# Still having problems with potty training



## vicky2200 (Feb 14, 2012)

Weegee is almost 6 months old now. We have had him for almost 2 months. When we got him I figured her would be accident free within weeks because he already did extremely well (considering he had no prior training.) He is pretty much 100% trained when it comes to peeing, but pooping is a whole other story! There is no rhyme or reason to when he goes. For example, today, we woke up and I took him straight outside like always. He peed but did not poop (unusual.)I figured maybe it was because our neighbor was outside (he gets nervous when he hears noises and wont go) and I intended on taking him outside within an hour to see if he had to go. Within that hour he pooped in the house (he didn't have anything to eat either.) More time passed. He went out and peed. He begged food off of me (a cracker) but didn't eat any dog food. We were upstairs getting ready for a walk and when I came back downstairs I saw that he pooped inside AGAIN- Not just a little bit, A lot. All solid. I just don't know how I will train him when there is no rhyme or reason to when he goes!


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## Leooonie (May 30, 2009)

first off some questions that may help us answer/give you some added advice:

is he crate trained?
how often is he fed?
what 'quality' is his food ie supermarket shelf stuff (low quality) or something like orijin (high quality)?
how often do you treat him?
what sorts of treats?
when he poops what is the consistency (i know you say solid, but is it always solid)?
any unusual colouring?
how often do you take him out?
does he poop much on walks?


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## vicky2200 (Feb 14, 2012)

He is not crate trained. He is free fed but it is monitored. If he eats I put him outside within 30minutes. This was working but as I said there is no rhyme or reason to when he goes (now, he used to go after he ate and in the AM.) His food is high quality (professional small breed puppy.) He gets treats while we eat if he behaves and it is something he can have. It is nearly always solid. Normal color. If he eats, I let him out within 30 minutes. Otherwise he goes out every 2 hours (unless he is asleep.) He poops on every walk.


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## Rowan (May 27, 2011)

vicky2200 said:


> He is not crate trained. *He is free fed but it is monitored.* If he eats I put him outside within 30minutes. This was working but as I said there is no rhyme or reason to when he goes (now, he used to go after he ate and in the AM.) His food is high quality (professional small breed puppy.) He gets treats while we eat if he behaves and it is something he can have. It is nearly always solid. Normal color. *If he eats, I let him out within 30 minutes. *Otherwise he goes out every 2 hours (unless he is asleep.) He poops on every walk.


BF mine. 
This might be part of your problem (the free feeding). What goes in must come out. If you put him on a more consistent meal plan, you should notice more consistent poops. Look at it this way: he's grazing all day and thus is digesting that food. Instead of eating twice and essentially pooping twice, he's eating/pooping, eating/pooping. Is it possible that between meals and treats/snacks, he's eating too much?  

What size poodle is he? I have MPOOs and I feed mine twice a day. (I've heard you have to feed the TPOO puppies more often to avoid blood sugar issues.) When mine were puppies, I took them out immediately after meals and they usually eliminated at that time. I still let them out as adults and they eliminate like clockwork. Exercise helps too! 

I'm not sure if you have a fenced back yard or if you're already doing this but if all else fails, put him on a leash when you take him out to eliminate. You can try walking him around the yard until he goes.


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## vicky2200 (Feb 14, 2012)

He is a toy poodle. However, he is not grazing all day. If he was (and was having these issues) I would try to get him on a schedule. When he eats, he eats a meal. If anything he isn't eating enough.

I never let him out alone he is always on a leash (even though our yard is fenced.)


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## Rowan (May 27, 2011)

vicky2200 said:


> He is a toy poodle. However, he is not grazing all day. If he was (and was having these issues) I would try to get him on a schedule. When he eats, he eats a meal. If anything he isn't eating enough.
> 
> I never let him out alone he is always on a leash (even though our yard is fenced.)


Well, I'm not sure what else to suggest as I have MPOOs and I'm not familiar with the feeding requirements for a TPOO. I've always been told to feed at set times and it's worked for me. 

Good luck!


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## vicky2200 (Feb 14, 2012)

Thanks. I started him off on a schedule ( I always feed 3-4 times a day for puppies and then move to free feeding) but he wouldn't eat when I would put it down. I would use tough love and assume he would eat eventually when he sees he isn't getting anything else, but he is so small I am afraid to do that.


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## Quossum (Mar 18, 2011)

One thing you're going to have to do regardless of the pup's eating schedule is to supervise him every second he's in the house. Once a dog has learned to eliminate in the house on the sly, you've got to go back to Square One.

It is much harder with a toy dog--I know, I've got an Italian Greyhound. She's nine and, ya' know what? She's a darling girl but she's not 100% housebroken to this day, thanks to my letting a few accidents slide when she was little. Don't be like me--handle it now! 

--Q


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

Tighten up your schedule and control. Pretend you have an 8 week old puppy. Start over. Keep him on a leash 24/7. Make sure you're getting messes all the way clean too!

It will be OK.


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

I'd go back to basics, too. Supervised all the time, and heavy praise for pooping outside. 

Every single time he practices the behaviour you don't want (pooping inside), he's building a habit. And habits are hard to break. There is a temptation to trust that the dog understands something (poop outside) before he's actually built it into a habit.

As a general rule, what goes in comes out about 12 hours later, in my experience. Feeding set meals can help with the housetraining, because you can predict when the dog will need to go.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I agree with Tortoise and JE - and would put him onto a feeding schedule. Three meals a day at first, moving to two a day in a few months. I find with my toys Poppy needs to go at about the same time every day, and will go immediately we are out of the door if the time is right. Sophy needs to be out for up to 15 minutes before she is ready. Exercise tends to move things along, and reducing the number of meals should result in fewer, larger, more predicatable poops.


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## vicky2200 (Feb 14, 2012)

What if he doesn't eat when I put the food down? I've tried. He ended up not eating all day.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I would look at what you are feeding him. Puppies should LOVE their food - if any dog is reluctant to eat I would be concerned, but if a pup is avoiding food I would be looking very, very carefully at what I was feeding. It is possible he simply finds it unpalatable, or it is uncomfortable to eat, or he has an intolerance to one of the ingredients so knows that eating it will give him a tummy ache - puppies do not starve themselves for no reason. Sophy used to enjoy kibble for the first few days, then rapidly go off it as the bag staled. Once I started feeding her NatureDiet, and then raw/home cooked she ate every meal with gusto. Small pups don't need a great deal of food, so it is not hugely expensive to feed a higher quality, more palatable diet.


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## PaddleAddict (Feb 9, 2010)

I would reevaluate what you are feeding (what brand is it?) and how much you are feeding. Also, are you sure the puppy is not eating enough? The amount the bag states to feed is often too much...

For pooping, I have found that taking the puppy for walks is a sure-fire way to get poop. I have always taken my poodle for morning and evening walks (20 minutes or so each walk), and in the beginning, this was most helpful for getting him to poop. I also have always fed him on a schedule of morning and evening meals. He poops like clockwork!


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## vicky2200 (Feb 14, 2012)

I found a solution (or so it seems.) I moved the big dog's food dish. We had it on an end table and that worked for awhile. They would eat it and he couldn't reach it. Then he realized he could jump up on the chair next to it and eat it. I think he was holding out and not eating his food and sneaking their food here and there. This of course created random pooping. I moved it away from the chair so he can't get it unless the big dogs share (which they do occasionally  ). Since then he has been eating his food more consistently. He eats about 3/4 of a cup a day. 

He was having what you all said was probably hunger pukes so I decided to give him a few treats before bed and that seems to be working as well.


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

I don't have a toy poodle - I have a standard and a Havanese. A Hav is still a toy breed so I feel I can offer some insight!  I feed him twice a day. I feed him Natures Variety prepared raw medallions. Each medallion is one ounce, so he gets three of them in the morning, three in the evening (maybe more depending on activity), and some treats during the day. He eats his food in under a minute. He LOVES his food. He also poops right after eating. And if he doesn't go right away, a walk around the block does the trick. And it works EVERY TIME. I monitor his food _and_ water in take so I know how much needs to come out. I also take all the dogs out periodically even if they don't have to go; usually when we are outside they'll go anyway. I don't let my Hav out of my sight. If he isn't sleeping, chewing on a bone, or playing with a toy - there is no reason to be wandering around the house. I crate him or he is leashed to me. I even crate my dogs just to crate them so they get used to it and learn to settle. 

I'm watching a friend's dog (65lb+, so not a toy), and when I give him his kibble he gives me these sad eyes, like "That's it? You want me to eat that?" and won't touch it. He smells all the other stuff my dogs eat. So to get him interested in his food, I've been mixing small amounts of wet cat food or sardines. Maybe you should experiment with toppers while putting your toy on a fixed eating schedule. Just test a small bit of the topper to see if he likes it before mixing it all in his food. Make sure the topper is only a *small* amount. It's to add some flavor and extra smell to the food, not to supplement the food (if you add too much toppings, that's extra stuff that needs to be pooped out!)


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