Pooping on carpet

Question
Hello. I have a 14 week old mpbp who has been potty trained for over 2 months. I have hardwood floors in my house. Recently Daisy has started to poop on the rug in my kitchen and also on my friends carpet when we go to visit. She will still go poop in her litter pan though as well. Do you know what is causing that and how to get her to stop doing that? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Answer
This is an interesting question because the usual problem is peeing in the wrong place, not pooping. A 14 week piglet is still a baby, and will need to pee 10 or 12 times a day. If your piglet is not peeing in her litter box this often, then I suggest watching her closely and checking carefully for any stray pee spots. Small piglets make small pee spots, so small that people frequently don't notice them at all. So, they think piglet is potty trained, but piglet is really having "accidents". As piggy grows, the little pee spots grow, too. When those pee spots get large enough to be noticed, the people think the piglet has "forgotten" litter training. But piglet was actually never really litter trained, and peeing in other places all along.

If there's no pee spots for sure, then it might have something to do with the texture of the carpet on piggy's feet. Is there a particular time of day when piggy does this, such as after dinner?

Wash your rug thoroughly with any product designed to remove pet odor. Make piggy poop in her litter pan more frequently, so she'll be less inclined to poop on the rug.

As for visiting, teach piggy how to poop on command, then have her poop outside before bringing her in to visit. Start by taking her to her litter pan as normal for when she pees, tell her to pee, and praise her when she does. Then tell her to go poo, or potty number two. Keep her in the box until she makes a poop, or for five minutes, whichever comes first. If she poops, praise her. If not, let her out, then take her back to the box and tell her to go number two. Keep repeating this until she actually poops in the box. It may take a few days, but she'll catch on and soon be able to go potty on command.

I highly recommend the book Pot-Bellied Pig Behavior and Training by Priscilla Valentine. Pris really understands how pigs think and why they do the things they do. Her book is available from Amazon.com