What am i doing wrong?

[mcp]

Ive had my dog for about a month now he is a Cockapoo and is now 4 months. Im not at home throughout the day which is why the training process is taking so long but i come home at least every 4 hours to take him outside, when i take him outside he poops and i praise him like i should , but the big problem is when i come home he also poops every where not in one particular spot, the same as his pee but what really discouraged me is that he also poops in his bed and doesnt seem to mind to continue to lay in it! I have him sectioned off in my kitchen with newspapers in one corner and his bed in another corner as his home. I didnt want to keep him in a kennel because some days i cant take breaks to let him outside at all keeping him alone for more than 6 hours. Can anyone tell me what I should do about this? Do you think the kitchen space is too much for him?

[calgal]

Hi and welcome to GP. Well, first off it sure sounds like an awful lot of pooping going on. How many times a day is he doing this anyway? Normal should be only once, maybe twice a day. What foods are you feeding? Sounds like he's either eating the wrong kind of food or way too much of it, or both. It's hard to give a solution to the problems without knowing a little more. How big is the kitchen space? Have you thought of putting wee-wee pads down while your gone. I have two Yorkies trained to the pads as well as outside & it's a real blessing, especially for the little guys.

[2ndchance]

Where did you get this dog from? If it was a kennel or pet store it will take some time before he gets the idea. How often and how much do you eed him? Can you find someone who could let the dog out for a bit while you are at work? Maybe a little more exercise would tire him out and he'd be sleeping instead of pooping.

[Zeplyann]

awww seems liek this guy needs to have more attention, and mabe you CAN put him in the kitchen, I dont think that would be too much space mabe he is doing it cause he is sick, coudl be a reason! you shoudl talk to a vet about it!

[zookeeper]

Really check the food you're feeding. I know our dogs poop like mad on certain foods (especially store brand and less healthy food) It makes a huge difference when they're on the higher quality foods.

[FurryAngel33]

I think u should leave her in the kennal while u are gone. chances are she wont go somewhere where she sleeps. and u will avoid accidents when u are gone

[Cassiepeia]

If he was a petshop pup or came from a puppymill or particularly bad backyard breeder, then he was probably raised (until you got him) in a crate, kennel and/or petshop cage. Which leaves him zero options as to where he eats, sleeps and poops....because he only has one place to go. So he learns that it's ok and normal to poop where you eat and sleep. Therefore he continues it when you bring him to your home.

Just be patient, don't expect miracles...it might be extra difficult with him but keep going. Some dogs aren't toilet trained until their a year old. Some catch on much sooner...he's only 16 weeks old so he's just a baby. Keep at it and your hard work should pay off eventually.

By the way...WELCOME TO GLOBAL PAW! I hope you'll post some pictures of your sweet pup in our dog picture section. I know we'd all love to see him.

Cass.

[mcp]

I bought him from a backyard breeder and the vet recommended Science Hills Diet which Is what Ive been feeding him about a cupful twice a day.

[Tiffany0204]

Science Diet isn't that great of a food, the vets get a kick-back from promoting it. There's a really great thread all about what to feed your dog that you can find here. Personally I feed Gizmo Wellness Super5 Puppy Food, but other really good (and affordable) foods are Canadae and Innova, so I've read here on the forums.

Definitly check out the thread, it'll show you what to look for when deciding what to feed your puppy.

[Andrew556]

My pup did exactly the same, but one day it just stopped. 4 months is very young and perhaps she hasnt developed her 'bowels and bladder' control just yet. Be patient and continue what your doing, he'll get there.

Your kitchen space is okay, my dog also has just a kitchen and shes does okay in there. Its tiny and not ideal, but once she gets older she can have more roam of the house.

Not great informative advice but in in my experience you just have to be patient. Good luck!

[Gerald]

Hello and welcome to GP!

First and foremost, don't give up! Your puppy loves you and you will get through this I promise! I had some challenges with Rocky in regards to pooping and peeing, but now after a couple or so months we are a lot better!

Can you give us some more details on your schedule, especially feeding and such? Something you may want to do is keep a log of eating and bathroom times. This will help give you a baseline for how long your dog can hold it. A good rule of thumb is about one hour for each month. So at four months, you could probably expect 4 to 5 hours.

As for the crate training, I recommend it. Dogs naturally prefer to not soil the area they sleep and eat in. Try feeding meals in the crate and making sure you clean up soiled areas with an ensyme killer! This is very importent from what I have read b/c your dog can smell things you cannot, and will continue to soil an area if they smell it there. Naturals Miracle is a good product from what I have read, however I use NoMos. As for leaving your dog in the crate during the day, try not to make it more than 4 hours at a time. I work during the day, and Rocky is crated for two 4 hour periods, with a half hour break in the middle. If you cannot reliably go home to let your dog out, try seeing if you can get a dog walker or dog babysitter to visit your home to let the dog out. Otherwise you could consider dog daycare, but remember to do your research on all of these options, before you have someone come in your home or drop your dog off somewhere.

Foodwise, Wellness is a good food for dogs. I have done a lot of reading about it, on this forum and others, and it comes highly recommended. I am in the process now of transitioning from Eukanuba to Wellness for Puppys. If you do change food, make sure to do it gradually, as it can also cause your puppy to have the runs if the diet you are going to is more rich than the previous food.

Lastly, here is some good reading for crate training and such. I would also recommend to keep poking in here to read posts and do some searches for topics that interest you. Good luck!!!!

http://www.inch.com/~dogs/housebreaking.html
http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html
http://www.perfectpaws.com/pupstuff.html
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001/crate.htm
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/index.htm