Dog Community

Baily is pooping in the basement

Posted : 9/8/2011 5:06:26 PM

This started about a week ago. I woke up one morning with the vague notion that he had tried to wake me up during the night. I go downstairs for something and notice an odor.

Over the next several days he poops down there3-4 times. I also urinated once. The basement is all carpet. This has got to stop !

The first time I wrote it off as an urgent need to go out that wasn't met because I didn't wake up. After the second time...we began to use a baby gate to keep him out of the basement. I figured that I had not cleaned well enough and he was attracted to the odor. We failed on the baby gate a couple times and he pooped a couple times.

Obviously, we need to do a better job at preventing access to the basement. Putting the gate right by the back door is a PITA. I hesitate to go all the way back to actually kenneling him while unsupervised. That seems extreme. Do you think if we can keep him out of the basement...therefore breaking the cycle (or habit)....that he will stop ?

Little bugger...I wish I could actually talk with him.

calliecritturs

Posted : 9/8/2011 6:40:57 PM

It's not uncommon for dogs to have to go back to "housetraiing 101" occasionally -- you've had a busy summer, and the schedule has changed -- he did it once and got away with it (well you didn't find it for hours so that counts as "getting away with it";)

You may need to drop back and crate him for a while ... or even put a sizeable bell on his collar so you **hear** him if he gets up wandering around in the night (we'll baby gate the dogs in the bedroom *with* us just so we hear them).

Another thot -- has his actual schedule changed?? I mean overall? So he's not getting the same exercise at the same times of the day? (more exercise might mean pooping earlier?) or a different formula in his kibble or a change in what time he eats or what time you both walk him or get him out? Does that make sense?

TheDogHouseBCMPD

Posted : 9/9/2011 7:06:58 AM

PurplePets22
I also urinated once.

This is also a problem you may want to address Wink

I think you might want to do, like Callie said, a housebreaking refresher. Kind of a pain, but then again, so is cleaning up accidents. Being that he really already knows the rules, it shouldn't take too long to get him back on track.

iluvjamison

Posted : 9/9/2011 7:10:51 AM

PurplePets22
I also urinated once.

You really need to stop that Mindy.

Deb W.

P.S. - - Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Jewlieee

Posted : 9/9/2011 7:18:13 AM

I have had to block access to the basement totally in my house. Dakota started it here and the girls just picked up on it thinking it was ok. No amount of rehouse training broke the basement habit so now they just arent allowed down there at all. Ever.

In general we are in the re house training mode right now. If i leave access to the living room, someone will go in there. I think its abbie but cant be totally sure. Anyway, she has now started to bark at the back door to go out (she never did get the jingle bell), so hopefully we are on the right track. I will still never trust them to have free access to the living room again though.

sharismom

Posted : 9/9/2011 7:28:33 AM

No advice, but I appreciate the inadvertant chuckle!

PurplePets22

Posted : 9/9/2011 8:17:38 AM

iluvjamison
PurplePets22
I also urinated once.

You really need to stop that Mindy.

Oh my....see what being hopped up on cold medicine does ! That is a bad habit I need to stop Stick out tongue

To Callie's point.....Overall things have not really changed. Unless Canidae changed formulas without my knowing. We did have a odd weekend and he may have just gotten off schedule enough. He is soooo darn subtle and quiet when trying to wake us up at night.

Baby gates are in use and we will not fail this time. I just hope we don't have to keep this up forever.

mrstjohnson

Posted : 9/9/2011 10:19:14 AM

PurplePets22
I also urinated once.

He he he he

Charlie had a habit of going in the basement too for a while there and we had to block his access. I think because it's cold/damp etc they think it's outside??? Who knows. I agree a refresher course is probably in order.

Last week we were all playing outside and Charlie asked to be let in (it was in the high 90's). A minute later he wanted to come back out. I went in about 5 minutes later to find out that he went #2 on the kitchen floor. Indifferent I think he got his outside and inside confused. LOL

NicoleS

Posted : 9/13/2011 12:10:26 PM

Is there a drain nearby? Sammy has gone in our basement right near the drain once or twice, once near a drain in MIL's basement and once in a bathtub (again, a drain). This is only when he's sick / has to go, etc but I thought it was super interesting about the drain! Wonder if under your carpet there is a drain, and there was an odor which caused him to think it was OK?

PurplePets22

Posted : 9/13/2011 2:05:23 PM

No drain in the area he has gone in lately. Several years ago, he did have a case of the runs during the work day. He pushed open the basement bathroom door with his nose and then pushed open the door into the sauna. The sauna has a tile floor with a drain right in the middle (showerhead in there too). He chose that for his emergency bathroom Big Smile

I think he lost his mind for a minute and then decided the basement was really convienent !

PurplePets22

Posted : 9/19/2011 12:44:30 PM

Happy to report that with the baby gate at the top of the stairs in place, he has not been downstairs unsupervised. No more accidents in the house at all....... now that the carpet is fixed in the basement, we are going to start moving furniture back into place tonight. I am hoping that after it looks "normal" again...he will go back to realizing it is not a bathroom !