Four-month old Golden Retriever likes to poop inside the house

[KarthikMuthuswamy]

Hello fellow dog lovers,

I got a four-month Golden Retriever a couple of days back and I started training him using your techniques.

He learns new commands quite easily and he is able to perform them in different settings.

However, I'm unable to get him trained to poop or pee outside consistently. He did both outside yesterday, but this morning I stayed outside with him for close to an hour slightly playing and walking with his scent trail and yet he came into is crate to poop and peed in his play pen while I was cleaning the crate.

Any suggestions to fix this issue? Am I doing something wrong here? Can you share some pooping guidelines for 4-month olds? 

Thanks!

[Adrienne]

Your 4-month old Golden retriever must be adorable, post pictures if you have a chance! I am glad to hear he is doing so well in learning new commands and can perform them in different settings. That's very nice to see in a puppy so young!

The principles of potty training 4-month old puppies are basically almost the same as younger pups, the only difference is that they should be able to hold it for longer. They still can though have accidents every now and then. We usually expect puppies to be close to being fully potty trained by the age of 5 to 6 months, but some pups may take longer, just like with kids, they all seem to mature at different times. My Rotties were fully accident free once they reached 7 to 8 months.  It is said that a dog is fully potty trained once he has had no accidents for at least 2 months. 

I can share several tips to help your puppy learn to poop outside more consistently:

-Puppies may get easily distracted when we send them outside. With so many different sights, sounds and smells, it is easy to get side-tracked! This means your puppy may forget all about pooping considering that there are so many interesting things to explore. After all, who feels like using the restroom at Disney World when there are so many fun things to do! Unless, there is urgency, one will likely hold it for less amusing times.

While a puppy acting distracted outdoors (when he should focus on going potty) may seem annoying, consider the positive side: if your puppy gets distracted and won't go, this is often a sign that he is becoming capable of holding it a little more, which paves the path towards successful potty training. So if your puppy starts chasing butterflies, goes on a sniffing adventure or starts playing with rocks the moment you send him outside, most likely he won't poop because there are too many fun things to do! 

It may therefore help to keep your puppy on leash and walk him back and forth in his potty area. Do this for some time, and if no poop is produced within a few minutes, walk your puppy back inside the home for a while and watch him carefully for signs he needs to potty (sniffing, stopping from playing, circling, crying, going to the door). You can keep him crated or under your direct close supervision nearby the door during this time. Try not ot leave your eyes off him. When you recognize any signs, promptly escort him to the door and take him out once again on leash. 

-When your puppy goes potty, praise and reward with a tasty treat (held in your pocket or treat bag) and let your puppy off leash for some fun. We want to make it fun and rewarding going potty outdoors and pave the path for an outdoor preference. 

-Place some previous poop in your pup's designated outdoor potty area so that your puppy knows that this area is his bathroom.

-If your puppy poops inside, make sure to clean his accidents with an enzyme-based cleaner. This helps remove a good part of the smell. Failure to do so may cause your puppy to poop in your home because certain areas smell like poop making him think that's his bathroom area.

-Avoid punishing your puppy or getting frustrated or upset for having accidents in the home. This can lead to puppies who hide to poop and are reluctant to poop in your presence. Simply clean the mess and evaluate how you could have prevented this from happening in a proactive way.

-Keep track of when your puppy is more likely to go potty. Often, puppies need to poop first thing in the morning and many dogs poop after meals as they have a gastrocolic reflex. So start taking your puppy out after every meal, so you can heighten the chances for him to learn to associate going outside with the act eliminating.

-Aim to train your puppy to go potty on command. This can help speed up the process and if you are consistent, your puppy will learn to associate going to the yard with pooping. You can read how to train this here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/potty-on-command/

-Keep track on when your puppy poops each day and try to keep him on a feeding schedule so that time your puppy has to poop becomes predictable. Puppies at this age can soon be fed twice a day (morning and evening), ask your vet when that's fine. 

-Ask your vet about a good food for your puppy. Some low-quality foods may cause bulky stools and increased frequency of poops. 

-Don't take your puppy to poop and then bring him right away back inside. This will teach him that all the fun ends when he poops. Instead, once he poops, praise and reward and let him spend some fun time outside.

I hope this helps,

Let me know if you have any further questions,

Best,

Adrienne

[KarthikMuthuswamy]

Hi Adrienne,

Thank you for your detailed answers. I has been quite a busy few days training my pup that I could not touch my laptop. I've attached a few pics of my Golden Retriever with this post.

I managed to get him to sleep the entire night and go potty outside on most occasions. We do have a peeing "accident" per day in our living room but I'm hoping to get that fixed very soon. Like you mentioned, he has such accidents exactly the second I take my eyes off him. In such cases, I do use a mixture of water, apple cider vinegar and essential oil in the areas where he pees and finally an enzyme based cleaning solution to make it smell good.

We give him Royal Canin Golden Retriever Junior three times a day (07:30, 12:30 and 17:30), and I take him out to potty about half an hour after he eats. I also make sure that he empties his bladder before he goes into his crate and after he gets out. I make his potty time as boring as possible to make sure he knows I mean business. I do use "potty" as a keyword and it seems to have an effect. We have a playpen around his crate where most of his peeing accidents happen and usually just after a training session or play session. Twice a day, I take him for a walk to get him tired out, especially before going to sleep at night.

One question I have is, what type of chew toys can I leave in his crate, so that he isn't bored sitting inside? At the moment, he has an AniOne Stick which we get here in Germany. I read that keeping Nylabones inside his crate for his chewing might be dangerous for him if he bites off too much. Any other suggestions?

[Adrienne]

Your puppy is adorable, and I am pleasantly impressed with the level of care you are providing this pup with. He is certainly starting on the right paw and this level of dedication will shine through once he matures. Saying the word "potty" before he goes is an excellent way to get him started to potty on command, which will come handy in future when you may need him to rush up or go potty in a new place.

With puppies, we need to find toys that are appropriate for their teeth and that portions cannot be chewed up. In all honesty, I feel that there is no entirely safe chew toy for puppies or dogs especially when left unsupervised, but there are many safer than others. Nylabones may be too hard and may break off in pieces. 

To keep puppies busy and distracted when left alone, a Kong stuffed with some goodies is a popular choice. Kongs are more resilient and puppies will spend time in dislodging the contents. I looked up the website you provided, and it looks like they do have them in stock. Here are Kongs made purposely for puppies:

https://www.fressnapf.de/p/puppy-kong-l#s

 

[KarthikMuthuswamy]

Thank you very much. I've indeed got a Kong toy for my pup but I'm a bit confused about how to use it.

I read that I have to give each meal to the pup in the Kong as a frozen food but I'm not sure how to do it. Should I soak his food in water and put it in the Kong and freeze it? Is that the right method to give a Kong toy to the pup? Thanks!

[Adrienne]

There are many ways to stuff a Kong. If your puppy is new to it, make it easy to empty at first by just putting a bit of kibble in it and then putting some pieces of mashed banana on top or cookie to keep the kibble inside. This is to make it easy for the puppy and learn how to use it. Then, we can move on to freezing. 

For freezing a Kong, you can start by measuring out a portion of your pup's ration, placing it in a bowl, then pouring water over the kibble, completely submerging it. Let the kibble soak the water for about 30 minutes. It should swell up and get soft. Then scoop it up, and place it into the Kong. You can seal the top shut with a spoonful of peanut butter, (make sure it's not the sugar-free type and therefore it doesn't contain the sugar-substitute xylitol which is toxic to dogs!) cream cheese or wet dog food and finally place it in a ziplock and freeze it. Once frozen, remove from the ziplock and serve it. It can get a bit messy so best to serve on tiles or other washable floor and inf in the crate with some towels under.

Here you can find more Kong recipes:

https://www.kongcompany.com/learn/stuffing-recipes

[KarthikMuthuswamy]

This is super useful information. I did do some research on stuffing Kong but seem to have missed this. Thanks a ton for this info! I did give Nacho a stuffed Kong and he just went wild with it. He eats food too fast on a food bowl and I feel Kong is able to regulate his food intake and keep him occupied.

[Adrienne]

You are very welcome!

Nacho is a very cute name!

Kongs are very popular because they can be sturdy, and the the best thing is that, not only Kongs can help dogs eat less fast, but also provide mental stimulation allowing dogs to work for their food.