how do you train where to poop/pee?

[Ocean]

Always a new dilemma... Ocean is pooping us to death, I can't keep up with the pickup ALL over th yard, and the peeing is killing all the grass. The yard looks like what it is (sh*t). She has a nice big yard of her own and I want to train her to "go" in there ONLY, but have no idea how. HELP, PLEASE?!?!?

Also, today she pooped ON THE DECK. She has NEVER done this before, and it was right beside her food bowls! Whatever happened to "don't where you eat?" She has never pooped or peed on the deck, it is like the living room with furniture and things - she naps and eats there, so it's really weird that she did that.

I am desperate to train her to go in her yard ASAP - does anyone have any ideas or methods that have worked for them?

[brunie's mom]

What are you feeding her that she has such huge amounts of poop?? You may want to get her on a better brand of food...the better the food...the less that comes out.:D

To get her to go only in a certain area of the yard you will have to put her on a leash and take her to the spot that you want her to eliminate....give her the command "poop" or "pee" and then wait. When she has done it...give her alot of praise and even a treat that you keep in your pocket.

If your dog is free fed ...meaning that the food is sitting out all of the time, you may want to just feed her twice a day...that will help to control bowel movements. My dogs usually poop after they eat.:D :D They go for a walk after they eat and the bowels start moving.

Gina

[Ocean]

She eats 4 cups am and 4 cups pm of "Beneful," a mix of moist and dry bits. It was recommended to me by a friend with a Greyhound. Maybe it's too much, she always seems so hungry though!

She is allowed in the yard (fenced) which has a gate that opens into her own yard. I guess that means that she can't be outside in the main yard alone at ALL? This will be difficult if not impossible... I'd like to hear if anyone else has had this challenge! I can't figure out how we can supervise her 24/7 and still have a life .

[Nina&Bill]

How big is she?

Amber is 75 lbs & gets 2 cups of Canidae a day...poops twice a day too. 8 cups of food is a lot going in (and coming out) :) . You do feed less of the better foods becase there are little to no fillers in them. So a 40 lb bag of Canidae lasts for over a month.

Less food in equals less poop out :).

Nina

[Ocean]

Seriously? You feed your 75 lb girl only 2 cups of food a day??? Ocean is about the same weight, she eats 8 cups a day but hasn't put on much since I got her (about 2 months), maybe 3 lbs. The bag said for her weight, she should have 5 ups a day but she was gobbling that up and acting starving, so I increased it to 8. She ALWAYS acts starving; how would I know if she was really hungry or not? Also, she rarely finishes her food, she is a nibbler, eats a mouthful now and then over the course of a couple hours.

[brunie's mom]

If you get her off of the Beneful and onto a higher quality food some of you problems may be solved.:)

Beneful is an awful food full of grain, there is almost no meat...they add peas and carrots and try to push it as a "healthy food".

If you fed Ocean a good quility food you would probably have to feed her no more then 3 cups total a day...this would also mean very little poop coming out.

There is no magic about making her use one part of the yard....like I said take her out in the area on a leash that you want her to go in...after a few weeks she will understand and automatically go in her designated area.

You must teach the dog.

Gina

[samanthac]

Hi there. Glad to hear that Ocean is doing well.

First, get her off Beneful. That food is crap. Any food you find in the grocery store, Walmart. K-mart, Target, etc is not the kind of food you want to be feeding your dog. Just because there is healthy stuff on the outside of the bag does not mean there is on the inside of the bag.

Go to a pet store, but be aware that even pet stores can sell crappy foods like Purina Pro Plan, Beneful, Dog Chow, Pedigree. Look for the following foods instead:

Bil-Jac
Canidae
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul
Diamond Professional (black bag)...NOT regular Diamond
Eagle
Evolve
Hill's Scinece Diet Natural Best...NOT regular Hill's SD which is crap
Lick Your Chops
Natural Balance
Natural Blend by Royal Canin
Nature's Recipe Easy to Digest Formulas...avoid the others
Nutro Natural Choice...NOT Nutro Max which is crap
PetGuard
Pinnacle
Precise
Royal Canin
Sensible Choice
Showbound Naturals
Solid Gold
VeRUS
Wellness
Wysong

Ok, now that should give you a good list of what to get.

The reason Ocean eats 8 cups a day is because she is eating a filler-laden food that is primarily grain based rather than protein based. Dogs have to eat a lot more grain to get the same energy that they would get eating a much smaller portion of protein.

The first 6 ingredients are: Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), rice flour,. So this food is made primarily of wheat, corn, rice and soy...sot is the 7th ingredient. YUCK! A good food has two or more proteins in the 1st three ingredients, is naturally preserved and uses a high quality grain like rice, barley, oatmeal, qunioa, etc.

So, when you feed a food that is primarily protein based, it takes a lot less for the dog to get the same nutrition because protein is more dense and the body uses most of it. So there will be much less poop. The reason youa re seeing so much poop right now is that her body is passing what she is not digesting...so this is tellign you that the food is a poor choice because she obviously is not digesting a lot of it, but rather pooping it out the other end.

Athena is around 100-lbs and gets 1.5 cups per day over two feedings. Disel is 6 months and gets 3 cups per day over two feedings. As he gets older this will decrease...he just needs more right now because he is still gorwing. But its a lot less than what you are feeding and my dogs looks awesome. People always comment on their musculature! My vet says my dogs are the only dogs that come into his practice that are the weight they should be. Now if only I were as meticulous about my wieght....sigh.

Most dogs are food hounds. They will always act like they are starving. YOu could throw a 40 pound bag of food on the floor, they would eat it all and then beg you for your sandwich. You are grossly overfeeding her which is another reason why she is pooping so much. The object is to feed enough to keep them at their proper weight, not to sate their hunger. If you tried to do that the dog would be a blimp.

You seem very worried that she is not putting weight on. Has your vet told her you that she is underweight and needs to gain? If not then let her be. Dogs should be kept on the lean side so as long as she is not emaciated then leave her be. 9 out of 20 dogs I see are overwieght and the owners don't even have a clue.

If you want her to go ina specific part of your yard, you have to teach her! Put her leash on and say Potty so she knows what she is going out for. Take her to the designated spot and tell her to potty. When she goes praise her, give her a treat, but don't go overboard. Repeat over and over and over again until she gets it. THis is not going to happen oervnight and will take patience and persistence.

AS far as your lawn and burn marks, simple solution. Take a container of water out with you and immediately dump it where she pees. This dilutes the urine before it can do damage. If you can;t do that, then keep a bucket handy or hose down the area immeidately. I recommend the cup version though because by the time you go back to get the bucket or hose you will never remember exactly where she went. This has saved our lawn.

Hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

[Ocean]

Thanks for all the great advice! I am going to rush home and and have my husband to read so he doesn't think all hope is lost and kick me and "Velcro" out in the street with our giant bag of crappy food! :D

I had no idea that stuff was junk, I am going to go to Petco tonight with this list and get something better. YUCK! I feel bad for feeding her this crap for 8 weeks!

[sparklemom]

If your Petco is anything like the one near me, it won't carry any good brands. Just crap. You'll have to find a "mom and pop" place that carries the more holistic foods.

[Rott-Wiley]

It's no wonder that your yard is full of . Beneful is loaded with fiber and other crap that is going right through the dog and onto your yard. You won't beleive the difference when you do change to a better quality food.

[Nina&Bill]

You should be able to find both Nutro & Royal Canin at Petco, no problem. Read the ingredient list carefully & look for the things that Samantha has listed.

And don't feel badly..I didn't know a thing about food until I applied to adopt a rottie through NERR & they sent me a list of informational links to read up on. I fed my Smidgen Purina for all of her 11 1/2 years. If I knew then what I knew now she'd have been a Canidae girl at least ;) . Nothing was too good for that sweet girl. Amber gets Canidae because it agrees with her and because she looks fabulous on it (plus no stinky dog breath...stinky dog butt...stinky dog... :D ).

Whole Dog Journal does a list of their top ten preferred foods, I'll see if I can dig it up & post it.

Nina

[Jaegergirl]

i agree with everyone about changing your food. i feed maverick canidae and he only poops either once or twice a day.

i trained maverick to do his business in one spot in the yard because i didn't want him messing just anywhere. nothing worse than having to worry about your kids running around and stepping in those land mines you might have missed. i took him out to the spot and told him to go, waited til he did, then praised him. it only took a couple of weeks for him to get the idea.

[RottiMomCT]

Ben gets 3 cups of food a day. He is 4 years old and 80 pounds. The reason he doesn't get more? It's a good quality food.

The better the food, the less you'll have to feed. You're having to clean up everything that is going into the dog to make it taste good...not necessarily good FOR her.

PetCo sells the food I feed...Royal Canin Sensible Choice Natural Blend. It is $33 for a 30 pound bag here in CT.

The Beneful is full of alot of crappy fillers and crud...no wonder you have to feed 8 cups a day- probably half (or less!) is actual nutrients and the rest is fillers!

[Ocean]

Should I change her over gradually, mixing the two and feeding less? I'm wondering if it won't be a shock to her system to make an absupt switch, plus now she is used to eating SO much the if I cut her from 4 cups to one she is not going to be very happy...

[Rott-Wiley]

You definately should switch her gradually over the course of 7 to 10 days. I would start by mixing a quarter cup of good food into her bowl (cut back ½ a cup of the old) for the first 2 days. Then do that again for 2 days. If all goes well with that, ad another quarter cup and cut back one full cup of the old for 2 days and repeat. She may start just eating less and less per meal so kind of play it by ear and see how she does. But don't rush it.