# Puppy gets frantic before she poops



## RubyRuby (Nov 7, 2011)

Sometimes my puppy gets very frantic before she poops. She sniffs and circles but with much more urgency than before she pees. She will strain against the leash, pace quickly back and forth, today she even made this bark/whine noise a little before she finally stopped moving and got down to business. 

Is this normal puppy behavior? Once she actually starts pooping she seems fine, not constipated or anything, and her poops look normal and healthy. 

What's up with my pup? It's almost like she wants more distance between us while she's doing her business...?


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## mom24doggies (Mar 28, 2011)

It sounds like she's just trying to find a good spot....mine do the same thing sometimes. It can take them several tries to find the perfect place! As long as she's not straining to poop or crying as she poops, I'm sure she's fine.


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## Poodlelvr (Mar 13, 2010)

The circling back and forth is very normal. My toy girl does this all the time. That's how I know she is going to poop instead of pee. Once she assumes the position she rises higher and higher as the movement continues. As soon as she is done she quickly runs several feet away. I have no explanation for this behavior. It's just her.


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## Joelly (May 8, 2012)

My Charlie (toy poodle mix) does the same thing. He circles again and again back and forth. I think its because he feels the urgency need but not yet in the "perfect" position which makes him frantic sometime. I praise him and throw some treats away from the poo so I can clean it up while he is busy looking for treats. I learn this from this forum. 

My sister-in-law yorkies like to cover their poo, well at least they try to scrape some dirt with their back legs so that that dirts will cover their poo. They're too cute.


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## Jacamar (Jun 2, 2012)

My ex-girlfriend's Rottweiler-Mastiff mix did that. Must be normal.


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## LEUllman (Feb 1, 2010)

Yep, sounds familiar. Be glad he's giving you a nice, clear signal!


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## caroline429 (Mar 5, 2012)

This is totally normal behaviour. Some dogs do seem to like some distance (privacy) and others couldn't care less. Some just stop and poop, others run in circles or back and forth before finally going. I've owned them all. LOL

If Cali is on leash, she tries to get as close to the curb as possible, which also happens to be as far away from me as she can get. She then runs back and forth, back and forth, circles and circles and after what seems like hours, finally poops! LOL

If she's out in the yard, she gets as close to the fence as she can then spends a lot of time running back and forth before she goes. Getting so close to the fence presents a challenge for pickup because she often manages to drop it right between the boards!


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

Yes, the poop walk. I can recognize Vegas's instantly, Vienna's kinda, and Cairo's not so much.


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## zyrcona (Jan 9, 2011)

My dog does the poodance.

I wonder if the motion of exercising their legs helps to get their bowels moving.


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## RubyRuby (Nov 7, 2011)

Thanks everyone for all the responses! 

It is so great for my peace of mind to be able to ask experienced puppy people "Is this normal?!", and even better when the answer is "YES".


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## RubyRuby (Nov 7, 2011)

caroline429 said:


> Getting so close to the fence presents a challenge for pickup because she often manages to drop it right between the boards!


LOL! What a talented dog. Maybe you could start a new dog sport: target pooping hehe


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## taem (Mar 5, 2011)

My 6 month old searches forever and ever for the right spot and then she can't hold it anymore and gets frantic and has to poop somewhere she's not 100% with (like on a 45 degree incline) and she's miserable about it, and she starts crab walking as she poops still searching for a better spot.

She also needs it to be perfectly quiet, when I see her about to poop I pray to god for everything to shut down for a minute but no, someone always has to open a garage door, or drive up the street, or turn on a vacuum, or a deer runs across the street, or a bird chirps, or a leaf flutters, and puppy goes "huh? who's there?" and then we have to start looking for a new spot. Oh and once she was right about to do it and the high school on the other side of the canyon was rehearsing graduation and started blasting "Celebration." @#[email protected] Kool & the Gang!!! I wanted to kill somebody.

I never thought it would be this hard just getting puppy to poop. But we'll be walking around forever and her butt is clenching and unclenching and I can see the poop start to come out but she doesn't want to let it. Sometimes I just want to pick her up and squeeze her until it comes out.


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## KidWhisperer (Apr 3, 2012)

LOL!!! These posts are too funny, and hit close to home. With this being my first real dog, I had no idea that poop comes with so much drama! Sammi does the "poo-poo" dance as well before, and the "fuss-whine-bark-snatch the poop bag" afterwards (getting better, thank goodness!)


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## LoveMyDogs (Jun 13, 2012)

taem said:


> My 6 month old searches forever and ever for the right spot and then she can't hold it anymore and gets frantic and has to poop somewhere she's not 100% with (like on a 45 degree incline) and she's miserable about it, *and she starts crab walking as she poops still searching for a better spot.*
> 
> She also needs it to be perfectly quiet, when I see her about to poop I pray to god for everything to shut down for a minute but no, someone always has to open a garage door, or drive up the street, or turn on a vacuum, or a deer runs across the street, or a bird chirps, or a leaf flutters, and puppy goes "huh? who's there?" and then we have to start looking for a new spot. Oh and once she was right about to do it and the high school on the other side of the canyon was rehearsing graduation and started blasting "Celebration." @#[email protected] Kool & the Gang!!! I wanted to kill somebody.
> 
> I never thought it would be this hard just getting puppy to poop. But we'll be walking around forever and her butt is clenching and unclenching and I can see the poop start to come out but she doesn't want to let it. Sometimes I just want to pick her up and squeeze her until it comes out.


My boy does the crab walk too! LOLOL!


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## Bunny (Jun 14, 2012)

Oh these poop dance stories are so hilarious! Glad it's so common. We got our dog for my son, whose job it is to pick up the poop with a scooper or shovel - he has a little plastic shovel that works great. He tries to be the ninja scooper and place his shovel right under the dog to catch the poop before it hits the grass. He's actually succeeded a couple of times! The dog doesn't love this. LOL


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## Siskojan (Mar 13, 2011)

Before we moved, very recently, Larry noticed Sisko was timing his poop and obligingly doing it steps away from the garbage can at the park, so Larry could rid himself of his green baggie very quickly. Sisko is a poo dancer and "travels" whilst performing.


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