Help. Pees outside Poops outside

[Jolo1228]

I have a 6 month old terrier/chihuahua. I have had him 5 weeks. I got him from the local shelter but I did have the previous owner's name. There is a problem with this dog that I can't seem to change. So far he has learned to sit, lay down, stay, come when called, is leash trained etc. But...here are the two problems

He pees outside, but does not like to poop outside. First thing in the morning when he wakes up I take him our (on the leash since I don't have a fence). He pees and poops just fine. About 3 hours later he will go to the door, and I take him out and he pees. Then he poops when we come in the house, right by the door, no matter how long I stay out with him. I pick him up immediately and go back outside, but nothing because he has already gone. Then about 5:30 pm, we go out again and he pees, comes in and about an hour later we go back out. Then we go out every hour, but to no avail. He comes in during that time and goes poop in the house.

I called the last owner who took him to the shelter to see what training she had done while she had him for 2 months prior. Turns out she would take him out to pee, but didn't let him out to poop because she didn't want anyone to know she had a dog. The apartment did not allow pets. If he tried to poop outside, she hit him with a rolled up magazine. Oh My Gosh!!! How awful for him, but how can I retrain him now?
I need help. He really is a good dog, but I need help with this situation. Any suggestions? He is in obedience training here, but the trainer said she doesn't know what to do. I would appreciate any help I can get.

[KOPsarah]

Hi jolo, and thanks for your post.
I'm sorry to hear about you and your poor dogs situation. It sounds like a very tricky situation and we may have to try a few things one at a time and see how they go. First of all I would recommend every time your dog does a poop completely ignore it (especially do not tell him off) and scoop the poop up and put it out on the lawn with the dog following. Make a big happy fuss when the poop is on the lawn and praise the dog. Try and leave the poop on the lawn as long as you can so that your dog gets used to seeing poop outside and starts to realise its ok. Let me know if this has helped in a few days and if not we'll go back to the drawing board!

[Jolo1228]

Since your post he has had only one accident. I call that very successful. I think he is getting it now. Thanks for your advice.

[KOPsarah]

Glad to hear it's going well. All the best!

[Jolo1228]

Looks like it is back to the drawing board. He went outside for a few days, then back to the old habits. He sees the poop outside, smells it, pees, then wants to come back in the house. No matter how long he is outside - usually another 1/2 hour, he comes in the house and poops about 10 minutes later. I am going on a car trip soon and he will be with me staying in motels. I can't have him pooping in there, although he will be in his kennel most of the time. But, when I am at my destination, I certainly don't want him pooping in their house. Any more suggestions?

[KOPsarah]

Hi again,
Sorry to hear that things have gone backwards after all that progress. IN regards to the training for motels perhaps you could try training for using puppy pads so that although he is pooping inside he is pooping on the pad which can be easily cleaned up. Once he got used to pooping on the pad just inside the doorway you could start moving the pad outside. He should by then be confident that pooping on the pad is ok and hopefully when it is moved outside will continue to be confident pooping on it. After a while you could then phase out the puppy pad as your dog would be used to pooping outside after a while.

Let me know if this is a technique you would like to try and if so whether you have any questions about puppy-pad training itself.

All the best,

[Jolo1228]

We are working on using the pad, but not much success. But I'll keep trying. Thanks for all your help and advice. I really, really appreciate it.

[KOPsarah]

hi again, are you still in contact with the original owner? If so maybe you could ask where she did let him poop and see if this will help?