The issue of puppies pooping in the house after being outside, may cause dog owners to become very frustrated, and who can blame them? Staying outside with the pups for many minutes and then coming inside only to see them having an accident on a rug, can sure be an annoying ordeal to face. If your puppy is doing this, don’t be too fast to assume your puppy is doing it out of spite, dogs simply don’t think this way. Vengeance is not on a dog’s agenda considering that it takes higher-level cognitive abilities to think in such a planned way. There are several potential reasons behind the issue of puppies pooping in the house after being outside.
Puppies Pooping in the House After Being Outside
If your puppy is pooping after coming inside the home, you may be wondering what may going on in his head. The issue can surely be frustrating, especially when much time is spent outside waiting for the puppy to potty only to come back inside and witnessing him having an accident right after coming through the door.
What is going on? In order to better understand the dynamics taking place, it helps putting oneself in Rover’s shoes. Sometimes, dogs may have some reasonable explanations and they are not always under their conscious control.
There are many things that can happen, from both a behavioral and physical perspective, and therefore, you may need to do some investigative work in order to figure out the exact trigger.
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While obviously, you cannot ask your puppy what he is up to, you must turn into some sort of detective to figure out what may be going on in Rover’s life. Following are some potential causes for puppies pooping in the house after coming inside.
A Matter of Overstimulation
In many cases, the problem of puppies pooping in the house after being outside may stem from the environment outside of the home. The area designated to go potty may be too over stimulating for the puppy, and with puppies having short attention spans, they can quickly get distracted.
After all, how many times has it happened to you that you were outside among company or having a blast shopping and you only realize an impellent urge to go visit the toilet only once you have walked several steps and inserted the keys and turned the door knob? This is not at all uncommon!
Puppies can be similar. It can be that there are too many distractions going on and the last thing Rover thinks about is to go potty. This is common with puppies. After being enclosed in the home for most of the time, once they are let out, they can’t wait to sniff around and romp to get rid of pent-up energy.
With all this sensory overload and excitement to stretch their legs, they get distracted to the point of forgetting that they need to go potty. Only once, back inside the dull home, they realize the urgency and have an accident right on the spot. “Ooops, I didn’t mean to!”
Tip: Avoid talking and interacting with your puppy when he is sent out to potty. If you want to praise your puppy for going potty, don’t interrupt him, do so only after he has completely emptied his bowels. If you play in the yard with your puppy, make sure you only play after he has gone potty. If feasible, take your puppy out when it’s quiet. If your puppy gets easily distracted by neighbors, if feasible, wait for the neighbors to be inside.
A Matter of Fear
While overstimulation can be a primary cause for puppies pooping in the house after coming inside, so can fear. If your puppy is scared of something in the yard or on walks, he may not feel comfortable enough to go do his business. Perhaps there are too many noises or perhaps other dogs and people your pup encounters on walks make him feel on edge.
When dogs are not comfortable, they will hold it, until they are relaxed again. Going potty when a dog is over threshold, is the last thing the dog may think of as he may be fearing for his life.
Also, consider this: going potty puts a dog in a vulnerable position. First of all, it takes time, which can make a difference when every second counts. A dog who senses danger will typically want to be on all his four legs ready to spring into action.
On top of that, dogs who pee or poop leave traces of them behind which can put them in a vulnerable position if they feel threatened by something.
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Fearful dogs want to hide as much as they can, becoming small and almost invisible, and therefore, they may not want to leave traces behind (their urine or feces) because those may attract predators. Of course, nowadays there are no predator animals hunting them down as it happened in the past, but those instincts may still prevail.
Tip: if you have recently rescued a fearful dog, it may be worth it to temporarily train him/her to use pads inside until has adjusted to the changes and has more confidence. Take your dog outside when things are quiet if feasible (e.g. avoid when the trash truck is going around).
A Matter of Substrate Preference
This is a little known fact, but puppies tend to form a substrate preference by the time they are 8 and a half weeks old. This simply means that puppies develop a preference for using a particular surface to use as their potty by this age.
So if a puppy was trained to pee on paper and then is adopted in a new home where the puppy is expected to pee on grass outdoors, the puppy may seek out different surfaces than grass and may therefore hold it and prefer to use the carpet once back indoors.
Many puppy owners train their puppies to pee and poop on pads inside the home, and then expect them to also pee and poop on grass once sent outside, however things aren’t always so easy. Puppies pooping in the house after being outside may be simply looking for their favorite pee pad.
Tip: It’s a good idea when adopting a puppy from a pet store, rescue or breeder, to ask exactly what surface was used to let the puppy go potty. If a puppy was trained to use pads or newspaper, the puppy can be gradually transitioned to grass by taking outside a piece of newspaper or pad and encourage the puppy to use that. Gradually, the newspaper or pad may be reduced in size or may be covered gradually with more and more grass until the puppy learns to exclusively potty on grass.
More Tips to Stop Puppies Pooping in the House After Being Outside
As seen, there can be several reasons behind the issue of puppies pooping in the house after being outside. Each underlying reason therefore has its own individual resolution. Further general tips that are worthy of mentioning include the following.
- Walk your puppy. It’s a known fact that movement increases motility. Walking your puppy on leash may keep your puppy from wandering and getting distracted. Go on a nice walk and bring along some poop bags with you.
- Train your puppy to go potty on command. This can take some time to train, but in the long run it’s an investment considering the ease of getting your puppy to go potty where and when you want him to.
- If you are praising your puppy for pooping, make sure to start praising only once your puppy has fully emptied his bowels.
- If you are using treats to reward your puppy for pooping outside, make sure you keep them out of sight as they can be distracting. Skip the crinkly bag of treats that makes noises. Rather, hide them in your pocket.
- Don’t move away the moment your puppy has started pooping. Doing so, may entice your puppy to want to follow you interrupting the act of pooping and encouraging him to finish up inside. Stand still like a tree.
- Use the right cleaning products for cleaning messes indoors. Puppies pooping inside the house after being outside may be smelling a previously soiled area which entices them to go in the same spot over and over. Make sure you use an enzyme-based cleaner that removes all traces of odors.
- Avoid scolding your puppy for having accidents. This only teaches your puppy to poop when you are not around. Puppies pooping inside the house after being outside may be holding it when supervised outside, and then once inside, they may poop inside behind a couch or their strong urge to go by now has overridden their fear of being scolded.
- Last but not least, if this is happening often, since you know exactly when this behavior takes place and you can anticipate it, keep the door open when coming back inside and promptly escort your pup back outside so that she can eliminate there. This gives your pup a chance to succeed by showing her you want her to go outdoors. Make sure you lavishly praise and reward when she eliminates outdoors.
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