Hi

My 20 week old pup has this week decided to poo on the pavement when we go out for a walk. He has never done this before. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to why this has started?

Many thanks :-)

Because he now feels confident enough to go anywhere!  This is a good thing, so be careful not to huff and puff and seem disapproving :)

But do remember to pick it up, sure you do.

Yes i do :-) I must have been the talk of the street the other evening as I went back with a bucket of water and washed the pavement :-D, he had had a bit of a runny tummy

Any ideas on how to discourage pooing on the pavement?

Have always tried to encourage mine to poo at home, using the normal method of teach the dog a word connected to the activity and trying to work out when nature is likely to call so you do not walk until your dog has emptied. You will not always succeed but it helps if you try.

I'd love to know as at least one of mine will hold on whatever the delay to go as soon as we go out, hates going at home, and when she was restricted to barracks after having pups she wouldn't poo for two days.

Most of mine will go at home, but they all seem to like to go when on their evening walks, and I have had up to 6 to clean up after.

He may have had to go if he had a runny poo :-)

I have been known to wash the pavement as my oldie had collitis and was sometimes caught short !

> Any ideas on how to discourage pooing on the pavement?

The best idea is to do as Nova suggests.  This is how the Guide Dog puppies are trained as, obviously, it could create great difficulties for their owners if they empty willy nilly.

It helps if you observe your dogs habits ie how long after a meal they are likely to want to go and if this cannot be accomodated maybe adjust mealtimes.  It also helps if you observe what kind of surface they prefer and ensure this can be offered as their usual toileting place.  If you find they absolutely will not go on their own patch then perhaps look for somewhere close to your home that is conveniently near to a bin, say, if you are not happy about carrying full poo bags too far. 

Dogs are creatures of habit and once you reach an agreement over this they will generally stick to it :) but as LJS points out sometimes nature forces an accident so always be prepared!

Eeyore - I think it is a good thing if dogs can empty their bowel and bladder both at home (in the garden) and away from home (on walks). When I was small we had a neighbour whose small dog would only pee away from home(ie. on walks, not in their garden).When they went on holiday and left it in the kennels it thought of the kennel and run as its home/garden and wouldn't pee - it damaged its bladder by holding it's pee and had to be put to sleep.

> Eeyore - I think it is a good thing if dogs can empty their bowel and bladder both at home (in the garden) and away from home (on walks).

That's a good point, although I think dogs taking it to such extremes are rare I should think.  Teaching to empty on command should help to encourage use of any location.

I wouldn't discourage pooing anywhere (although I will sometimes ask them to move on a bit or sideways a bit if necessary),  but I do positively encourage pooing at a time and location of my choosing (particularly helpful with puppies and with show dogs!).

However on the debate of pooing at home or whilst out and about it's worth mentioning that many dogs need the act of walking to assist peristalsis.  I have one such dog that has a specific distance he needs to walk to 'get going'.  It doesn't matter which direction we walk out of our gate, or whether we walk from a car he goes almost to the exact yard!!  He actually gets quite distressed if we don't walk til later in the morning but will, if necessary, resort to running circuits around the garden before he can poo at home.  He has always done a sort of pre and post poo excitement dash :)

My dog will sometimes poop on a pavement. Very embarasing, but I do clean up after him. Luckily, due to his size, I have plenty of space to hold a poop-bag under him and catch his depesoit before it even touches the floor (I'll do this on the grass to, as it's easier than trying to seperate it from the long, wet grass).
I always have one poop-bag ready, in my pocket, that has been opened out, so no need to fiddle to get the bag open - just whip it out and catch the plop (one hand on each handle to hold it open).

Looks a rather funny sight, but it makes poop-picking so much easier (especially if it's a runy one!). Worth a try if you have room to get a poop-bag underneath :) (as long as it wouldn't spook pup of course)

> I have plenty of space to hold a poop-bag under him and catch his depesoit

Mastifflover I now have visions of you buying a kids fishing net for hands-free collection!

> Mastifflover I now have visions of you buying a kids fishing net for hands-free collection!

LOL, my kids have offered me thier halloween treat bag thingy (like this) :-D But I was a bit worried about keeping it clean.
Now a fishing net could be good, I'd just have to remove the net and put on some hooks to hold the bag :-D LOL

lol @ mastifflover...what a great image !!!

Ha Ha, the above posts made me laugh, our pup seems to really enjoy taking a piddle right in the middle of the road! thankfully we haven't had to hold up any traffic yet, but I suppose I'd just have to tug him across to the other side if I saw a car coming LOL