Help! I need advice!!! Poop question.

[Shelley and Riley]

My pup Riley is ten weeks and we have been working on potty training for about 10 days now. Riley is doing well with peeing outside but comes in to poop. I am new at this whole potty training thing and think I may be missing some of Riley's ques.... After he pees I praise him. I think maybe he gets sidetracked with playing at this point. I wait about five minutes but he is too interested in rolling in the grass and chasing leaves. He is on a short leash so he can't go far, but he just doesn't seem interested in pooping. After coming inside and released from him leash, he goes poop. I am afraid that this is becoming a habit for him.

 

Do you guys have any hints for me???

 

Do puppies usually poop everytime they pee (seems like alot)???

 

 

 

 

[Tracy Casaceli]

With my 11-week-old, Ranger, we started a schedule diary (just a bunch of looseleaf paper with the dates on top). I wrote down every time we went(which was alot) out and what he did(pee/poop/nothing) etc. and I also logged when he slept and wanted to play. It wasn't until I could compare with other days did I realize the pattern. I can now predict around when he needs to poop and pee. He generally will poop 3 times a day. Once in the morning(6AM), early afternoon and before dinner.
The best thing is keep to a strict schedule with feeding. I was going bananas the first week since I'm a first time dog owner! Sleep deprived.
I also would only stay in one area of our yard until he pee/pooped then I would play with him. We always say 'do your business' several times to keep him back on course when he gets sidetracked. I hoped that helps. I also ordered poochie bells for him and I'll let you know how that works.

[Deb, Connor & Simon]

All excellent advice here, might add to take him to a spot with his scent on it from a previous poop or pee.
A puppy has to be about 3 months old before he has the physical ability to really hold it, so you will have to take him out a lot more often than you think (as mentioned by Megan). I've never had to give a doodle treats for housebreaking, but while my collie picked up on the pee outside quickly, he had a problem with pooping consistently outside. A happy party and tiny taste of a treat finally worked for him. That winter I had treats in every pocket of every coat and had to make sure to check pockets of my jeans before I put them in the washer. :-D
Different dogs/pups respond to training differently - so sometimes you have to try more than one method to find out what works best for you and your dog. Oh, one other thing....my trainer has pounded into all our heads that you have 3 seconds to either praise or correct a dog's behavior....so make sure you start praising immediately or even while he's in the act. And when you teach him the "leave it" command, that will help alleviate a lot of the frustration of him working on his leaf collection. :-D
BTW, Riley is a doll!!

[Deb, Connor & Simon]

Oh, I just read about him pooping a lot. I think 2-3 times a day would be common. I don't know what brand of food he's eating, but if he is pooping more than 3x/day, you might want to consider using a higher quality food. Without fillers, a higher quality food is used more efficiently by the dog's body, so there's less waste coming out the other end. :-) If the protein source (chicken, beef, fish, etc) is not listed as the first ingredient, it might not be your best choice. Also if you see corn, soy, wheat or incarnations of those high on the ingredient list, that's another indicator you might need to make a change.
Hope this helps.

[Betsy & Ridley]

I also have a 10 week old and we're doing pretty great with the potty training. The 1st few days I paid really close attention to when he went so I knew when he last went and if he might have to go and to get an idea of his schedule. I actually kept a log of his feedings, poops and pee's for the 1st week. I kept him on a leash and we only did business outside. It helps that it's freezing and snowy in MN right now cause neither of us want to play much! In general he usually went right away if he had to go. If we were out there more than a minute or two and he was playing & not doing business we'd go back in....maybe I'm just a strick mean mama :)

I noticed right away that he won't always/usually poop and pee together. His morning routine is to go outside to pee, come back in and start breakfast and then go out to poop 15 mins later. Actually that seems like his routine in general. If he pee'd and didnt' poop I kept a close eye on him & kept taking him out. I think that it is easier to catch them right before they poop vs. pee. The sniffing and circling seems to buy you a few extra seconds. I would let him pee, bring him back in instead of waiting for him to poop and then bring him back out 10 minutes later or if he shows signs of being ready to poop.

We're doing really great. We've only had a few accidents in the house and we've gotten to the point that he is ringing his bells to ask to go out and he only came home 2 weeks ago today! Just this morning he went out 1st thing and then came in to eat and play. When he was ready to do his #2 he rang the bells for me. Of course, I knew he hadn't done his #2 so I was keeping 1 eye on him but I've definitely gotten to the point where I have some trust in him to not go any where he wants! As soon as he's got the idea that outside is for potty I would put up the bells! Ridley pretty much picked up on the bells without me having to train him.. They are such smart pups I"m sure Riley will too! Good luck!!!

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

All this advice is great. Rule of thumb...take out after playing, eating and waking up. In the beginning it was probably every 20-30 minutes with Lucca. As they get older they can hold it longer. Izzy seems to hold it a lot longer.
We started Lucca on the Poochie Bells at around 4 months and it worked immediately. We started Izzy since day 1 but she has only touched them a few times. She will be 10 weeks tomorrow. But...she either whines at the door or comes up to me doing her "wiggly potty dance". She'll figure out the bells though as she gets older. She already understands that when I ring the bells and say "lets go potty"...she comes running. She has also found her spot outside.
They don't usually pee and poo in the same spot. At least my dogs never have.
Good luck and it will work itself out. Just be patient.

[Shelley and Riley]

This is all great advice, I so appreciate it. Riley is my first indoor dog; hence, my first time potty training.

I think I need to be more strict about NOT playing in the back yard. As soon as Riley pees, I praise him and we play. I also was naive enough to think that one poop, maybe two was normal. Once he had two poops, I thought we were done for the day. Riley tends to poop three to four times a day so writing down his schedule would be a great tool. I have the Poochie Bells and was thinking to start that after he is consistant about going outside.

All that said, Riley is just so sweet, and we all love him.

[Melissa]

I would start the Poochie bells immediately. If he doesn't touch them, you can physically touch his nose or paw to it, so he starts getting used to what it means. You use the leash to take him out when he pees walk him around to see if he needs to poop. If he seems to linger in one spot too long move him along. I had to do that with Buddy (sometimes still now) because he sniffs and gets in one spot and gets a little ADD so I just pull him along and it seems to work great! Good luck!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

It used to take Peri a while to poop - like a good 10-15 minutes sometimes - while walking. Just take longer to walk - the movement speeds up the bowel movement :)

[Lynda Kamrath]

No, puppies do not poop everytime they pee. They pee much more often. Two of my dogs always pooped after they had a meal, so I leave them outside after they eat and they eventually go poop. When I see the poop, I let them back inside. My other dog poops even less frequently and he likes to go below and hide his poop in the grass. Try to get his signals that he needs to poop or pee. You both will catch on to the signals that it is time for business.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Rooney is being taught to go potty on command. We take him outside every 2 hours during the day and say "get busy" one time. He walks around a bit with us and then goes pee. We praise him with "get busy - good boy". We continue to walk around the potty area without talking, I think he gets that he has something he should do. He is 15 wks and pooped inside on the day we got him, nothing after that. He poops first thing in the morning, mid morning and early evening before dinner. Keep a diary of the times he goes and that will help you to learn his times. He has had a few more pee accidents that poop. It is hard, I feel your pain - I look forward to this part to being over!

[Melissa]

Also we use the commands poop and pee. And as he is doing each outside, when he was younger we would say pee or poop while he was doing it so he could associate the two. Just another idea.