i love my dog, don't get me wrong. we get along great now that we are treadmill buddies :) (i go, then she goes, every day! lol)
BUT something that drives me nuts is her taking FOREVER to go potty sometimes! she's NOT an old dog, only 2-3 years old. she gets plenty of water, eats all natural dog food, and 99% of the time that's all she eats (if we leave the pantry door open she will get into the cat food, and if food is left on the kitchen table she will steal it in a heartbeat, but those are rare instances). she's a pretty healthy dog all told.
anyway...i can let her out after being gone at work all day, and she will take a good minute to pee, then proceed to sniff EVERY clump of grass in the yard before finding the "perfect" spot to poop! and god forbid a car drives by, or someone walks down the sidewalk, or another dog barks 10 blocks away...it's like she can't stand to have an audience. i have even "interrupted" her by having the gall to be looking at her!! lol! it's ridiculous!
another thing that seems odd is that she seems to poop SEVERAL times per day. it's like every single time i let her out. normal?
growing up all we had were outside (farm) dogs, so no one had to worry about taking them potty. this is our first dog as grownups. what do you think M.'s, is she crazy or no??
lol thanks lynn..maybe i should plant some bushes! :) the killer is that every time she gets "interrupted", the sniffing for the perfect spot starts over again...ugh! just poop already! it's cold outside ya stupid dog! :) gotta love 'em!
thanks ladies! lol. i'm glad i'm not the only one standing out there freezing my booty off! :)
yes, she is a great dog. and victoria, your dog is super smart to think ahead like that - mine catches the drift that she's going ANYwhere, and forget about going potty! she's too busy going crazy with happiness lol. and i don't know about leashing her to do it, i've always just let her go in the yard on her own. she does know "potty" though, for sure....i think she just likes to take her time. and yes, probably it does have to do with not being outside much at this time of year. normally she is outside running the farm at my mom's almost every weekend so it's probably not as bad then (come to think of it this issue is kind of a winter one...or maybe i don't notice when the weather is warmer, that i'm standing outside for 10 minutes! lol)
woops - yes dawn i did say all natural but i didn't specify - yes, it's all natural dog food, not people food :) lol. good point!
What are you feeding her, mama? Are you feeding her people food? I think that perhaps the next time you take her to the vet, you should talk about this. Dogs really shouldn't have to defecate several times a day. Perhaps changing her food would fix that.
Dawn
lol, i think that is normal. every dog has it's quirks. my dog charlie will only go poop literally INSIDE the bushes. lol.....i think he wants privacy. both my dogs poop at least twice a day that i know of. (in the morning and evening i know for sure) and they are outside for a couple hours when i get home from work so who knows how many times they actually go.
My dog does this all the time....he has to sniff the grass, tree, the lonely piece of paper on the grass and etc....He sees a cat outside and he will pull the entire time and not go to the bathroom. As far as the poop thing goes, my dog has to poop in the same area....and yes it off of the property since we live in an apartment. My shoe actually broke open in the front and on the side tonight when I was walking him. There was snow on the ground and it was freezing. I had to walk all the way back from the walk with a broken shoe. My toes were so cold from it! Anyhow...our dog goes poop several times if not more a day. He goes poop sometimes 2x in just one walk! Crazy, I don't even go that much!
My thoughts; I think dogs like their own space. They want to go to the bathroom where they want to go. They have tons of space to pick from, but it has to be a "special" space I guess on the grass. Funny, but we can use one toilet. LOL. My dog also loves to eat poop. It's annoying and he hasn't been walking really nice (pulling and all).
One thing that gets to me is....I can be laying in my bed and he can come and lay down on my feet and its fine for him, little does he know, my little feet can't take his heavy weight for hours. It's funny but if I try to snuggle with him, he pushes me away with his paws and gives me a weird look. Its so odd how dogs like to lay on you, but you can't get close to them always.
Good luck!
Maybe she's just taking her time cause she wants to delay going back in the house. Stimulation is what she needs!!! And yes...it can be quite normal to have more than one bowel movement a day. I bet she's a sweet dog...I miss having one.
My jack Russell is Soooo annoying with going potty. He has no problem pooping- yes several times a day. But peeing. OMG. He will walk around for 10 minutes and fake pee- lift his leg and nothing will come out- then FINALLY pee. He drives me nuts with it! My other dog will go potty no problem. But he will pee 5 times while we are out waiting for my jack to go. He holds some in so he can mark his territory all over!
My dog will only do his business on the curb. That's right . . . he will not go in the grass. He has to walk down to the street and hunch over the curb.
Meh... sometimes. Mine will stop if someone yells from the house, or one of the kids slams the car door (inside the garage getting ready to go--hence why I am out in the yard with the dog having her go potty), or .... She doesn't so much mind an audience, but she doesn't want to be talked to. lol
If I just let her out and she can roam at will to find the perfect spot, it usually takes a lot longer. If I take her out on a leash and walk her around the yard for a minute first, then give the command, it is faster. Or if she know/thinks she is going somewhere (for a ride) then she gets right down to it and heads to the back of the SUV. Does your dog know a potty command? If not, teach her one. Not sure how long that will take as an adult, but it was pretty quick for us to teach during "puppyhood". They go pretty frequently then ya know, so lots of practice with the command and praise after....lol.
I don't think she is crazy. Just leisurely. I also found, that if I don't immediately round her up and bring her back inside once the deed is done, that she doesn't delay the deed. She wants it done so she can play. :) Have you tried that method? Hold a favorite toy and give her the command to go, then once she is done reward her with playing ?
It is hard for us, b/c my GSD LOVES the cold weather and just plain doesn't want to come inside. She'll sit out there at 30 degrees and just sit and stare at the woods and listen to the outside noises. Come. On. I am NOT standing out there for that!
Ohh., ETA: The quantity/frequency of poop might (MIGHT) be related to the food. Ours used to eat Iams, and she went 3 times a day at least. And it was soft and large. Granted, she is a GSD, but still. We switched her to Purina One years ago, and she only goes maybe twice a day now, and it is much smaller. I think she digests it more fully and it probably has less filler. So maybe look into changing the food?
This post was funny. So were some of the anwers. I am not alone!
I stand out in the cold to "ensure" they pee/poop.
My bigger dog does not like being watched.
Btw, it is hard to poop/pee on command. Have you ever been able to
make yourself poop? I think not. haha
What I do, is associate the word w/the deed (good pee pee as she goes
pee) so they get used to "knowing" what it means in case I "need" them
to go out & do their business.
Most dogs need to "sniff" around to find a spot.
It's their "getting ready" dance. It's like "calling the poop to come down the
pipe". Kind of like when men read on the toilet.
I make sure to take my dogs out often throughout the day to ensure they
go potty & poop. Also, so they don't have accidents or feel uncomfortable b/c they haven't been let out in awhile. They are so used
to the "pee" command that they let me know I've hit the jackpot by saying
the right word.
Just keep taking them out (can you stand inside & watch thru a window?
Or will they not go?
My little dog could care less if I watch but watches me to make sure I don't go bk inside leaving him out in the cold. He "tracks" me. haha
Make sure she has enough water.
Take her out often.
And be patient! It's hard to "call on the pee/poo God on command!
when we have moved to a new house in the past, our lab mix will not poop for days, he has a serious issue with this.
Yep. One of my dogs is just like...oh, hey, I'm outside, I'll pee/poop here. The other dog has to find the perfect spot to poop and has to pee on everything and gets distracted very easily. He also continues to 'pee' even though nothing is coming out and hasn't been for a few minutes but he thinks he is marking his territory so I just let him go. They both poo at least twice a day. At least it hasn't been a cold winter so I haven't had to trudge through two feet of snow looking for the perfect poo spot.
Is she a lab or lab mix, by chance? Sounds exactly like my old guy was. My other two sniff around a bit and they definitely poop multiple times a day(my vet says that's the way they're supposed to be) but the "I won't go until I'm comfortable and have checked out everything within 25 feet" sounds like my old lab. I miss that guy -- even with the pooping distraction.
lol yes my dog (mini dachshund) does this. the sniffing around for the perfect place to pee/poop i can stand but what kills me are the squirrels in our neighborhood. there's a ton of them and my dog can't do her business b/c she's too busy trying to catch them.
LOL reminds me of my dog. He is a little over a year old and sometimes takes FOREVER to go potty. Seems like he likes to take longer when he knows we are leaving him home alone. And he does poop several times a day. Oh and he will still occasionally wake us up in the middle of the night to poop. We also feed him good natural dog food, plenty of water. He's a very smart dog too.
Oh I know what you mean about him getting "interrupted". A car drives by, a person walks by, a car is started up, a cat walks by, squirrel, he starts over.
