Our JRT has been well behaved and great fun since we got him from a rescue.  While he was in the rescue he regularly pooed in his outside basket (They had a basket in the outdoor part of the kennel as well as another basket on the inside part).  Since we have had him (3 months now) there have been no problems with cleanliness.

Today we left him while we went to the shop (normally no problem) but this time we left him to roam the kitchen, and hall.  He never goes upstairs.  Well until today.  We found that he had gone upstairs into our bedroom and pooed on our bed!

Naturally we took him upstairs, showed him what he had done and firmly told him he was a bad dog and so on.

But why did he do it????

Naturally we took him upstairs, showed him what he had done and firmly told him he was a bad dog and so on.

Why "naturally"?

Seriously, this kind of punishment is not effective as the dog will have no idea that you are cross because of what he did. Dogs tend to have a few seconds literally in linking one thing with another in these kinds of situations... if he looked as if he did, it is because he knows you are cross, not why you are cross. 

If when he was at the rescue he pooed in his outside basket, he may be used to doing it on that kind of surface (perhaps a soft bedding). It's not always easy to tell why dogs do things, although they have their own reasons

My dog is completely housetrained but i still don't give her the run of the house - she is put in the long lounge which runs the length of the house, and is behind a child gate :) I then know where she is and that she's safe. Often management like this is the simplest solution.

Best wishes
Lindsay
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Thank you for replying Lindsay

I suppose I say "naturally" because in 30 years of owning dogs, that is what I do! :)  However I have never owned a rescue dog before.

My concern is more as to why he has done this.

By the way Lindsay, you are lucky to have the kind of space that allows your dog the run of an area the length of the house.  Our family set up doesn't give that kind of space.  As I said, normally we contain him but it was our bad decision which meant that he had the opportunity to do it.  We too learn from our mistakes.

But my major concern is Why.

It is actually better to coantain yoru dog to a smallish area (kitchen, utility room, etc) whn you are out.  It encourages them not to get wound up, and rest instead, adn also encourages cleanliness.

the dog will have needed to go to the toilet so chose a place well away from it's normal living space.  the fact it was your bedroom is irrelevant to him.

Sometimes dogs, get insecure and will eliminate because they are stressed, not unusual in a rescue dog once it becomes firmly attached to it's new owner.

This is another reason for containment as they have less likelihood or running about getting more and more stressed.

One reason could be that he's anxious without you so has found the place that smells most strongly of you, and has linked his own smell to it for reassurance.

Sometimes it's just not possible to know the "why", though it's interesting to speculate. :-)  I have known several people whose dog did this and their situations and backgrounds were completely different.  One of them must have been anxiety but I have no idea why the other adult dog suddenly had the idea of going upstairs and weeing on the bed - since it was a terrier I expect it was something idiosyncratic like the bed felt warmer than the cold ground ... :-D

i've got a jrt although having had him from 8 weeks old i know that any peculiar habits of his are my fault, not the result of earlier experiences i know nothing about!

this mysterious pooing incident may well be directly related to him having access to the house for the first time and if he needed to do a poo, where better than a nice warm duvet that smells of you? or perhaps the very encountering of this nice warm place that smelt of you encouraged the pooing? only if he got into the habit of pooing on a soft surface while still in rescue kennels it may not seem an unreasonable occasional activity.

i wouldn't read anything too significant into this because it may well be a one-off. however, i don't give my jrt the run of the house when i'm out either. he stays in the kitchen which provides the security of a nice enclosed place to settle down and go into that state of soporific doggy limbo that comes on when he's left alone and also means i'm not worrying about what he could be getting up to elsewhere.

as for mysterious presents, we've had one ourselves though when, not long after nips could first climb the stairs i found him cheerfully digging to australia on a sunny patch of the spare room duvet which he then proceeded to wee on! but as the psychiatrist said of basil fawlty, "there's a conference-worth of material out there" and terriers are idiosyncratic little beggars that don't always lend themselves to logical explanations!

it's never worth telling a dog off after the event though. since once any time has elapsed you can show them all the evidence in the world and they still can't put cause and effect together and come up with a conclusion that links their previous behaviour with your telling them off now.

>Naturally we took him upstairs, showed him what he had done and firmly told him he was a bad dog and so on.

It's often suggested that people who believe that a dog is showing 'remorse' for a misdemeanour when scolded about it long after the event, should try an experiment. With the dog in another room, tear up some paper and scatter it on the floor. Then bring the dog in and say in your usual scolding voice "Who did this?", pointing at the mess. 9 times out of 10 the dog shows the same 'remorse' (ie, appeasement to avert unpredicted anger), even when it's completely innocent!

and if you haven't got a dog, trust me it works just as well on men.

(sorry for digression!)

I did something similar a few weeks ago when Moonmaiden mentioned it -all I did was go to the kitchen and look in at the 6 dogs there. I didn't say or do ANYTHING; but I had a scowl on my face and LOOKED angry. They all cowered down and looked "ashmed". The I changed to smiling instead, and all the dogs jumped up happy, wanting to say hello. All of this without a word spoken -and all the dogs had done when I started was sleeping.

By the way Lindsay, you are lucky to have the kind of space that allows your dog the run of an area the length of the house.  Our family set up doesn't give that kind of space. 

I understand, what i meant to convey (not very well) was that she is in one confined area rather than being given the run of the house. When in a different kind of home, myfirst which was a garden flat with lodgers coming and going, my dogs were usually put in my room when I went out :)

If the dog did do this out of worry, (and with rescues you do get that honeymoon period until they feel at home as you know) then it is truly not a good idea to take him upstairs and show him, as the ultimate outcome could be a dog who gets worried about you coming home as well as going out, and so starts to mess and you get a very vicious circle going on.

Lindsay
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Thank you everyone for your helpful and useful comments. 

I hope we have learnt something from it even if perhaps Monty hasn't!  I shall indeed confine him and make sure that he doesn't get a further opportunity for such behaviour.  We have spent extra time with him today and hope that this is just another "one of those things" that happens in most dog/human relationships!:)