Chip, the 1-year-old rescue we adopted nearly 2 weeks ago is practically perfect. He is fitting into our pack easily, he is quick to learn, happily focused on me, and generally enjoying his new life of comfort. He has also been going to agility class and a beginner obedience class, both of which he is loving and going great.

The one problem: he won’t poop in “his” new yard. Peeing is fine. In fact, he is now peeing on command every trip outside.

When he arrived, I switched him to a raw diet. (chicken first, new things added over several days, etc.) There were no issues, no diarrhea, vomiting, etc.

No poops for the first couple of days didn’t surprise me. New diet, new home, new routines, etc.

After the third day of not pooping, I decided he might need something to get things going, so we went for a very brisk walk. After trotting 2 blocks he stopped and produced a textbook poop. Not rock hard, but firm, moist, perfect. I scooped it up and took it to the vet, where it came back negative for any parasites.

Since then, I’ve started adding a couple of tablespoons of canned pumpkin to every meal, thinking that the additional fiber might help.

3 more days went by with no poop. I’m sure. So we went for another brisk walk, upon which he again produced another perfect poop (3 days worth in volume, but still, perfect.)

Eating enthusiastically, drinking plenty of water, acting normal in all other ways. Vet checkup was done. The raw diet and fish oil are already improving his coat, so the food “agrees” with him.

So it became clear to me that this dog CAN poop. He is just choosing NOT to poop in my yard, which is what I would prefer.

I have gone out with him every time he goes to the yard so that I can be there to throw a party if and when a poop is produced. He sees the other dogs pooping in the yard (and me praising them for it.) He pees. I’ve even tried doing the “brisk walk” in the yard, pacing back and forth dozens of times to replicate the couple of blocks we walked when he last pooped.

It has now been 4 days since he last pooped. I am trying to wait him out, thinking that at some point, he will simply HAVE to poop.

Much of his background is unknown. He is believed to have lived his first year as a stray. We definitely know he had been stray for several months before being rescued in July. His earliest months are a mystery. (Could he have lived with a person that beat him as a young pup for pooping?) Unknown. Because I don’t know, I’m trying NOT to make a big deal out of pooping for him. But clearly, there is something behavioral or psychological going on that has made him decide to hold his bowels.

I’ve read about the matchstick idea but have hesitated to try this because I don’t want to create more negative emotion about him pooping. I just don’t see that going well in this case. I’ve built trust with him that I don’t want to break in this way.

Thoughts? At what point does retaining poop become a medical issue vs. a behavioral one? I mentioned this to our vet and she said she has known cases where dogs simply choose not to poop in their own yard, and owners walk them. I am not doing that. This dog needs to learn to poop in my yard with the rest of his pack mates. But without even a first correct behavior to reinforce, I am at a loss. Am I wrong in thinking that I can simply wait him out and that poop will at some point be produced as a fact of nature?

I'm worried about impaction after four days.

I'd want to see poop asap, and would probably be giving lots of water and some olive oil in the next (small) meal.

At this point, I would be thinking that he may be impacted and that the failure to poop can now have two bases.

(I have had a similar rescue situation. I figured the dog had incorporated the yard into his "unsoiled den" area.)


Then, when I knew he was not impacted, I'd walk him briskly in the yard, as you mentioned, until poop was produced. That's what I did. It took a few days of journaling his poop times via watching on walks outside the yard (temporarily). Then I would walk briskly around in the yard at the right times until poop happened, then party, praise, etc.

I figured I couldn't teach about the yard being OK until the dog actually had regular predictable poops. He has a mental ban (I assume) and it will take some work, but he needs to be unstopped first.

JMO!

Raced home at lunchtime and took him for a walk. In less than two blocks distance, he stopped and pooped--4 days worth of perfectly formed and still moist logs.

At least I'm no longer worried about impaction.

I picked up the poop and brought it home to our yard. We'll see if that makes a difference.

This one is a first for me.

Relief (in many ways)!


I've had only a couple of dogs suffer with almost-impactions, and I admit that it somewhat changed my POV about poops. I used to worry only about diarrhea. (Of course, diarrhea is still by far the more common problem.)



That's an interesting idea, to take it home to your yard! I'll be interested in reading how that goes.


Let us know how this goes. I think several regulars here always have an adopted or fostered dog around .... dogs with unknown histories that we have to work with. I'm always interested in reading how others deal with these histories.

In reading your first post, I thought about bringing the poop from the walk home. I'm glad you did, even though it sounds odd. Maybe smelling his own there will help him to feel comfortable going.

I've had one that wouldn't poop on leash, but she overcame that with time...and a road trip where she was on leash all the time

The matchstick does work. So does a glycerin suppository.

Most dogs don't mind too much. Unless they are an anal gland dog, in which case, it might be a battle.

Betty--that will be the next step. Now that I'm pretty confident that there's no medical reason for constipation, we're just going to have to coerce a few yard poops and have some big celebrations for them. He's clearly holding his bowels because he thinks he's "supposed" to. I just need a few opportunities to let him know how happy it would make me to poop in our yard. He's caught on to everything else pretty quickly. Stay tuned.

One of my males did something similar when we moved to a new house that had no dog smell in it, he held his poop, went on walk where other dogs had been and produced a lovely poop, he did this for about a week. Previously I noticed he liked to mark territory with poop as well, so, gross, but I brought different dog poop home and planted it in the yard, soon as he smelled it he marked it and the issue was gone. Don't know if that helps.

My older GSD WILL NOT take a crap in the kennel run. That's one on the reasons they both have 24/7 access to the whole (very small) back yard.
I've seen a couple of dogs that wouldn't unload for a couple of days if confined to a run.
Betty's comment about the matchstick does work. I saw people in the dog show world use it often.
I also like Jodi's idea of bringing home other dog's crap. My brother used the pee and poop of my two so he could break his dog to one area of his new yard. It worked.

 Quote: Tracy Collins

I picked up the poop and brought it home to our yard. We'll see if that makes a difference.

This one is a first for me.

This has worked for me, I hope it works for you.

I have had several fosters that retain it for days( 6 days for one GSD foster) and those that won't go while on a leash.
I train my dogs to go in one spot of the yard, moving it to the spot you want to designate works too.