It’s an older dog who usually poops in the yard, but has during the colder weather taken to pooping on the pathways including the front pathway to the sidewalk. The dog will even poop outside the front doorway sometimes.
What are some things I can do to remedy this? First, what’s the cleanest, most efficient way to clean semi-frozen poop that’s attached itself to cement? Second, how do I encourage the dog to start going out in the yard again?
He doesn’t like walking in deep snow, barefoot. Stomp around in the yard until he has a nice flat space to work with or buy him some boots.
That sounds like my dog. I have a covered, concrete patio outside my back door. My dog normally defecates in the yard, but if it’s raining heavily, he’ll stay under the roof and poop on the concrete. When the weather gets nice again and the yard dries out, he’ll eliminate there again. I’d follow **Merneith’s ** advice. He may not feel comfortable going out in the snow and getting his feet cold. When the weather gets nice again, he’ll probably go back to pooping in the yard.
Okay, but I’ll add that although the weather is cold, there’s no snow on the ground here.
Get him some doggie foot booties, they might keep his toes comfortable enough to venture off the concrete. As to the stuff already frozen to the concrete, any scraper will do, it may not be perfect, but you can hose it off when it’s above freezing. Or get your butt out there and pick it up when he drops it and you can just grab it with a bag.
Hmm. I’m not sure that frozen bare ground/lawn would feel colder than frozen concrete, but booties would probably make the old guy/gal more comfortable in the cold anyway. If the booties don’t help, it sounds like it’s down to training or putting up with it.
As far as sticky dog poo goes, I’d either pick it up immediately or wait until it was completely frozen and scrape it off with a shovel.
You could always put him on a leash when it’s time to go out and not let him off the leash until he’s pooped on the lawn or whatever the preferred area is.
Ah. Hm. Is the ground frozen? Is there like, stubble or pine needles or something that might be uncomfortable for him to walk on? Or is there long grass that pokes him in the bum when squats?
Have you had a thorough look at his paws lately? Is the skin dry or cracked? Cold weather dries skin out, after all. You might consider something like Musher’s Secret, if that’s the case.
If it’s not snow and it’s not a physical problem - Is he constipated? If he had a bad experience pooping in your yard one day, he may have decided that the yard is scary and he doesn’t want to go there again. Rhiannon’s advice would help with that.
If he’s an oldster, he might not be able to make it out into the yard. My extremely elderly chihuahua (17 years old) often has to go immediately at whatever point I put him down. You might need to let your dog out more frequently so he has a little time to wander and choose his location. I also think Rhiannon8404’s suggestion about using a leash is excellent.
Does your dog have vision problems? My chi is almost completely blind, so he is very hesitant to move far from familiar surfaces. (I’ve discovered also that he navigates using my feet, sometimes even standing on my shoes.) If your dog has trouble seeing, he might be staying on the paths or near the door because he’s afraid of becoming disoriented out in the yard.
As far as cleaning up the poop, we’ve discovered it is much better to wait until it’s well frozen, then scrape it up with a shovel. Our dogs go out on what we call the Poop Deck, a patio outside the garage that was made expressly for ease of winter poop removal.
Poop retraining - take him out on the leash and ‘poop’ him in the same acceptable place each day. Hopefully, he’ll get back in the habit, and you can let him out on his own again.
Put me on the side of those who say the dog is finding the lawn uncomfortable to walk on.
My In-Laws’ neighbor shovels his yard (not the whole thing but a patch) so his dog can poop there.
Thank you for using that language : AN ACCEPTABLE PLACE !!
It never fails that when it rains or snows, dog owners decide en masse that the rules of dog ownership are suspended. They think that somehow a normal rainy day is actually a power washer, and as their dog completes its defecatory work, the heavens will forcefully aim water down at the feces and sweep it into the gutter.
This, of course, is far from the case. Rain and snow do not wash dog shit away. They soften and spread the feces, making it even more likely that an unaware pedestrian will stroll through it.
Older dogs with medical conditions, I get it. Try to be vigilant and clean up after the dog. I get that they too need fresh air, a healthy walk and sometimes they cannot hold their business until they’re near the curb, or base of tree or what have you. Still, be a decent citizen and clean up after your dog.
For the selfish pricks on MY block who leave their dog’s mess for me to avoid or not avoid and land in, a thousand thousand fuck you’s.
Ok… i can just imagine how many will not agree with this response…but for those who dont consider dogs emotional animals…you must meet my Pit Bull. He is a very loving dog and gets a ton of attention. However, when there is something he doesnt want to do, he will let you know right away. And for a brief moment in his early life, walking on the cold cement patio and ground was one of those things. He is a house dog, loves fluffy things and high thread counts. I’m not kidding when I say that. But when it comes to getting chilly to take a poop outside, during the rain and snow, he would poop and pee right on the entry way as I held the door open. I can only suggest to others to immediately correct the behavior and to never let it go without the dog knowing it was wrong. Mid stream, or poop, I’d snatch him up and place him on the cold ground that he was avoiding. This also led to MORE OUTSIDE time in cold temperatures. He quickly learned that he is a dog, and not a human. There was a vague line of him being spoiled at that point. During cold temperatures, 30 to 45 minute intervals of cold outdoor play will not kill him (not sub zero). He quickly got used to it and became less hesitant to brave the weather for a poop. Puppy boots to cover cold feet…? Are you kidding me?
When my dog was a puppy, he did that our first winter. I shovelled a section of the lawn off for him to go and led him out there. After a time or two he figured it out.
The dog before him… I’ll never forget the night I let him out to go, then a short while later went to check on him, only to find him staring into the sliding glass door, munching on a big chunk of his own frozen poop. Happy as can be. Of course he licked my face when he came inside.