My rescue dog has started to poo in the flower/shrub borders in my garden and will not poo on the grass.?

I have had her only 6 weeks, she is 2 years old and only started hiding in the borders to poo in the last two weeks.
My rescue dog has started to poo in the flower/shrub borders in my garden and will not poo on the grass.?
Annoying aren't they?



If she has started 'hiding' to defecate then I can only guess that something has frightened her or she has been told off for doing it in the wrong place.



If you tell a dog off for defecating in the wrong place they can think that they are being told off for defecating and will not do it where they can be seen. Puppies often do poos behind furniture because they are told off everytime they do it in the house. Eventually they think that doing it anywhere is bad so they hide!



As she is a rescue she could have been severely scolded in the past and taken fright at even a mild telling off from you.



You will just have to be patient. Is there any way you could cordon off part of your garden as a dog toilet? If you clean up where she has already gone and leave some dog faeces where you want her to go that might work but it is going to take time and patience.



As far as I'm concerned it's no big deal anyway. I clean up straightaway after my dogs and some areas where there are flowers and shrubs are fenced off to stop my plants being damaged by my dogs.
Reply:well just think ov it



if you had a big garden to play in would you crap all over it lol

well neither does your dog



most animals do this as a way of protecting there territory and letting other animals know shes there and thats where her boundary starts or i could just be the fact that she dont want to stand in it
Reply:One of the possible methods of dealing with this is by watching her carefully, and using a series of behavioral patterns to figure out why she's going there and how to stop it.

If she's two years old she's probably picked up a lot of habits, and it's hard to guess after two weeks which ones came from where, but there's a good chance that there's a "trigger" in the flower/shrub borders. A lot of dogs like to mark their territory by "eliminating" near clear landmarks, like trees, shrubs, rocks, hydrants, etc. There's a chance you can move the trigger out into the grass and slowly extinct it as a trigger.



If it turns out it's the same bush all the time, take a small amount of that kind of plant and put it in a pot or other mobile apparatus. Then move it out into the middle of the lawn, or wherever you prefer for her to eliminate. Go out there and have her leashed while you stand near her (some people don't like to do this, but it's a good way to make her realize she has a limited range in which to poo. If she's a shy pooer, find some other way to keep her there). She'll probably sniff around the bush a few times, and probably won't immediately go there, but move off somewhere else. Be patient! It'll take awhile but nature will take its course, and she'll eliminate there. Then, you can slowly trim down the bush/flower every day, or use a smaller pot or apparatus, until the only thing left for her to associate with her poo spot is the place in the grass you want her to go, and that'll become "her spot."



Granted animals don't always go in the same place, and it depends on breed, age, previous conditioning, and the way you treat them. But you can give this a try, if nothing else you'll get a little more knowledge about your animal's patterns, which can be very valuable in working with them in training.
Reply:If she only started in the last two weeks then something has changed, she seems like she either prefers to go on soil (its called 'surface preference') or else she's trying to hinde, maybe she's been told off for going in the wrong place?

Make her a spot to use as a dog loo and follow the advice about taking her to that spot on the lead and rewarding her for going there. If she has trouble going in front of you then you know she's been punished.

You might want to try making her a 'hidden' loo so she feels more comfortable about using it. And never tell her off wherever she does it; reward her for using the right spot instead.
Reply:try taking her in the garden on a lead when she wants to go to toilet %26amp; direct her to the area that you want her to go, when she does praise her , try using a specific word to suggest you want her to poo there ( be quick) some dogs learn quick.
Reply:You can actually buy Lion poo to put your pets off pooing in your flower beds,the smell frightens them!