Sheltie Pooping in House PTSD

A

Adam_Sheltie

Forums Novice
Hi there fellow sheltie enthusiasts; please help us!
I have a three and a half year old healthy sheltie male who has always been EXTREMELY good about doing his business outside.
Two months ago we bought a new house and moved in at the end of July. Adam (the sheltie) seemed to be handling the new environment very well and showed no signs of stress. Then one month later, his little friend Peter (a cat) was violently killed on our street by a car. My fiance and I grieved deeply for Peter and the night it happened, Adam pooped and peed outside my bedroom on the carpet. I cleaned up the mess and made no effort to acknowledge the accident as I was convinced it was due to our stress and he was sensing our emotional distress. Then two days later he pooped on the carpet in the dining room. He did this again and both times we cleaned it up with no discipline; we believed it was due to to the cat death. As the weeks went by, we came to terms with the loss of our cat and everything went back to normal. But Adam continues to poop in the SAME SPOT!! We use Natures Miracle which removes the scent and stain. We started disciplining Adam by showing him the poo and spanking him gently on his butt while saying "Bad!". He ONLY poops in the house when we leave (when we are home he is fine). Seperation anxiety? Missing the cat? Angry about the new house? Or medical?? Advice please! We are currently penning him in the kitchen away from the carpet when we are out. Please advise. Thank you, Shauna & Bill
 
Sounds like too much change too quickly and he's confused. You're going to have to go back to basic housebreaking. Doing anything after the fact won't really teach him anything. I doubt he'll understand what you are showing him. One thing I'll suggest is not to discipline bad behavior, but to reward good behavior.
 
Yes, try the whole pottytraining all over again. Pens, baby gates, crate however best applies to the dog and situation if you cannot be observing him, using a leash to tether him to you, catch in the act and really act dramatic about it being wrong, also go to vet to make sure there is no physical growths or infections. The whole deal. Puppy 101.
 
Can you confine him to a room that has a washable floor? I would start by taking away the option for him to soil his favorite spots while you are away.
 
This happened with Honey when we moved houses, we went back to basics and it cleared up no problem. As was advised above, we went back to having her tethered on a leash near us, and penned in the kitchen whenever we were gone. We went outside with her every time and she got treats again for going outside as soon as she did it. Once we were trusting her more we still kept her away from the spot she had used for a long while (which might be harder to do for you given it's right in the main living areas of the house)

I'm very sorry for your guy's loss :(

Be patient, if there's one thing owning and reading about shelties has taught me, it's that they want to make us happy. He'll get back to his normal stellar behavior.
 
I have no idea what exactly has caused your Adam to go iffy on his housebreaking, but I might have a suggestion as to how you might correct it.

My Sheltie, Lerwick, had one spot in the house that he felt was an acceptable poo spot (the front foyer). He would only poo there... never pee, and never did either anywhere else in the house. He was 9 months old when I finally figured out how to get him to stop doing it.

Instead of restricting Lerwick's access to the front foyer, I decided to turn the front foyer into Lerwick's "den" temporarily, and I was successful in getting him to stop using it as a poo parlor.

Barring medical or psychological issues, dogs typically do not defecate where they sleep, or where they eat, so what I did was to put Lerwick's food and water bowls right over the spot he generally pooed, and whenever I left the house, or at night when I went to bed, I would put up baby gates and actually confine him to the front foyer.

It didn't take long at all to break that habit, even though it had been going on for months. It was sorted in 2 weeks. I only actually made him sleep there overnight one night (he usually sleeps on the bed with me).

After the end of the two weeks, I moved his food back to the kitchen, but kept a water dish there (I have several in different parts of the house, so it's convenient for him), and went back to crating him in his crate in the bedroom when I went out, and confining him to my bedroom at night to sleep, but he never did poop in the foyer again. I have since moved, and there haven't been any potty incidents inside at the new place, either.

I hope you get Adam straightened around... and I am very sorry to hear about your poor kitty.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top