Hey everyone, I'm struggling with an issue we've been trying to deal with an would like some input. Our six month old lab is mostly house trained. She occasionally has an accident in the house when we miss her cue, but I'm trying to improve her ability to go on command. Usually when we feed her, she poops within an hour or so of eating. It's been this way since we got her, so I know her habits pretty well. Our problem has always been that she takes FOREVER to poop. Early on I would let her take her time, but lately she's been taking longer and longer. She gets easily distracted in the yard and spooked by most anything. She'll circle to poop but then something will spook her and we have to start the clock for another 20 minutes. When I need to leave for work, I can't afford to sit outside with her for 30-40 minutes. Not to mention it's cold outside and we're approaching rain season. My strategy has always been that if she doesn't go after 20 or so minutes, she comes in and goes in her crate because I can't fully trust her to not go in the house yet. Especially when I know she needs to go. I let her stay there for another half hour and then try again. My wife would like me to put her on a cord outside and let her stay out, but then I never know if she actually goes. This isn't a matter of not getting enough time outside. We play after she goes and I take her on walks most days. Any suggestions on how to speed her up?
I have the same problem! It used to be only in the evening but this morning we have just had a fruitless 20 minute walk when Jess needed to poop but got distracted at the crucial moment! I was thinking about it, and it's at least partially my fault: she stopped wanting to go in the garden, so I started taking her for a walk to eliminate. Now she is getting reluctant to poop on-lead, but will poop as soon as we go to an off-lead spot. She's been getting rewarded for not pooping, basically! I was thinking about Ian Dunbar's advice, to train your dog to go in the garden and use walks as a reward for eliminating (I've pasted it below). I'm not sure if it's too late to try it in my case - I think it would need some very long waits in my very small garden and I'm not sure how long we would need to do that before she got the message. But it's all I could come up with. I'll be interested to see others' advice. Ian Dunbar - http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/errorless-housetraining: Many people fall into the trap of taking their puppy outside or walking him so that he may eliminate, and when he does they bring him indoors. Usually it takes just a couple of trials before the puppy learns, "Whenever my urine or feces hits the ground, my walk ends!" Consequently, the pup becomes reluctant to eliminate outside, and so when brought home after a long jiggling play or walk, he is in dire need to relieve himself. Which he does. It is a much better plan to praise your puppy for using his doggy toilet and then take him for a walk as a reward for eliminating. Get in the habit of taking an older puppy to his doggy toilet (in your yard or curbside in front of your apartment building), standing still, and waiting for the pup to eliminate. Praise the pup and offer liver treats when he does: "Good dog, let's go walkies!" Clean up and dispose of the feces in your own trash can, and then go and enjoy a poopless walk with your dog. After just a few days with a simple "no poop—no walk" rule, you'll find you have the quickest urinator and defecator in town.
If your dog won't poop when you take her out, it could be a number of things. Maybe she's not used to going in that particular spot, or she's afraid of something she smells or sees there. It could also be that she's not feeling well or is holding it in for some reason. If it's a consistent problem, you might want to talk to your vet to see if there's a medical reason for it. In the meantime, you could try taking her to a different spot to see if that makes a difference.
