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My 1 year old is potty trained for peeing but not for pooping - any ideas?

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She seems to be able to hold it for a while with peeing but can't even seem to hold for 2 hours pooping. I took her out today at 8 am and she didn't poop....she pooped in the house 2 hours later


I started giving her big pieces of chicken when she potties outside, which seems to be working great for peeing but she's just not learning for pooping. Should I only give her chicken when she poops or will she regress on the peeing training?


edit: She poops outside about twice a day - typically about 10 hours apart. Last night she pooped at 12 am and then I walked her at 8 am and she didn't poop...then pooped in the house 2 hours later. That's what I mean when I say she can't hold it for 2 hours. That was obviously my fault but a dog should be able to hold it longer than that, no?
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A one year old dog who's pooping every two hours sounds like either a diet problem or a medical problem. What are her stools like? Has she been examined by a vet for this issue?
A one year old dog who's pooping every two hours sounds like either a diet problem or a medical problem. What are her stools like? Has she been examined by a vet for this issue?
She poops outside about twice a day - typically about 10 hours apart. Last night she pooped at 12 am and then I walked her at 8 am and she didn't poop...then pooped in the house 2 hours later. That's what I mean when I say she can't hold it for 2 hours. That was obviously my fault but a dog should be able to hold it longer than that, no?
Hold it for ten hours? That's pushing it, especially since she wasn't asleep or crated that entire time. I wouldn't expect my mature adult dog to have to hold it for that long. I'd have been bringing her out every 15 minutes or so when she didn't poop on the 8AM walk, doesn't have to be a full walk, just to a boring spot where she's pottied previously. Give her 5-10 minutes, bring her back in, pop her in a crate or pen, then it's back out after 10-15 minutes for another try. Party when she poops outside and she's earned not having to be confined for a while.
Hold it for ten hours? That's pushing it, especially since she wasn't asleep or crated that entire time. I wouldn't expect my mature adult dog to have to hold it for that long. I'd have been bringing her out every 15 minutes or so when she didn't poop on the 8AM walk, doesn't have to be a full walk, just to a boring spot where she's pottied previously. Give her 5-10 minutes, bring her back in, pop her in a crate or pen, then it's back out after 10-15 minutes for another try. Party when she poops outside and she's earned not having to be confined for a while.
but it's not 10 hours, because I took her out after 8 hours and she didn't poop

is this normal even for a housetrained dog? a week ago, my girl took her out at 4 pm and she didn't poop...then she pooped in the house like 1.5 hours later. My girl walked her for a good 30 minutes
It was ten hours from the last time she pooped, that's what counts. She might've been too distracted on the walk to poop, or stressed, or excited, or the exercise got her gut moving but not fast enough to get one out by the end of the walk, or any number of things. If she doesn't poop on a walk and/or it's been a long time since her last poop, assume she's got one brewing and you'll need to be giving her frequent opportunities to potty until she goes.
I currently have two dogs that actually poop on cue. Dogs I have had in the past also have done this. Oh I do have to time my request right (first thing in the morning and about an hour after a meal).

I watch them.. both. Sometimes they get "too busy" doing other stuff to pay attention to their need to poop 🤦 My cue reminds them.. and sometimes you can see them stop and think.. like "Oh yeah! I need to leave <whatever> and poop!"

I started all this by saying "Poop Poop!" kind of high pitched while they were going as puppies. Eventually it became a cue. They also pee on command too (different cue).

Funny story about this.
When training in a public place people often watch. Most say nothing or "beautiful dog." So, after doing beautiful, focused heeling and lovely recall and send away I tell my dog to "go pee." Then, with baggie in hand, to "Poop." THAT is when people come over and ask how I trained this.
Apparently you can train your dog to do stellar obedience but you aren't a "real" dog trainer until you can tell them to pee and poop on cue!!
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It was ten hours from the last time she pooped, that's what counts. She might've been too distracted on the walk to poop, or stressed, or excited, or the exercise got her gut moving but not fast enough to get one out by the end of the walk, or any number of things. If she doesn't poop on a walk and/or it's been a long time since her last poop, assume she's got one brewing and you'll need to be giving her frequent opportunities to potty until she goes.

should I keep giving her big chicken treats outside when she pees and poops or should I shift to only when she poops?
That's up to you. It sounds like the issue is more not giving her enough opportunity to poop outside than anything to do with the rewards.
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That's up to you. It sounds like the issue is more not giving her enough opportunity to poop outside than anything to do with the rewards.
a week ago, my girl took her out at 4 pm and she didn't poop...then she pooped in the house like 1.5 hours later. My girl walked her for a good 30 minutes. Doesn't a housetrained dog almost never poop inside the house?

My other issue is she doesn't eat consistently same amount. She's a very fussy eater. There's times she poops every 10 hours - other times every 16 hours
Yes, I saw what you wrote the first time, and will say again that my best guess is the reason she pooped inside is because you didn't take her out to poop any time in those 1.5 hours after the walk. She doesn't sound totally housetrained, but housetraining is as much about giving the dog the opportunity to potty in the correct place - outside - as it is about rewards.
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Yes, I saw what you wrote the first time, and will say again that my best guess is the reason she pooped inside is because you didn't take her out to poop any time in those 1.5 hours after the walk. She doesn't sound totally housetrained, but housetraining is as much about giving the dog the opportunity to potty in the correct place - outside - as it is about rewards.
ok

she's not having accidents often because we do watch her very closely - I guess I'll keep training her like this
any more opinions on how I can get her potty trained for pooping? Should I give her multiple big pieces of chicken and only for when she poops?
Yes, I'm quite sure that large pieces of chicken are the answer to all your problems.
Do you have a backyard that’s fenced in where she goes out? I find my dogs took awhile before they would poop on-leash.

When a fenced yard hasn’t been an option (vacation etc) and I was too lazy for a full walk, I would walk them in a tight circle over and over. Basically they seem to look for that “perfect” spot to poop, so take away the hunt, and let her know that this 5 square feet of grass is where she is, and if she has to poop she will
Do you have a backyard that’s fenced in where she goes out? I find my dogs took awhile before they would poop on-leash.

When a fenced yard hasn’t been an option (vacation etc) and I was too lazy for a full walk, I would walk them in a tight circle over and over. Basically they seem to look for that “perfect” spot to poop, so take away the hunt, and let her know that this 5 square feet of grass is where she is, and if she has to poop she will
she poops right away most of the time so no issue there

basically my problem is 2 areas

1)because of her super fussy eating, I can't get her to eat the same amount every time so I can't consistently predict when she will poop

2)when it is approximately the time for her to poop and she doesn't go, I can take her in the house inside and she'll poop inside the house like 40 minutes later instead of holding it for another 3-4 hours for the next time she goes out
she poops right away most of the time so no issue there

basically my problem is 2 areas

1)because of her super fussy eating, I can't get her to eat the same amount every time so I can't consistently predict when she will poop
How much does she weigh, what breed is she and how much are you feeding? I bet you could Feed less. Give her 20.minutes to eat. If not gone in 20 minutes, food goes away. Don't hesitate to skip.a meal.

2)when it is approximately the time for her to poop and she doesn't go, I can take her in the house inside and she'll poop inside the house like 40 minutes later instead of holding it for another 3-4 hours for the next time she goes out
This is on you. You brought her in before she pooped, knowing full well it was time for her to poop.

Then you did not crate her and then take her back out in 10-15 minutes... and repeating this over and over until she pooped.

You are not giving this dog sufficient bathroom breaks or time outside and you are blaming the dog. That is very unfair to the dog.
When I hear about a problem like this, I always think, "What would Big Dave do?"
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Let me make this exceptionally clear BigDave, BigMike, Orion, MasterPuppets, etc.:

You were banned from this forum for repeatedly asking for advice and then blatantly ignoring everything contrary to what you've already decided to do, even though the thing you've decided you're doing is either clearly not working or outright harmful to your dog. This is a waste of our time, the forum members' time, and frankly yours as well.

If you want my real advice: rehome this dog to someone who cares more about her needs and understands that reality doesn't change just because they want it to. Someone who won't powerfeed this poor dog because their fragile ego needs a huge 'muscular' (fat, you're making her fat) dog to feel good about themselves. Someone who, even if they're inexperienced, is willing to learn and not too lazy to put in the work to even potty train her.

I think we've been tolerant enough, on the off chance that these alternate accounts are genuinely someone else who has a suspiciously similar dog with similar issues to yours, but we're not stupid. We will continue to ban your alt accounts for ban evasion. I highly suggest you grow up and learn to take advice, but you'll have to do it elsewhere.
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