How to appropriately react when your house trained dog sh*ts in the house

[sjoes006]

The dog is almost never to blame. If your house trained dog has an accident in the house it is usually exactly that.

An accident because they are nervous about something going on in the household like a change in schedule or simply diarrhea. Or maybe you just waited way too long to walk them. They begged and pleaded but you wanted to sleep late.

My dog occasionally gets an upset stomach in the middle of the night a will use her deep bark then trot around to wake me from deep sleep.

But when I'm not home and her stomach is upset I may walk in the door to piles of diarrhea and a dog who is terrified she's in trouble.

Yelling or punishing doesn't work and isn't appropriate. The best thing you can do for your dog is come from the mindset of, "oh no there's loose poo all over the floor, my dog just had a really bad day and isn't feeling well".

Dogs are very very sensitive to our facial expressions and body language so it is important to accept ahead of times that these things happen and it isn't your dog's fault so that when it does there's no tension on your face upon walking in.

Clean up the mess, reassure your dog then take her for a long walk to get anything else out. Skinless baked chicken or canned pumpkin can help soothe their tummy.

What inspired me to write this? You guessed it, that's what I came home to today.

My poor pup and I went to a favorite running spot surrounding a pond that she jumps into when she gets hot and likes to chase the ducks. My guess it she drank some pond water.

Honestly anger or punishment at any stage of housetraining isn't a great method. But if you adult dog had maybe one accident a year or maybe twice they know better and simply couldn't hold it anymore. Punishing or scolding only breaks down your relationshipwith your dog.

I give my dog a cuddle when I see the mess then take her for a walk and brush her for comfort and also to see if her stomach is still turning over and we need to go outside again.

[Waffles731]

Great take, there aren't bad dogs, but bad owners