of vengeful poop department. It happened to me once and only once and I’ll never forget. I have a few friends that dogs do use the wee pads to poop on when left a home during the day. It seems to work well for them when they aren’t able to walk them during the mid day. But of course they look forward to their evening walks when they get fresh air and can do their business outside the house.
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I sometimes wish Layla would pee or poop on a pad but no such thing, when she needs to go she tells me and off we go outside.
I never assume anything my dogs do are malicious- usually. Often I chalk it up to something medical and rule that out first. However, there is always an exception. Gonzo was about 7 months old and was house-trained. One day he got mad at me because I wouldn’t let him do something, he turned around walking over to the fireplace (the opposite direction of the door) turned back to look at me, and then peed. The cheeky little monster! That’s the moment when I realized he had dominance tendencies and upped my training.
One of the downsides of seeing the relationship we have with our pets as one of “pet parent” is that tendency to see their behavior through our eyes – but they don’t think the same way. So peeing and pooping in the house isn’t an act of defiance or revenge.
Great post.
I love this post. Kilo the pug is a notorious poop bandit. He goes outside if not too cold or wet or on pads inside when he makes it but he often poops around certain spots. I never punish of course- to be honest I don’t like going out either sometimes
It is this kind of behaviour that gets dogs dropped off at the kill shelter instead of their parents looking at great blog posts like this.
Well done.
Great post! I know if Truffle or Brulee have improper elimination, I tend to check the litter box first. Sometimes, if it’s not cleaned quickly enough or a different litter is used, they will go outside the box. Otherwise, it’s off to the vet for them.
When I was younger and living at home, my mother had a Poodle that was house trained, but when she was ignored or scolded, she’d do her business on the floor right where my mother left her bedside slippers, seemingly just so my mother would step in it! Sure seemed like it was revenge! LOL! But, most likely pooping where her slippers were because she knew she slid them on to let her out. Great post!
Thank you for this great article! I had a fun time reading it. Dogs are such adorable and lovable creatures! I can’t imagine a life without them — they give us a sense of purpose and as science has proven they make our lives happier. Charlie Brown, my favourite corgi pet is such a culprit for leaving a mess in the house and he barks excessively when he sees new people. This post is really a great help for me. Amazing read!
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Thanks for the insightful post. My Chester has yet to do the business inside but as he gets older things may change.
My 9yr old dog poops in the house even when I leave the door open for her. She’ll poop right in front of us at times. She even come in from outside to poop!
Her poop is firm, not runny. I’m almost done with her
Has she always had accidents, or is this something that started happening recently?
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Looking for advice. We just moved from a house with A very small yard to a house with a much larger backyard. We have 4 dogs and they are so happy to finally have room to really run around. Our 9 month old German Shepherd was potty trained at our old house. Since the move he’s been pooping in the house. I’ve read that a move can cause anxiety which could result in accidents, but more often than not he has a poop accident within minutes of just coming inside after being out for 10-15 minutes. At first when he had an accident at the new house we would immediately take him back outside, but now it almost seems as if he has associated “if I poop in the house they will take me back out to run around again” so we’ve stopped taking him out after he has an accident. I don’t want to reward the bad behavior, but don’t know what to do! Thanks!
9 months is a weird age, I’m not really experienced with larger dogs so I’m not sure what phase your pup may be at, if he’s in a fear period or experiencing a flux of hormones, or just getting into his adolescent stage. I’d go back to square one with whatever methods you used to first train him, crating him, giving him less freedom, especially if there is a specific spot he keeps going back to poop – and it may also be worth talking to your vet about it, too, if it doesn’t get better.
Awesome article! Have my mini pin/chi mix dog 2 1/2 yrs. She’s approximately 4-5 yrs.Came from a hoarder home. Took me 3 months to potty train. Destroyed my rugs. Would take her out on a leash every 4-5 hrs about 5 times a day on grass and rarely had accidents. Moved to a house wirh a yard 2 months ago. The first month or so there were no problems. Now, she still goes out every 3-4 hrs, but doesn’t want to come back in when I call (no leash walking) and has poop or pee episodes indoors almost every nite. And I clean the area with enzymatic cleaner. Could it be the change from leash walking to freedom causing this? And why would this not happen immediately after the move?
Thnx for any input!
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Great and informative post. I actually thought when a fully potty trained dog poops in the house, he or she has a problem or simply trying to revenge. Good to know that dogs are pure and do not have vengeful thoughts like we humans do.
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I’ve had my dog for 5 years. It didn’t take long to get her housebroken. Once she was, if she ever had to poop in the house (my wife and I were gone too long, or if she was sick), she ALWAYS went downstairs in the basement where we have tile floor.
Over the last two weeks, she has had SEVERAL accidents in the house, and with almost every one she pooped upstairs on the carpet. I repeat… she has NEVER pooped upstairs since she was housebroken. This afternoon, we left her outside for an hour. We let her back in and almost immediately she pooped upstairs in the hallway, in our bedroom, and in a guest bedroom.
My wife and I have a 10 month old son. This is our first child. So I get what you’re saying in the article, but something is up here. Today was not the first time that she pooped upstairs right after I let her back in the house. I’m having a hard time accepting that there’s not at least a hint of jealousy my dog is feeling. Before my son was born, even if my dog was ill, she ALWAYS went downstairs to do her business. What gives??????
Hi Will, first of all, congrats on the little boy! I don’t have any human kids, so I don’t truly know what that first year is like, but I wonder if your dog might have anxiety about the change in schedule, change in your household, especially as your baby might be starting to crawl or walk, or even feels insecure enough to feel the need to communicate by marking – as pooping can also be a way of scent-marking. I understand you may have a sense of urgency because you can’t have your baby crawling around where your dog poops.
About this afternoon… did she really poop in three different spots??
If it’s only been two weeks since she starting pooping in the house, and you’ve had the baby for 10 months now… well, first a vet check would be best, but ruling anything else out, you may need to go backwards in her training to re-establish her potty habits.
The biggest thing, though – don’t give up on her, and try to stay patient. She WILL be your dog’s best bud in a few years, and I’m sure you’ll figure this out.
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Thanks for the advice. Yes she actually pooped in three separate locations: hallway, guest bedroom, and master bedroom. And it was within 5 minutes after coming in the house after being outside for an hour. We plan to take her to the vet because we think she has a UTI. We’ll see what else may be going on.
Tnx 4r posting this blog
Hi,
We have a Chiweenie (chihuahua and doxie mix) who is 7 months old. He’s been potty trained since he was 3.5 months old and has been so diligent about where his designated potty zone is. (If we can, we try to take him outside, but in the buffalo winters, he won’t take a single step outside).
He even flew back with me during the holidays, stayed at my parents house and had no issues adjusting to pottying there. He had maybe 1-2 accidents for the 2 weeks we were there.
However, when I started my new job, he started deviating significantly from potty training. He was doing well for first few weeks but has suddenly started pooping whenever we were not sitting right next to him. If I have to stop and use the bathroom for a minute, he will leave a trail of poop. Even if I am in the kitchen getting a treat for him or making his food, he will leave a trail of poo. We have tried our original potty training method (that got him trained in 2-3 weeks), treating, 2 min time outs (before we get any hate, I will look him in the eyes and ask if he pottied where he wasn’t supposed to on my carpet. We always get the guilty dog eyes.) followed by reminders that he shouldn’t act out because he doesn’t get what he wants.
There has been times when I will stand right next to his potty zone with treats and he will come running, until I say “it’s time to potty”, in which case he would run the other way and immediately soil the floor 20 ft from me.
I’m reading articles and experiences of other dog owners, but I get the feeling that he is acting out and intentionally breaking potty training to get our attention.
Do you all have any recommendations? I feel like we have tried everything
Have you taken him to the vet? Sudden accidents after he’s been trained for a while sounds kind of unusual.
His aversion to the words “it’s time to potty” sounds to me like the whole concept of potty training has been associated with stress, and you may be stressed because of your life changes and the frustration of cleaning up after him, so it may be time to go back to basics with crating him or keeping him in a small room or playpen with a pad while you’re at work, having set meal times so he poops at regular times (especially if you’re free-feeding.)
It’s so important to stay calm and not take it personally when he has accidents because he can sense that you’re upset, but dogs don’t feel guilt, they don’t understand that pooping in the house causes a mess and that it’s stressful for us to have to deal with it. So, that stress just leads to more accidents.
Best of luck, I definitely don’t want to make you feel judged or feel like you’ve done anything wrong because I know you love your boy, but it’s important to rethink the way you see his accidents and make sure he feels safe first and foremost, a clean house comes second to that. <3
I have a 4yr old Chihuahua that is potty trained (since he was 4 months old), has a doggie door and does great usually. He has 2 other dogs around that use the door with ease. If it’s cold or rains out, no way he will go out! Other times it’s beautiful out and he’d rather run upstairs and poop/pee wherever! At night he burrows under our sheets and sleeps with us but sometimes will get up while I’m sleeping and do his business in the house! I am not a fan of crating but am at a loss. If it was just at night, I would crate him. But it’s random and he has no problem having accidents in the home throughout the day Whether I’m home or not. I thought he was doing it bc he was mad at me when I left. I don’t want him to live his life in a crate but I am at my Whitt’s end. Each morning when I wake up I say let’s go potty and he’ll run downstairs and go right out the doggie door. I have to get a handle on this or he’s going to have to go.