Why wont he go to the Toilet?

[maxwell]

Hi all,

My dog is currently driving me nuts, he is so fussy where he will go a toilet.
The problem is, he will wake me up at about 5, so I take him out, and I will be walking him around, and around, he will sniff, go to squat then nope, that's not the right spot.. and on and on we go.

So I take him back, he will then wake me at 7, so I will take him out.. and here we go again.. he will go though all the motions, he clearly wants to go.. But why is he not?

I have just taken him out, and he's sniffing, squatting.. but again, he just wont go..

I don't have a garden, so its not like I can just shut him out until he's gone..

Any advice would be most welcomed

[barbaranixon]

By 'toilet' , I assume that as he's male and squating you mean he won't open his bowels, so I would say that he is constipated, rather than being difficult.

[maxwell]

Yes he is Male, and I mean poo.

I really don't think he is constipated, he just seems very fussy where he will go.
Sometimes he will go pretty much straight away, but mostly he will drag me around and around until he is satisfied with the spot. which is pretty frustrating at 5 am.

But lately, he is getting worse. His behaviour has changed also, he is testing my authority again, so I think it's both somehow linked.

When I think he is fine and really settled, he will revert back to old behaviours. so im pretty sure the poo/toilet issue is linked.

[Deleted]

What do you mean by 'testing your authority'? It would seem odd to me that any dog would think of finding the right place to poo as being a method of controlling you (not that I'm convinced any dog wants to control us as such anyway).

I've had a dog who used to take for ever to find the right spot - I always used to say he was trying to find the right page in his newspaper ;D - but it was just the way he was. It takes some humans much longer than others to relax enough to 'go', so could be the same for a dog.

How long have you had your dog(sorry, don't know his name)? It can take a while for a dog to feel confident enough about toiletting, especially on lead. You're vulnerable while squatting and even more so if you can't run away. Also, if you're feeling a little impatient at 5am (I know I would be) then he may also pick up on that and become more anxious, so you end up with a vicious circle.

It might sound daft, but if the area is safe it could be worth trying a long line (horse lunge line or similar) and see if he finds it easier if he's further away. Will have a think also for other ideas.

[barbaranixon]

Are his motions still normal and as frequent as before ? If so, a little bran ( horse bran or from a health shop, not processed branded) added to his diet won't hurt and will help if he is a little bunged up at certain times. I give it to mine (a dessertspoonful for a cavalier size) if they get anal gland trouble, are constipated or have slightly sloppy poos.

[maxwell]

I realise it must sound a daft question, as the obvious answer would be he ( Alex ) is constipated. I realise that they are funny when finding the right spot, as you explained kayb.

And when I say he is testing my authority, it seems sometimes he is maybe confused on who is the Alpha. I have had him now for 5months, lately I thought we had finally cracked it

But he sometimes shows signs of dominance, but somehow I did think that maybe this toilet issue was somehow his way of trying to control me..

I have just taken him out, and he finally went, so he was not constipated. I thought maybe it could also be a physiological issue, which is common in the breed and maybe someone here had the same experience.

[Flaperoo]

Do you reward him when he goes?

What are his stools like? If they are very solid as Barbara advised maybe adding some bran might help speed up the motions ;D

The other thing is they are very sensitive to your moods, if Alex senses your frusrtation he may get anxious

I have an identical problem with my bitch peeing; although she does not get me up at 5am, she is just very fussy .

Like others have said it doesn't sound like a dominance issue, particularly if there are no other indications.

Never had this problem myself, but good luck - it is no fun getting out of bed and dressed at 5am if you don't have to .

Maryx

[Deleted]

tbh, personally I would forget everything you've heard about 'dominance', 'alpha' and 'authority'. The belief that dogs want to take over the 'pack' is now outdated and has been proved to be inaccurate many times over.

Dogs do what they do because there's something in it for them - it really is that simple. All we need to do is to show them that doing what we want is worth their while. If they're not doing what we want, we need to work out why and change their motivation. If someone insists on being 'boss' they might end up with an obedient dog. They won't necessarily end up with a happy, relaxed dog.

Not hugely different to humans really ...

I'm not saying we don't need rules, of course we do - we need the dog to respect our space and our needs. In return we need to do the same for them as far as possible.

One way which might help with the toiletting issue is to add in a 'command' or 'cue' every time he performs and lots of praise when he does, until he understands what's required. You can use 'busy', 'quickly' or anything you want (a friend taught hers to go on the cue 'go and do a stinker' ;D ). It might just be that when you give him the cue it encourages the bowels to start moving. Of course, if you're praising it's also harder for you to sound impatient so might help in that way too. (sorry if you don't get or show impatience, it just seems a natural reaction to being dragged out of bed and kept waiting).

Hope you manage to sort this out. Five months isn't all that long at all, just time for him to be settling in and finding his feet. He is probably still working out what's expected of him and starting to show his character.

[maxwell]

Thanks for the excellent replies, as always

I was a little less patient to deal with it today, as nursing a hangover.

I have always made a fuss of him once he's spent a penny, and say good boy, I have two grass areas very close to me, one is directly opposite, and the other is close by, all the dogs in the area seem to use these areas as their toilet. But Alex doesn't seem to feel comfortable.

He seems more comfortable if we walk around the block. but at 5am I would prefer the area opposite

I have noticed lately he has started to eat grass, is this perfectly normal?

[jodav]

My Tracy has a very similar problem with being very fussy when out, squatting and moving on and she does eat grass quite a bit of the time (especially Spring grass) so IMO this is normal unless it's excessive! I've been 'dragged around' many times and I put it down to some nervousness because she looks around uneasily when she squats and absoutely hates to be disturbed It's tedious I know but I'm sure she doesn't want to be like this but now I've found a large fir tree that she likes to 'go' under particularly when it's raining (soft pine needles and plenty over cover overhead.) Maybe you will happen upon a spot Alex favours? Also, maybe you could take him out at night and try and work it around so that he goes last thing at night and then doesn't necessarily need to go out so early in the morning ... just a thought bit of a longer lie-in;D

Also there is a confusing load of dog advice out there .... being a strong leader etc .... honestly ...IMO dogs are sensitive creatures who want to please us humans to get what they want, they need routines, clear instructions, comfort etc as Kayb says. In other words, if I got cross and frustrated with Tracy because she didn't toilet, she wouldn't get any better! You'll win Alex over in the end ;D

Jo

[ragsysmum]

Some dogs don't like to toilet on a short lead close to their owners. Did you try putting him on a longline/flexi so he can move further away from you to find his spot? One of mine is quite a submissive bitch (to other dogs) and does not like to do anything near/over where another dog has been previously, so maybe your boy finds it difficult to go in a place where you say all the other local dogs go.

[Flaperoo]

Peggy eats grass regularly, but again is fussy about the grass (long grass is preferrable) . Roo occasionally eats grass, oafy never eats it.

As long as it is not excessive it has never appeared to do mine any harm.

Maryx

[maxwell]

He does have a routine that he is used to, I take him out at 10pm for his last toilet. Yet he still gets me up at 5.. I don't mind this tho, just frustrating when its a false alarm..

He is nervous when doing the deed, sometimes he will squat and get ready, but if he hears foot steps approaching he will stop.

I do feel a bit guilty now, I told him off yesterday, poor boy probably wondered why.

Other than that tho, he seems such a happy dog now!

I will have to be more patient..

Thanks again

[julies]

And when I say he is testing my authority, it seems sometimes he is maybe confused on who is the Alpha. I have had him now for 5months, lately I thought we had finally cracked it

But he sometimes shows signs of dominance, but somehow I did think that maybe this toilet issue was somehow his way of trying to control me..

I'd totally agree with Kayb and I'd also suggest you read 'Dominance in DogFact or Fiction'by Barry Eaton, like Kayb says the preponents of the Dominance theory and Alpha roles have now admitted that they were wrong, they studied Wolves not dogs and they also studied Wolves (albeit feral) in confined areas and found that with limited food resources the wolves fought and the biggest and strongest won - sort of with the 'Stating the Bl**din' Obvious' school of theories and research.

I'd also suggest that your dog is scared and maybe as he can smell other dogs doesn't want to toilet in case they return - your grey has never seen other breeds probably and usually I find greys are frightened of them - this results in fear aggression so if your grey jumps and lunges at other dogs too he's trying to scare them away and is not being truly aggressive .. there are lots of threads on here about aggression and working with the grey to build their confidence ... the best way is to understand his background and why he behaves that way.

Best wishes

Julie

[sassbu]

Jun 2, 2012 13:29:48 GMT -5 maxwell said:

Thanks for the excellent replies, as always

He seems more comfortable if we walk around the block. but at 5am I would prefer the area opposite

I have noticed lately he has started to eat grass, is this perfectly normal?

Both my boy and my foster girl will both toilet in our garden but if we are going on our morning walk, instead of doing her business at the first grass stop she will march us on with determination until she gets to the second grass stop and will then relieve herself almost immediately we get there. She definitely has a favourite poo stop and is quite particular about getting there directly ;D

Noel eats grass, has done for years, seems quite common.

Sarah x