Does anyone speak POO? Need an Interpreter!

[EvaNoel]

I don't even know where to start, so I'm going to just jump right in ...

Isabella Bleu is pooing in the bed, OUR bed! This is a NEW behavior for Bella and new territory for me, and it started last week. Eva and Bella have slept in the bed with us since day one and are great bed buddies, but Bella has been acting strange lately. I thought she might be cutting her molars (Bella is 6 months old), but now I'm not so sure that's the problem.

I woke up several nights ago to take the puppy, Doc, to the piddle pad ... Doc doesn't sleep with us, he sleeps in a day kennel beside our bed and he will NOT poo or pee in it. He will whine if he has to go during the night and I get up and take him to the pad, and Bella will usually want to go too. I always wait with them until they finish and then take them back to bed. On this particular night I put Doc back in his Kennel and put Bella in our bed and then I snuggled in for a few more hours slept. NOT! All of a sudden this horrid scent filled my head and I sat up gagging! Bella had poo'd on my comforter right by EVA and we both were scrambling to escape the smell. Eva jumped in my arms and we both hit the floor!

I don't know why she waited until we got back in the bed to poo, but it was nasty. I am a free feeder, but I took up the food and water right before bed time to see if that was the problem, but it wasn't. She wet the comforter again the next night. She started this ritual of getting in her usual place in the bed and then just when I was almost asleep, she would jump up and start digging and then walking all over the end of the bed and looking at Doc in his kennel. I had to continue to call her back to me until she finally settled in and went to sleep.

The final "straw" was two nights ago when the hubs rolled over in the bed at 4:00am and felt something cold and squishy stuck to his back ... he jumped up and it fell off his back and hit the floor, it was POO! He ran to the shower and none of us got anymore sleep after that. Needless to say poor Bella was banned from the bed until the situation is resolved.

I purchased three Iris Pet Pens with the top covers for my three Yorkies. Each one has their own bed, toys, water and food bowls and they are all side by side next to three picture windows where they can look outside at the wildlife and acreage. They have a great space to play, adjacent to our bedroom, where the play pens are and a gate at the door keeps them safe when I can't watch them. That's where Bella has been the past two nights and she's had free range of the place, so what does she do? Yep! She poos in the Iris Play Pen that has her bed in it!

I have NO idea what is wrong with Bella. I know this Poo thing is her way of telling me something, but what? She is spoiled, loved, groomed & pampered, she eats well and she plays well with Eva and Doc, AND she seems to love them. She's so sweet, not defiant or headstrong and she obeys every command I give her, which isn't many, just "no bark", "sit", "down", "stay" and "come".

I love her to pieces, she's my little Prima Donna, and I'm hoping that someone speaks Yorkiness and can interpret this Poo thing for me, I miss my little bedtime cuddle bug.

[kjc]

First thing is a vet check, and take a poo sample for them to look at. You have to rule out anything medical first before starting with the behavioral aspect. Very stinky poo is not normal.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Any change in behavior that isn't obvious should result in a visit to the vet. Pretty much the only way dogs show us they have trouble is by behaving differently due to their discomfort or illness.

If she gets a clean bill of health, it is likely stress-related. Maybe she was in your bed or another part of the house and got a bad scare or is feeling stress in the family. Worried, ill or anxious, frustrated dogs often pee/poo as near their humans' source of highest scent as they can get - their bed or the couch or chair - where they spend much time. Dogs often pee or potty when very anxious or excited or stressed and they chose to relieve themselves closest to your strong scent many times as it is comforting to them. Most sneak around to do it as they know when you see them doing it, you get upset or highly excited so they try not to let you see them doing it. But they are driven to relieve themselves where your scent is. If they have been caught by you a number of times and it wasn't fun, then they sneak into the other room to do it. Some dogs just won't pee/poo in the bed where they sleep or are highly aware it of strong leadership in their humans, will never do it in the bed, no matter how upset they are, so they sneak into another room or another part of the bedroom to do it. But some dogs just will not soil their own bed or that of their master no matter what. Others can't wait to do it.

Get that vet check with stool sample, urine and blood tests and go from there. If nothing is wrong there and there are no obvious signs of pain such as refusing to jump, walk or play rough and her teeth are good with no abscesses or breaks, it's behavioral due to some anxiety or lack of confidence. Start your dog on the Nothing In Life Is Free program to give Bella some renewed structure and start her on a good training program to get her busy learning, working and gaining confidence, bonding with you and forming a good team. Be sure no other dog is stressing her some way when you are not around - use a video cam or the computer cam to catch the dogs when you are away for an hour or two and fix any problems there. Give her some extra walks and even starting her on some agility in the back yard could give her a boost, help her anxiety.

[GuinnessStout]

Umm yea when you find out an answer could you please get back with me because my white couch is really NOT the place I would like Stella to take her POOS!!!!!

[mperran1974]

Oh my goodness, I am so sorry this is happening. Please let us know what the vet says and how things go. I pray that it's nothing serious and she stops doing this so she can come back to your bed.

[EvaNoel]

Oh my goodness, I wrote a book and left out that she has already been checked by the Vet. Thanks for reminding me to add that in.

Y'all did give me something to consider ... before little Doc came, all was quiet and peaceful for Bella, she and Eva never fought or played rough and they got along so well, but when little Doc came into the pack, things changed. Doc refused to let Eva dominate him and they would play fight over toys, space, food and just whatever. I had to seperate them to start with and even now I will not go off and leave them together. When Eva playbites, she hurts!

That behavior seems to make Bella nervous. She watches over little Doc too. For example, Bella always woke me up at night by licking me in the face if Doc whimpered to go to the piddle pad. Even last night when she was in the other room asleep, she heard him whimper and she came to the gate and gave a few short barks until I got up. She's just sweet like that.

Do you think this could have anything to do with her Pooing in the bed, and in her Pet Pen?

[GuinnessStout]

Starting to sound like it might be a stress poo then.

I wish that was the case with mine but I just think mine is EVIL

[Deb1]

You might be on the right track! A new addition may have upset her and she is telling you how much by "acting out"......seems she is not happy with having a brother or just doesn't like her quiet life upset!

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by EvaNoel

Oh my goodness, I wrote a book and left out that she has already been checked by the Vet. Thanks for reminding me to add that in.

Y'all did give me something to consider ... before little Doc came, all was quiet and peaceful for Bella, she and Eva never fought or played rough and they got along so well, but when little Doc came into the pack, things changed. Doc refused to let Eva dominate him and they would play fight over toys, space, food and just whatever. I had to seperate them to start with and even now I will not go off and leave them together. When Eva playbites, she hurts!

That behavior seems to make Bella nervous. She watches over little Doc too. For example, Bella always woke me up at night by licking me in the face if Doc whimpered to go to the piddle pad. Even last night when she was in the other room asleep, she heard him whimper and she came to the gate and gave a few short barks until I got up. She's just sweet like that.

Do you think this could have anything to do with her Pooing in the bed, and in her Pet Pen?

Absolutely. There is trouble in the pack and a dog with a tendency to nerves or lack of self-confidence can get very unsettled during the struggles for hierarchy. Read all you can about pack dynamics and how dogs settle things naturally and with 3 terriers, you can have quite a struggle. An unsure dog watching all this happen is unsure what to do if no clear leader steps forward to calm things, dispense order and put the members in their place. You might try distracting her with treats and some training in another room, a good walk, when the spats start but the best way to help her is to either take over leadership of the pack for her sake and stop the whole thing. Step up and back the disagreeing dogs off one another and send them to each's assigned spot or place until you give the release word. I don't know if little Doc is a puppy or young but if he is, Eva is likely holding back until he's older or been there longer and then she may flex up hard on him or vice versa and Bella probably senses trouble's a comin'! Normally I believe in letting the dogs settle these things if there is no strong leader in the family but because it's likely stressing Bella, if you want and are a strong leader, take over and disagree, stop that type behavior. Soon the dogs will know that you are going to step in and will start to catch themselves before they begin to do what you dislike or stop it once you point a finger. Other times they will plain forget or not care and just do it. Stop them and get Bella playing and otherwise engaged, take her for a walk while the other two are in their crates if you can't walk all 3 at once.

Until things are settled down and structured better, you might put her in an airline crate at night and put it beside the bed on a chair or right on one side of the bed with the back of a chair holding it in place so Bella can sleep with you or near but can't keep up her stress/protest/frustration pee/poo.

These are just some thoughts about what you might try in handling your little pack but if I were you, I would just read all I could about how to handle pack troubles from some respected websites about dog behavior regarding a new pack member is causing some upheavals and handle it the way it seems best for you and your babies. But I would also work in obedience and NILIF to give Bella some work to do and keep her focused a bit on working and learning and gaining self-confidence so she can handle pack changes with more aplomb.

[EvaNoel]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

Absolutely. There is trouble in the pack and a dog with a tendency to nerves or lack of self-confidence can get very unsettled during the struggles for hierarchy. Read all you can about pack dynamics and how dogs settle things naturally and with 3 terriers, you can have quite a struggle. An unsure dog watching all this happen is unsure what to do if no clear leader steps forward to calm things, dispense order and put the members in their place. You might try distracting her with treats and some training in another room, a good walk, when the spats start but the best way to help her is to either take over leadership of the pack for her sake and stop the whole thing. Step up and back the disagreeing dogs off one another and send them to each's assigned spot or place until you give the release word. I don't know if little Doc is a puppy or young but if he is, Eva is likely holding back until he's older or been there longer and then she may flex up hard on him or vice versa and Bella probably senses trouble's a comin'! Normally I believe in letting the dogs settle these things if there is no strong leader in the family but because it's likely stressing Bella, if you want and are a strong leader, take over and disagree, stop that type behavior. Soon the dogs will know that you are going to step in and will start to catch themselves before they begin to do what you dislike or stop it once you point a finger. Other times they will plain forget or not care and just do it. Stop them and get Bella playing and otherwise engaged, take her for a walk while the other two are in their crates if you can't walk all 3 at once.

Until things are settled down and structured better, you might put her in an airline crate at night and put it beside the bed on a chair or right on one side of the bed with the back of a chair holding it in place so Bella can sleep with you or near but can't keep up her stress/protest/frustration pee/poo.

These are just some thoughts about what you might try in handling your little pack but if I were you, I would just read all I could about how to handle pack troubles from some respected websites about dog behavior regarding a new pack member is causing some upheavals and handle it the way it seems best for you and your babies. But I would also work in obedience and NILIF to give Bella some work to do and keep her focused a bit on working and learning and gaining self-confidence so she can handle pack changes with more aplomb.

I think you just nailed it! All three of them are puppies. Eva was our first puppy, she is almost 7 months old, Bella came next and she is now over 6 months. Little Doc just turned 17 weeks, he's the baby. Eva has her adult teeth and when she play fights with Doc, he will squeal at times when she gets too rough, and if she doesn't stop I step in. I mean I literally step in the room and they immediately stop what they're doing and run to me.

I read what I could find online about "Pack Dynamics", makes perfect sense. Thank you so much, you've been a tremendous help!

[yorkietalkjilly]

I so hope it helps Bella. Just keep reading and reading until you get a good handle on how to be a positive pack leader. You don't need to yell, discipline with aversives or use anything but your body attitude and voice, hand gestures and a sense of self-confidence to teach the dogs what you want. Pack animals love a strong, fair leader who is consistent. Training will help your dogs learn to highly respect you and want to do what you say and helps stop so many self-confidence problems as the dog works and learns and achieves goals and that can help Bella not to be as uncertain about things in general, too. Good luck to you and your little pack.

[EvaNoel]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

I so hope it helps Bella. Just keep reading and reading until you get a good handle on how to be a positive pack leader. You don't need to yell, discipline with aversives or use anything but your body attitude and voice, hand gestures and a sense of self-confidence to teach the dogs what you want. Pack animals love a strong, fair leader who is consistent. Training will help your dogs learn to highly respect you and want to do what you say and helps stop so many self-confidence problems as the dog works and learns and achieves goals and that can help Bella not to be as uncertain about things in general, too. Good luck to you and your little pack.

I don't do the discipline thing, but I do reward good behavior with a treat or verbal praise. However, I did notice a couple of mistakes I've made. First, I didn't realize that Bella was coming to me for reassurance when Eva and Doc are play fighting, but then she did it again this afternoon, and suddenly the "light" went on. She wanted me console her, she just doesn't like their play fighting. And the other thing was me putting the puppies in their kennels to feed them, but not taking the food up after they had finished. That's when my little Doc was going in their kennels and cleaning up the food! No wonder he's gained so much lately the little fatty!

Thank you, Jeanie!

[mperran1974]

I'm glad you have it figured out now. I hope you can help get her past this. Please keep us posted.

[cindersellie]

I know this was a seriuos post, but... when i saw that your hubby had that POO stuck on his back in the middle of the night, I started to laugh! He seemed to take it well, but I could see mine having a melt down and banning dogs from our bed FOR LIFE!( which here would mean a few days )

Grats on figuring out what she was upset about. I hope she does better soon, and stops pooing where she isn't supposed to poo.

[yorkietalkjilly]

LOL. That had me laughing too. Oh my, if you can't laugh at the "joy" we have all experienced of stepping or sitting or otherwise unpleasantly encountering a fresh poo with some portion of our person, you just haven't been into dogs that long. I'll admit I haven't rolled over onto one yet but I'm sure my time is coming!!!