My Butterball poops on the couch

Well, for starters keep the dog OFF the couch.  Being on the couch is not an automatic in my home.  It is an EARNED privledge.

When he poops on the couch, grab a paper towel, clean up the poop and take IT and him outside where you want him to go.  Tell him THIS is where you go potty.  And honestly i don't think it hurts to tell him, UH UH.  We go potty OUTSIDE, not in the house before you take him out.

 He sneaks on the couch while I'm out of the room and I can tell by the way he walks into the kitchen what he's done. I've even tried putting a cover over the couch. My next step is going to be gating off the living room. I just hate to do that because we have 2 other dogs that are really well behaved. I keep saying he's in the puppy stage but ahhh my couch! It's so gross. But thank you I'll try taken him out with the poop. :)

Perhaps either put him in a crate or an ex pen so that he can't sneak onto the sofa when you are out of the room.  He clearly has too much freedom right now and is abusing that freedom.

bballs mom

 He sneaks on the couch while I'm out of the room

In honesty, to have any success with this you have to make it impossible FOR him to screw up.  And since you have two other dogs then treat *this one* as not house trained because he isn't right now.

He's going where he's gone before -- dogs are absolutely immediate in habits.  He's simply doing what he's *been* doing -- even though he knows eventually you will be displeased, at the moment he need to go, he goes where he went before.  

So either leash him *to you* -- which then will let you know when he becomes anxious and needs to go, or simply make it completely impossible for him to go where you don't want him to go.  Leashing him to you is absolutely the best way -- why?  Because you are missing **His** signals that say "I need to poop *now*. 

You admit you've babied him -- but that's just "training" in the wrong direction.  Some dogs form instant and almost unbreakable habits.  My pug literally is reluctant to eat if her bowl is put in a different place than what she's used to.  She's simply VERY situational -- and the slightest variance in habit screws her up.  So we have to re-train constantly to keep her flexible enough to adapt to new situations. 

Probably the best thing you could possibly do is do a net search for "Nothing In Life is Free" and go back to NILIF with all 3 of your dogs. 

What does that have to do with housetraining?  Everything -- because you can't expect obedience in the one area that really frustrates *you* if they aren't obedient in all other areas.  It's all a domino effect -- this dog isn't going to respond to housetraining efforts if you aren't consistent in other areas.

See dogs think differently than we do.  We think we're being "good" to them by babying them -- "I'll go easy on him and let him do it THIS time" -- but really what you've done is set it up for him to have it harder.  Because dogs thrive on consistency and constantcy ... if you change the "rules" and allow them to do something that actually displeases you ... then they think it's ok, and don't know why you're upset.  To a dog things are far more clear.  black and white.  "I have to poop **now** so I'll go where I went last."   They don't look off in the future to the fact that you will be unahppy with them.

And moreover?  When you get upset because you find poop on your sofa -- the dog doesn't realize you don't like that he elminated in the *wrong spot* --- nope -- when he sees you point to that and say "BAD DOG" -- he thinks you don't like "him".  It never occurs to him that you just plain don't like where he **put** it.  Remember -- to a dog, poop is their 'Mark' -- it defines them as an individual.  So he thinks you just don't like *him* at that moment -- not that he pooped in the wrong place.  Does that make sense?

Put a spring doorstop on the door where you want him to 'ask' to go out.  Reward THAT.  When you see he's acting agitated, grab his leash (while he's not housetrained he should be dragging a leash every minute) and go to the door, say "Out??" and gently take his paw and bat at that doorstop so it makes a "sproinggggg" noise and hurry thru and stand there with him to the place you want him to go. 

 I don't like treats training to elminate.  It's too easy for them to identify the reward with the mere act of pooping, rather than *where* you want them to go (again, I'm just emphasizing, not yelling).

In short, he's not going to make a new habit just because you wish it -- you literally have to make it impossible **for** him to screw up and then you can reward the good behavior. 

He warrants no freedom at all right now.  It's better for him to be on leash, and under control 100% of the time and do **good** things to get rewarded for, than to be free enough to do bad, and never just happen to please you.  Make it impossible for him to screw up -- and he'll begin to get it.  But right now his choices suck -- so don't give him a choice until he's re-learned how to make better ones.

 Right now he is doing very good with it because he has had 2 surgeries in the past 2 weeks and is literally glued to my hip. Which I am sure is going to be another issue I will have to deal with. I like the idea of keeping him on a leash and the spring board thing at the door. I also have enrolled him into a obedience which I hope helps. And yes the last thing I want is for him to feel like a bad dog because he is far from that, he is a handful and my little trouble maker but a sweetie all in one. Thank you guys for all the ideas that I will surely use them :)

Please know that we all understand the urge to baby a pup who has been through a lot.  It's just that what we think of as "sweet" or babying the pup thinks of as a license to get away with stuff and that lack of consistency makes him think it's really ok.

After our move late last summer we were living in the RV waiting for our house.  With SIX german shepherds, 3 cats and a duck.  Don't ask!  Tummies got in an uproar and we had SCREAMING diaherra.  And while we did have a couple "I can't hold it one more second" type accidents on the kitchen rug at night when we were sleeping, everyone made it very, very clear that they had to go NOW, and they got taken out pronto.  And they had a major tummy issue going on.  But, this is simply how they've been trained.

Every time your little guy "practices" pooping in the wrong place, it reinforces that it's the RIGHT place.  I'm sure that Callies suggestion of the leash seems far kinder than a crate or ex pen, but, if you are already having issues with clinginess it might be a good idea to work on crating or penning with a super good treat or toy just to give YOU a little breathing space now and again and use the leash the rest of the time.

  WOW what a big doggy  fam you have lol. That must have been crazy living for you all. Yes I have thought of a crate too, my border collie came with one when we adopted her and she loves it. And a breather ohhh I need it, he cries if I leave him at all since his surgery, and I gave in and took the whole week off from classes to be with him, I can see now that was not a smart thing to do. It's hard to find the balance with feeling bad for him and what's going over board and spoiling him rotten. I felt horrible that he lost his eye and was scared to death he was going to catch it on something. Shopping tomorrow for a new crate. I think with all of these ideas one will def work. I'm so glad I found this site with others that love their dogs as much as I do mine and understand :)

We actually lost Miss Corky (the duck) in August, and Thor left us just over a week ago.

Let me make a suggestion.  When you start to do something ask yourself if doing it will encourage HIM to do something that isn't ok.  You have to think long term and act accordingly.  I know how very difficult it is when they are sick or hurting, but you must think of 3 weeks or months or years from now, and how is the behavior you are basically encouraging going to feel then.

Just toughen up a *little*, keep that consistency and structure going, and you'll do fine.

 Aww I'm sorry for your loss. And yes you are absolutely right, think of a year from now, Oh I will be in trouble if I don't take care of it now.

bballs mom

. I like the idea of keeping him on a leash and the spring board thing at the door.  I also have enrolled him into a obedience which I hope helps.  

 This IS a cheap solution (this is HOme Depot's version)at the back of it is a screw that goes into the door itself.  It's just a tight little spring with a rubber tip on it.

Obedience classes are your friend -- not only does the dog learn but *you* have someone watching you who will say "hmmm, don't do ______" or "do you know that when he does ___ you do _____?"   It really helps you see things from a different perspective.

bballs mom

.And yes the last thing I want is for him to feel like a bad dog because he is far from that, he is a handful and my little trouble maker but a sweetie all in one. Thank you guys for all the ideas that I will surely use them :)

When we love them it's all too easy to "baby" them ... but then sometimes it just takes someone pointing out that maybe we're being a bit more anthropomorphic than we *think* we are -- and how this or that actually creates a whole different feeling in them than we thot.  And those of us who really do love our dogs to pieces -- once we realize that in a way we're sort of "setting them up to fail" it is then a whole lot easier, mentally, to change what we're doing when it makes us undertstand them better.

 Good luck

 I have some of those lol I thought it was something totally different so thanks for showing me, I probably would have looked a little funny asking for it and expecting something different. I'm going to put mine on today and start working with him. Do you think he will hit his eye on it? That's what I'm worried about. Him hitting his eye on anything, he had his eye removed 6 days ago. That's where the babying came in, we tried to save it and it ended up reopening and had to be removed 10 days after attempting to save it. I just want it to heal safely.

bballs mom

Do you think he will hit his eye on it?

The kindest thing to do is leave an e-collar ("the cone of shame" if you've seen "UP" LOL) on him -- he may not like it but it's the BEST protection for the eye.  And just show him how to tilt his head up so he can go up and down stairs and between things.  That's another of those things where they act a little "poor poor pitiful me" and WE feel sorry for them and take it off.  But if you persist in a couple of days he'll be bashing his way around with it.

A crate is fine -- my only reason for suggesting leashing him to you, is because you are probably missing his "look" to ask to go out.  Leashing him to you tends to make you more aware of what he's doing -- and sometimes all you get is a "look" before they dump!

When you put him in the crate TALK TO HIM.  Much of separation anxiety is just wanting to know YOU Know they are around.  So pop him in the crate and say "I've got to go to the kitchen for a while -- here's your Kong" (or whatever toy or busy thing you want to give him).  If he cries, go stand in front of him with your hand on your hips and say (just matter of factly) "What IS your problem?  I'm in the kitchen.  No whining!"

 I tell them where I am ... or I will zoom by and say "Ok -- I've got to take the trash out." and then tell him when you come in.

ANY time mine are in a crate I tell them where I'm going.  That sounds like a lot of talk, but they DO learn vocabulary -- my dogs know that "going shopping" is a ocuple of hours and I come back with bags to sniff.  They know that "Mom's going to work" means all day and I'll be home before supper.  That communication lets them know what to expect. 

They may not understand every single word, but they do ultimately learn the gist of it and your **tone** conveys a lot.

  lol He does have the e-collar on and he's a pro with it although I have been carrying him up and down the stairs =O oops I was worried he would fall down them. Yes we talk to them but we are just now getting him a crate so I'll keep that in the back of my mind. I'm proud to say it's been about a week since he has pooped on my couch, let's hope that will be the last time :) Thanks again for all your advice