3 Year Old Shih Tzu Pooping in the House

Question
Dear Madeline, "I have read your bio and will read and rate your response fairly within three days".  My situation is as follows.  We adopted our shih tzu approx. 1 1/2 years ago- he was 18 months at time of adoption and we adopted him from a breeder who could not take care of the dog anymore.  It took about a month and he was fully housetrained.  Our first summer with him, we did not take any vacation so that we can establish a routine with him (we adopted Niko in the late spring). This past summer, we did take a vacation and Niko was left in the care of my father-in-law.  Upon return of our week long vacation, Niko has been having occasional accidents in the house.  He poops in the house when no one is home.  This was never an issue before the vacation.  While he was at my father-in -law's house, he also pooped several times in the house.  This was because he was being fed to much and my father-in-law was not in tune with his "signals". Anyway, his pooping in the house has increased in frequency- it is happening at least once a week now.  I have gone back to crating him when I am not home.  Is this the right thing to do?  Any insight to why he is doing this? He is neutered.  Sorry for the long question.  I wanted to include as much info. as possible.  Thanks!

Answer
Hi Cathy,

Thank you for selecting me to respond to your question here at AllExperts.  I appreciate your taking the time to read my bio and agreeing to read and rate my response.

I'm glad you provided detailed information.  The more details provided to me, the better!

You write that Niko was housetrained last summer because you were able to "establish a routine with him."  Doing so, and being consistent about its application, are important to success with housetraining.

It sounds like both Niko's pottying and eating routines were interrupted when he was left with your father-in-law for a week.  Dogs exhibit behaviours which are reinforced by the environment, people being part of that environment which reinforces.  You say that your father-in-law was "out of tune" with Niko's signaling.  I'm wondering if Niko has stopped giving you "signals" that he has to go out because they weren't reinforced, or reinforced inconsistently, for a week?  If so, you may need to look for more subtle signals, reinforce those, and gradually shape Niko back up to offering the more apparent signals he was giving you before.  This may take several weeks.  Be patient, and go slowly with Niko, since it sounds as if he was late to housetraining to begin with, and has only been housetrained for 1-1/2 years.

When behaviours which were previously rewarded stop getting rewarded, that behaviour can go in to what we trainers and behaviour experts call "extinction," which is just as it sounds - the dog ceases to exhibit the behaviour that was previously rewarded, which, in Niko's case, may be letting you know the signals that he needs to go out.  What you hope to do is to recover those behaviours, the signaling, so that you have the opportunity to reinforce (reward) them.

Try putting him back on the routine he was used to, feeding him at the times you did before you went on your week-long vacation, and getting him out to eliminate 10 - 20 minutes after he eats, supervising him the whole time to watch for any signals he may give you that he needs to go out.  Be aware, too, that it may took his digestive tract some time to adjust to having smaller meals again, and I might suggest not going "cold turkey" to his normal-sized meals, but gradually scaling back so that doing so isn't a shock to his system.  If you're concerned about weight gain, you can walk him for longer periods of time or exercise him a bit more than usual when his stomach is NOT full (I usually wait two hours before I'll allow dogs vigourous exercise after a meal).

You say that you've started crating Niko when you're not home.  I assume this is because the accidents once a week were occurring when you weren't home?  You also don't mention if crating Niko seems to be working with Niko having no accidents in the crate.

Since I don't know the answers to those questions, for now what I can suggest is that if the accidents are occurring when you are at home, I would recommend that you supervise Niko at all times when he's free while you're at home, not letting him out of sight, and be mindful of any signals he's giving you that he needs to go out.  If he signals in any way (gives you "the look," seeks to go out of sight, sniffs, walks in a circle), then take him out immediately which reinforces the signals he's giving you.

When he does signal you, highly reward him with verbal praise and by taking him out to eliminate.  When he finishes eliminating, again praise him highly and give him a tasty treat (remember to wait until he's finished so as not to interrupt the process of his  eliminating).  

It's not uncommon for dogs to regress in their housetraining when their routine is interrupted.  You may have to spend a few weeks going back to the early steps of housetraining with Niko, taking him out more frequently than usual.  You say that you're currently crating Niko when you're not at home.  

You also don't mention if Niko is returning to the same spot(s) in your home to eliminate.  If so, you'll want to make sure that the odor is completely removed.  Even if you can't detect an odor, your dog most likely will be able to if the area hasn't been thoroughly cleaned with an enzymatic cleanser.  These types of cleansers are available at most pet stores and Wal-Mart.  Zero Odor is one brand which works well, and there are other brands which will work to serve the same purpose. Just make sure that what you get is an enzymatic cleanser designed to remove pet elimination odors.

If the problem continues, then I would suggest taking Niko to your veterinarian for a check-up to see if the issue could be caused by any type of medical issue.  In any case, doing so wouldn't be a bad idea if he hasn't had a check-up within the last six months, or if you feel you have reason to be concerned.

I might suggest, too, working with your father-in-law a couple of times a week and spending time with him to make sure he not only doesn't overfeed Niko again in your absence and understands how to measure Niko's food intake, but is able to read Niko's signals and heed them when Niko needs to go out.  Many parents enjoy learning to become dog savvy about their 'grand-dogs' and spending time with family in order to take a crash course in Dog Boarding 101.  It's great that you have family which is able and willing to care for Niko in your absence, but you may want to explore other options such as adding a pet sitter or daily walker to help your father-in-law out if/when you leave Niko with him again if caring for Niko proves to be overwhelming for him in any way.  

While I don't think your father-in-law needs to be deprived of Niko's love and affection, he might feel grateful for some help with Niko if you intend to leave Niko with him again.  Dogs are indeed like having a toddler around, and do take a lot of work along with all they add to our lives!

I hope I've been able to offer some ideas.  Thanks again for taking a few minutes to learn about me in my bio and sending me an interesting and appropriate question.

With best regards,
Madeline at AllExperts