Started pooping on carpet all of a sudden...do we tell him off

[Mark Huddleston]

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Shih poo puppy is 14 weeks old now. House training is going well and he has been sitting next to the back door and whining when he needs to go out for a poo. He has had a few wees on the carpet over the last few weeks and so yesterday I cleaned the lounge with an enzymatic cleaner in the Vax.
This morning he’s had his usual morning poo in the garden but since then he’s had 2 poos on the carpet!!! He hasn’t done this for weeks and weeks. Would the scent of the shampoo have any bearing on this? Should we be telling him off at this stage for doing this?

 

[merlina]

Maybe a bit of a tummy upset?- at this age his system will be far from settled and no! No telling off. Basically a puppy is house-trained only when its mature enough to have control. As you mop up endlessly you repeat the mantra 'He's doing his bestest..'

 

[JoanneF]

Never tell him off. He may think you are annoyed at him toileting, rather than toileting in the house. That in turn can make him anxious about toileting in front of you so he may sneak off to do it in another room, behind the sofa etc or wait until you are not there. As well as a vet check (take a sample) just keep reinforcing outside toilets with generous rewards. What was your weather like? If it was miserable like here, that could be a reason.

 

[Mark Huddleston]

Yeah it has been pretty miserable

 

[JudyN]

As a general rule, if you are thinking of telling him off for anything, there is always a better, more effective way of training, or managing the behaviour.

 

[Mark Huddleston]

Maybe “Telling off” was the wrong choice of phrase in my opening post. I had read online that if the puppy has a poo inside after house training is going so well, you express disappointment in a firm way and then immediately take them to the garden and tell him that is where he goes to the toilet.

 

[JudyN]

Arguably, even expressing disappointment in a firm way can affect a sensitive dog, and it doesn't teach him what he should do. Dogs don't have a 'moral compass' either - they're more likely to learn 'If I do that when someone's watching they go a bit odd and scary.' Or 'I mustn't chew Dad's slippers or bad things happen - I'll chew his brand new leather shoes instead.' Anything the dog learns is only learnt because the consequence is unpleasant.

This is the purist, 'ideal' position. That's not to say I've never said 'OI!!' to my dog when he does something I don't want him to do (and he knows I don't want to do it but thinks he can get away with it - lacking a moral compass). Just that doing that hasn't actually worked!

 

[Kara 1]

14 weeks is still so young ...when this happens you have to go back to how you started training. ..puppy accidents are human error not the pups ...and positive training always ...reward good behaviour and Ignore unwanted behaviour. ..pups this young sometimes forget especially in the rain ...

 

[Flobo]

have to agree with above, he is only 14 weeks old, not long away from his mum and litter in the grand scheme of things.. sometimes it can be one step forward and two steps back(from what I remember, it's been a long time since I had a pup!), maybe the change of scent after carpet cleaning threw him,sure he will get back on track

 

[Ari_RR]

For what it's worth - our 6 m.o. puppy Baby Miles had a few accidents inside the house.
But in practically every instance he tried to tell his humans that he needed to go, and they either missed the signals or ignored them.

Clearly, expectations are low at 14 weeks. But they will get higher as he grows. If this happens again, you will probably be tempted again to tell him off. Usually such accidents happen in the most inconvenient moment, and telling off is natural human reaction (and not just to dogs).
But pause there - you may well have missed what the poor boy was trying to tell you...

Meanwhile - I would just take him out more often, and praise and celebrate every successful pooping outside.

 

[Dogsarethebest]

Just thought.. you shampooed rug removing his scent. Could he be pooping in the house to say " I live here, this is my space". Marking it in a sense?
He is still young be positive reward for toileting outside and just be consistent.

 

[AlwaysLearning]

Just thought.. you shampooed rug removing his scent. Could he be pooping in the house to say " I live here, this is my space". Marking it in a sense?
He is still young be positive reward for toileting outside and just be consistent.

That's a good point, when you cleaned the carpet you effectively removed the scent that he was used to (the "my den" smell). It will take a while to get the "normal" smell back - you could play some games/beginning of recall training in the lounge, with you sitting on the floor in different places to get the smells back. Sure it's just a blip in the road

 

[poptart]

I reckon the key to cracking house training is establishing a routine. Tummy upsets aside, dogs usually fall into a pattern of toileting at certain times of day, and if you can learn when he is likely to go make sure he gets the opportunity to be outside. In the early months it means spending a lot of time outside. I've spent many a miserable hour standing in the rain waiting for one of ours to do something. It's not fun but it does pay dividends in the long run.

The scent issue is more likely to affect peeing, I'd have thought. Pooing inappropriately can be attention seeking behaviour. If he's learned it's a way to get your attention he'll keep doing it.

 

[merlina]

I don't believe dogs have ulterior motives though humans often ascribe them to particular behaviour. There's really no scientific evidence for it. Mainly they understand Safe/Not safe. I think it's why so much house-training goes wrong. Dog gets told off for weeing on rug- so does it behind the sofa! This makes perfect sense to a canine brain which certainly doesn't think about a hour from now: to the puppy it's, Done a wee, got no comeback. At it's worst it's what makes puppies eat faeces rather than be found with them in a room, a pen or a cage. Which is why it's so important to ignore accidents and praise good performance.

 

[JudyN]

I don't think defecating to get attention is a 'negative' in that sense, @Kara 1 - just that dogs repeat something if it gets a desired result, and on balance, they may see the attention as good - who knows, it might lead to a game of chase in the house and an outing into the garden.

I'm reminded of potty training my son and popping into the front room where he was sitting on the sofa watching telly. 'Do you want a wee?' I asked him. 'No thanks, I've just had one,' he replied. And he had - on the sofa, and he hadn't even bothered to move from the wet patch below him. If it's a struggle with 2.5-year-old children, it's no wonder it can take a while with puppies!