Suddenly pooping in the house

[ConnieW 0]

Hoping someone here can help.....Jenna, our 5 year old ST has been house broken and using the pet door very well for years now. However, just recently she has been pooping in the house. Not all in one place. A piece here and there, but all at the same time (if that makes sense). I never see her do this. I smell it and notice it. The only time I have noticed any pattern to this behavior is it usually happens in the evening when I put our 2 yr old granddaughter, Julia, to bed. I take Julia to her room, door always open, and change her and put her in bed. No fusing, takes only a few minutes. Jenna is usually in the room with me, but if she doesn't come in the room with me (I never notice until after Julia is in bed) Jenna sometimes has left pieces of poop in the hallway outside Julia's door. She knows she has done wrong because I look at her and she "slinks" off.

I know it doesn't do much good to scold a ST. I don't know how to handle this behavior. Perhaps if I knew why she was doing it, I might be able to avoid that reason. But I am at a loss. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Jenna is typical with peeing in the house when excited to see someone, or if she thinks she is in trouble. She is getting worse at the peeing too, she does it more and more often. The only thing done is when I see Jenna peeing I just simply say NO Jenna and then clean it up. Same with the pooping. I just talk to her and tell her she shouldn't do that. Then she acts like she has done a great thing and wants to play! LOL!

Thanks so much for any ideas!

Connie

Edited February 15, 2012 by ConnieW

[JasperandAkira'smom 4]

Wow Connie, I have not a clue why this would be going on. Has anything else changed around the time JennaBug started doing this?

[storyweaver 7]

Hm. I'm at loss as well, but like Nikki, I also wonder if anything else has changed. It makes me wonder if this is a territorial issue as well. I'm sorry I can't give any advice, but I'm sure other Shih tzu experts will be lend their expertise. :)

[ConnieW 0]

Thanks for the replies....I can't think of anything different around the house.....except our daughter and Julia moved out for 6 months and Julia wasn't around as much for those 6 months. And they moved back in now. But we are doing the same things we did before they moved out.

Thanks again!

Connie

[Luna 8,676]

I am quite sure that Jenna is letting you know she objects to the "new pack member" and is trying to re-establish her pack position with one kind of marking. I know that may not seem to makes sense, but that's what it is. Try giving her some extra attention just before putting the baby to bed and again just after.