I need help...NOW!

[coroth]

Hello!! I have had Lexie for two months exactly tomorrow and from day one she has had a little problem which has now become a big problem. She poops in her kennel. Not only does she poop but she then proceeds to walk around in it and it gets EVERYWHERE! I've tried Comfort Zone (the spray) which is supposed to calm down separation anxiety. I've tried making her cage smaller so she doesn't have much room to walk around...and that just made the mess seem worse. I've tried an x-pen and she just jumped out. I've tried putting her in our bathroom and she would poop in there and walk around leaving little poop footprints everywhere. I've tried putting her in my laundry room (bigger than the bathroom) and putting up a baby gate so she wouldn't feel locked in and she just jumped out. I don't know what to do. My family and I are getting tired of coming home and having to give her a bath EVERY DAY. My sister and dad are starting to threat that they will just keep her in her kennel until I get home. I leave for school at around 12 noon and my sister is home at 1:30/2:00 p.m. so it isn't like its a long time!

I've thought of doggy daycare but they are WAY too expensive. I can't pay for doggy daycare only working 2 days a week while I go to college. I AM IN NO WAY SUGGESTING I'M GOING TO GET RID OF HER, BECAUSE THAT IS DEFINATELY NOT AN OPTION!!!! I love her with everything I have... but it needs to stop.

I don't know what to do! HELP!! PLEASE!!

[chattiesmom]

I am so very sorry that you are having problems with your little Lexie. I wish I could help, but since I don't confine my furbutts, I can't really help. I know you are very frustrated and just wanted to give you a hug . I am sure that someone who does crate training can give you some fantastic advice.

[coroth]

Originally Posted by chattiesmom

I am so very sorry that you are having problems with your little Lexie. I wish I could help, but since I don't confine my furbutts, I can't really help. I know you are very frustrated and just wanted to give you a hug . I am sure that someone who does crate training can give you some fantastic advice.

Thank you...it means a lot. I am EXTREMELY frusterated but my parents are even more frusterated because my little sister is the one who comes home first and she ends up crying to them about it and they get mad...it is going to come down to me having to move out if she can't fix it and that will be nearly impossible because I can barely work as it is, let alone support myself. I'm at a complete loss...

[KimluvsLexie]

BUMP! I'm having the exact same problem! Pooping in the crate, wallowing in it, and then a bath every day! I watched Tucker from the time I gave him a bath until I went to bed, every move he made and he wouldn't go poop/potty on the pad. I finally got tired, and mere seconds after he was in the crate he did his thing (poop and pee). After I cleaned it out and went back to bed I woke up to more poop in his crate! I'm at my wits end, hubby wants to try the Wizdog, do you think that will help any? Help us poor girls!

[Shadow]

I feel your pain girl.Sissy did this the first few months I had her too. I bought her at a oat store when she was a year old,no tellling what kind of life she had before. I don't know where you got Lexi..is there a chance she was confined all the time and had no other choice? How old is she?
I wish you the best of luck with her.

[Shadow]

This should read I bought her at a pet store.

Originally Posted by Shadow

I feel your pain girl.Sissy did this the first few months I had her too. I bought her at a oat store when she was a year old,no tellling what kind of life she had before. I don't know where you got Lexi..is there a chance she was confined all the time and had no other choice? How old is she?
I wish you the best of luck with her.

[coroth]

Originally Posted by Shadow

I feel your pain girl.Sissy did this the first few months I had her too. I bought her at a oat store when she was a year old,no tellling what kind of life she had before. I don't know where you got Lexi..is there a chance she was confined all the time and had no other choice? How old is she?
I wish you the best of luck with her.

I got Lexie from myyorkies8 on here. She seemed like she had a good life and she wasn't kennel trained at ALL when I got her. She is 6 months old.

[daisydukeowner]

I have 2 yorkie's who are about a year old now and i had the same eact problem you have until about 2 months ago. The only thing that changed my puppies pooping habits was to crate train them. During the day me and my family are gone from 7 am to around 6 pm.... which is obviously a problem for puppies who cant hold it all day. We were abel to attend a free potty training class at petsmart that helped us. What changed everything was at night we now put our pups in seperate, size appropriate taxi's (the small car carriers). As soon as they wake up in the mornings we let them outside, this is what the trainer told us to do (let them outside after sleep, activity, and eating ALWAYS) in order to avoid pooping (or pee) inside. During the day our puppies stay in thier crate (seperated) and have old bath towels that they love to snuggle with and we can all see that they avoid messing in their crates now. (if your try this give it time, 2-3 days should be plenty of time for your puppy to get the hint)

GOOD LUCK!!!!

[coroth]

Originally Posted by daisydukeowner

I have 2 yorkie's who are about a year old now and i had the same eact problem you have until about 2 months ago. The only thing that changed my puppies pooping habits was to crate train them. During the day me and my family are gone from 7 am to around 6 pm.... which is obviously a problem for puppies who cant hold it all day. We were abel to attend a free potty training class at petsmart that helped us. What changed everything was at night we now put our pups in seperate, size appropriate taxi's (the small car carriers). As soon as they wake up in the mornings we let them outside, this is what the trainer told us to do (let them outside after sleep, activity, and eating ALWAYS) in order to avoid pooping (or pee) inside. During the day our puppies stay in thier crate (seperated) and have old bath towels that they love to snuggle with and we can all see that they avoid messing in their crates now. (if your try this give it time, 2-3 days should be plenty of time for your puppy to get the hint)

GOOD LUCK!!!!

That is almost exactly what I'm doing...I just don't put her in her kennel at night because she cries and sees my other dog is out and she barks wildly!! I let her bark for almost and hour thinking she would stop barking. She made a huge mess yesterday and my sister left her in her kennel until I got home...She was shaking and really upset. She had been in there for 2 hours while she could hear my sister walking around upstairs. She won't even go near her kennel now. I don't know what to do...I'm at a loss.

[Gracie2006]

Are you letting her free feed? If so, stop doing that. Put her on a feeding schedule recommended by your vet, probably 2 times per day. This way, her poops will get on schedule. Once you stop free feeding, (or if she is not free feeding) write down when she poops. Then try and take her outside at each elimination time, or at least be there to clean it up right away. I can't think of anything to keep her from stepping in it and getting it all over, but maybe you can control the environmental side of it. With time, she may learn that it is not at all pleasant to walk in. My Gracie and Holly are both fastidious, they can't stand to be near their own excrement.

[coroth]

Originally Posted by Gracie2006

Are you letting her free feed? If so, stop doing that. Put her on a feeding schedule recommended by your vet, probably 2 times per day. This way, her poops will get on schedule. Once you stop free feeding, (or if she is not free feeding) write down when she poops. Then try and take her outside at each elimination time, or at least be there to clean it up right away. I can't think of anything to keep her from stepping in it and getting it all over, but maybe you can control the environmental side of it. With time, she may learn that it is not at all pleasant to walk in. My Gracie and Holly are both fastidious, they can't stand to be near their own excrement.

The problem isn't really pooping in the house...because if we are home she doesn't poop in the house. She will sit by the door and bark to be let out. I don't think she poops in her cage because she has too..I think it is behavioral because if we are home she poops at the same exact times in the morning then she won't poop until night time...but the minute she is in her kennel (around noon) she barks and gets all excited then poops. I am scared that it will upset Beau if we stop free feeding them because he has had it that way for 7 years...would it make him sick or anything?? If not, I could try it. Lexie is a picker though...she will eat LITERALLY two pieces of food at a time probably a couple of times an hour. Will she catch on? She isn't the brightest crayon in the box...

[daisydukeowner]

hmmm .. sounds to me like shes poo-ing to punish your sister. its almost the same thing as when you displine a dog and they chew on your shoe. they are alot smarter than we sometimes think of them to be. Seriously your sister has got to get in on the whole project. it may not be her dog but the dog sees her as part of its "pack". maybe try and explain that to her see what her reaction is maybe she will feel more like she should help out....and yes they will bark for hours on end, try comforting her while she is still in the kennel, if seeing the other dog is an issue try covering the kennel with a large towel, that works for us.

and

yes she will catch on! my daisy may was a picky eater too, eating only a bite or two when we first started doing timed fedings, but after a day of not eating much she got the hint that if she wants to eat she will do it when i tell her to. it sounds cruel but really its not. It lets them know who is boss, that you are the one in control not them. this really does help with the going potty issue.