Hello all!! About 2 months ago I adopted a female AKC yellow lab retriever. She is 3 years old. When I went to get her she was living in a kennel and was a breeding dog... not a puppy mill dog. The kennel was very clean and well taken care of. All the other dogs looked well also. I had no problem adopting her at all. She has a wonderful demeanor and now that she is used to living in the house she is as happy as can be. The vet says that she is doing wonderfully. She will go pee-pee outside... but when it comes to poo it has to be inside. No matter where we go. Our house, our neighors, our moms. We love her to death but no matter how long we stay outside with her she won't poo. This is posing a hazard for my 3 year old son as she is always doing it by his toys. I don't know what to do. I don't want to have to get rid of her because she is the first dog I have owned and I am 23 and my son loves her too. I don't want a broken heart on either side. HELP!!

How often do you walk the dog. Exercise is crucial to dogs and their behavior.

This answer is going to be much the same as the preceding question on the Dachshund peeing on the bed. We really can't say for sure why a dog does anything. The best explanation for bowel movements in the houses is marking it in a challenge as part of pack position. She may be choosing your son's toys because she jealous of your son. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/ For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm

Are you enthusiastically praising her for having bowel movements outside? Wait until you have a large block of time. Then take her out and keep her moving. Walk, play fetch, whatever, keep her moving except if she seems to want to stop and sniff around. Exercise stimulates the body. She can't hold it forever. If she can no longer deny nature, and she has a bowel movement, praise her. Rave about what a good dog she is. Give her a treat.

Also, watch her carefully inside. A bowel movement requires sniffing and maybe running in circles. Rush her out and again keep her moving unless she stops to sniff. If she starts to run in tight circles, let her. Again the praise and the treat.

Use gates and closed doors to keep her where you can see her. When you can't watch her, crate her. The dog may be
Happier in its den than loose in the house. It relaxes, it feels safe in its
Den. It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving
Its self. Dogs that have been crated all along do very well. Many of them
Will rest in their crates even when the door is open. I think the plastic
Ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling. Metal ones can be put
In a corner or covered with something the dog can't pull in and chew. Select
A crate just big enough for the full grown dog to stretch out in.

Leave it some toys. Perhaps a Kong filled with peanut butter. Don't leave
Anything in the crate the dog might chew up. It will do fine without even any
Bedding. You will come home to a safe dog and a house you can enjoy.

A dog that has not been crated since it was little, may take some work.
Start just putting its toys and treats in the crate. Praise it for going
in. Feed it in the crate. This is also an easy way to maintain order at
Feeding time for more than one dog.

The "shut the puppy in a safe room" is a fallacy. Very few houses even have a
Safe room. How many of us have a room with a hard surfaced floor and nothing
Else? Most rooms have electrical cords to chew if nothing else. In addition
To destroying anything a bored puppy finds to chew, it may choke or have
Intestinal blockage from the pieces. I had a friend that left her dog in a
"safe" room. It ate a hole in the floor covering. The safe rooms fail to
Give the dog the comfort of the enclosed space their instinct requires. Nor
Do they restrict activity extending the time the dog can go without relieving
Itself.