How to Train Your Dog to Not Poop on a Walk

Hello Ali, I can't say for sure why. Honestly it's more unusual that he never pooped on a walk before, than him pooping now. The movement during a walk and the scent of where other dogs have gone potty both encourage a dog's body to feel the need to eliminate. His age might be making him hold his poop more at home because its uncomfortable to poop now, then when he walks he can't hold it anymore because of the movement. The added movement might make it easier for him to poop now if that's harder for him because of muscle deterioration. The scent of a new dog on the block might be causing it. The timing of when you take him for a walk - like right after feeding him or running him around, might be causing it. To deal with this you can trouble shooting a few things. First, when you take him potty outside, tell him to "Go Potty" and give one treat if he pees and three if he poops in your yard. This is to teach him to go potty on command if he doesn't already know that. When you take him on a walk, before you walk him down the street, walk him around your yard, tell him to "Go Potty", and after he pees walk him around a second time for even longer, telling him to "Go Potty" again to try to get him to poop. Once he pees, and poops if he may need to, then take him on the walk. Check with your vet and make sure there isn't arthritis in his back or something else that would cause him to hold his poop during normal potty breaks (I am not a vet), or something causing diarrhea or unusually soft poops. Pay attention to when you feed him - many dogs need to poop within an hour of eating, so time your feeding and walking schedule accordingly or spend extra time walking him around the yard thirty minutes after he eats, before you walk down the street. Have you switched his food and if so has that changed the frequency of how often he poops or how hard or soft they are? - that can effect whether he is holding it do to discomfort of going, or needs to go more often because it's really soft - so goes again during a walk. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello, Walking stimulates a dog's bowels, getting things moving along, so many dogs will poop after being walked around if they have not gone yet that day. What you are describing is a medical issue and not behavioral...As I am sure you know, continuing to poop more than two times on a walk is not normal and is a sign that there is something physical and not behavioral going on. I suggest a trip to your vet to find out what's causing it and addressing the cause if it's something that's treatable. - I am not a vet. There is also an ask a Vet a question section under the medical articles found on wagwalking.com (this is the training section - and ask a trainer). You could ask one of Wag's Vet's about the issue to get an idea of different things that might be causing it, but you would still need to visit your vet for testing to find out exactly what's going on. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Virag, A lot of this depends on what you want to teach. Some people want to teach pup to go potty in only one area of the yard - in which case they should only ever be taken there to go potty for the first year as much as you can manage. Other people want pup to be familiar with pottying on a variety of surfaces or locations to make travel easier, such as on grass, dirt, and gravel, at home, the park, and on vacation. If you don't want pup to only potty in only one spot, it's okay to take her to various areas of your yard, but have the rule be Potty first - play or walks second. If you keep the outside play times and walks for after she goes potty in your yard, then they become a reward for going potty and actually encourage her to hurry up and go potty, instead of hold it to get to go for a longer walk. When she doesn't go potty, bring her inside, crate for one hour, then take her potty to the yard again (or an area near your home if in an apartment). Wait until after she goes potty, to take on a walk or have playtime. Check out the crate training method from the article linked below and pay attention to the tips about teaching Go Potty and using rewards to help pup go faster. Also know that as dogs get older they are less likely to poop directly after eating. Many continue to do so, but it becomes less of a direct link. Pay attention to when pup's normal poop window seems to be in the morning and evening. Crate Training method tips: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-puppy-to-poop-outside Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Lynna, I recommend following the crate training and tethering methods with puppy, that I have linked below. When you can't directly supervise pup, crate them or tether them to yourself with a hands free leash, especially somewhere new. You can make almost any six foot leash hands free by attaching a carabiner to the handle and clipping it to a belt loop or belt. Be sure to stick to pup's potty schedule extra carefully too since pup will be less likely to alert you that they need to go in a new place, once they have learned to alert you at home. It will take a few months before pup is alerting consistently at home too though. The crate training method will only give pup freedom when their bladder is empty to prevent accidents, and the tethering method will keep pup close to you so that you can spot when they need to go - if you don't want to crate them the whole time. The combination of methods can help best when traveling. Crate Training method and Tethering method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-puppy-to-poop-outside Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hi there. Most dogs are smart enough to know to go outside no matter where they are at. You can bring a few treats with you and when your dog goes potty in a new location, give him a treat for going.

Hello! I wouldn't worry too much. She is old enough that a transition shouldn't mess her up too much. After you move, you can spend a week or so going outside with her (off leash) and reward her with treats for going. That should be all you need to do to get the message across to her in her new environment.

Hello, First, if the goal is outside potty training, I would remove all pee pads. That can cause confusion. Check out the Crate Training method from the article I have linked below. Before you go on a walk, I recommend picking a calm open area if you can find one near you, and walking pup around in that area slowly on leash. The movement stimulates the need to poop, which is why pup stops to go on the sidewalk midwalk, so walk pup around in a grassy area before a walk, then the walk is an additional reward that helps motivate them to go potty quickly beforehand also. Crate Training method, and tethering method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-puppy-to-poop-outside If you are gone for longer than 4 hours at a time during the day and can't hire a dog walker to let pup out of the crate to go potty outside at least that often, then you can temporarily set up an exercise pen in a room that can be closed off to pup in the future (because pup will learn its okay to go potty in there, so make this a specific room that can be off-limits later). Set up an exercise pen there and cover the floor of it with disposable real grass pads. Reward pup whenever you catch them going potty on the grass, then after pup is going easily there, begin removing the extra grass pads, until there is just one in the area. At that point, pup can stay in that area with a non-absorbent bed like www.primopads.com or k9ballistics crate mats when you are away for long periods, but use the crate training or tethering method I linked above to teach pup to be accident free in the rest of the home when you are home, only using the exercise pen area when it will be too long for pup to hold it in the crate, and only until pup is old enough to hold it in the crate the entire time you are gone. A general rule of thumb is that a puppy can hold it a maximum of the number of months they are in age plus one - so three months old = 4 hours max; until a dog reaches about 8 months, at which point 8.5 hours is the maximum during the day for adult dogs too. Disposable real grass pads: www.freshpatch.com www.doggielawn.com The number one goal with potty training is to prevent accidents through managing pup's freedom and routine, so that pup creates a long term habit of keeping your home clean. No amount of punishment or reward alone will work as well as simply preventing accidents inside for a long period of time, so pup naturally wants to keep the home clean themselves as well. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello there. Younger dogs will often need to poop after they have had physical stimulation. My dog goes about 3 times while walking and it drives me crazy some days! The only real solution I have for you right now is to play a game of fetch before walking. That will stimulate him enough to hopefully get it all out before you go for a walk.