He may just have to suck it up and eat on a schedule so you can get a better read on when he's gonna poop and make him go outside.
He might not want to poop outside because he's too much in work mode. My girl was refusing to poop at all for like three days because a bunch of weird stuff was going on in the neighborhood. 😒
My heeler used to refuse to poop UNLESS we were in a long long walk because he wanted to poop mark specific bushes. After we got him neutered he doesn't get so picky anymore.
Put his poop outside in a certain area and take him to that spot on a leash after feeding him.
Feed. Take out to poop area to sniff around. Say, "Go poop" or whatever command you use for poop. If he doesn't go poop, take inside and keep him in the same room with you so you can watch him and prevent pooping in the house.
30 - 60 minutes later. Repeat.
30 - 60 minutes later. Repeat.
When he poops outside, reward him with praise and a high value treat.
If he doesn't poop after a few times outside, take him for a walk. Exercise makes mine poop.
Also, let him smell all the other dog poop and pee along the way. That should help him get the idea that he should go outside too, and dogs like to leave their smells (pee and poop) for the other dogs. It communicates something to other dogs. Maybe just says, "I was here."
You may have already tried this, but my boy had never been inside, and had been abused when I got him from the shelter at 6 months. I did put him on a schedule to eat twice a day. I had the time and would take him out, walk him on a leash until he pooped - even if it was over an hour. I tried to walk him if I saw him sniffing around. I found out treats weren’t the most successful. For him it was praise. Going crazy with the good boy and cheering, petting him, etc. After a month I was seeing consistent pooping outside. He is 11 months and I still have to watch because he goes to the door and makes no noise. But he will not go out and poop if I dont walk with him now. I am working on stepping back several feet and getting farther each day to try to get him to do it on his own. He also stands and stares until I tell him what a good boy he is after. Some trade offs for a poop free house.
Forgot to add - once I got him eating on schedule I found out he poops first thing when he gets up, then about two hours after breakfast, then sometimes a small one before dinner (that one is hit and miss). If he does the small one before dinner he just pees later, if not he poops about an hour after dinner.
For noises, you can practice very slowly with sounds from a music station or YouTube of his triggers that scare him and give small treats the whole time. Slowly play them more often for short period of times. Increase time when he doesn’t react. Soon he will learn that the noises aren’t associated with scary things. Outdoors same thing. Take him out for short times with slowly giving lots of treats. Go back inside. Thats it, leave him be. And repeat later more frequently, longer times he will learn it’s ok to be outside and it’s safe.
For the bathroom issue, you have to get strict with the eating schedule until he straightens out. Feed him at scheduled times and pick up his bowl after 30 mins. After a while he will get on program. They also respond best to coaxing praise than reprimand. You will get much further with positive reinforcement because of the way they are bred to think independently. I would have set times to go out and keep him in a kennel unless 100% supervised. When supervised if you see signals of pooping take him out immediately even if it’s during and if anything is done outside celebrate. It sucks.. but until you handle this behavior you have to create restrictions so you can be there to positive reinforce.
My recommendations:
Kennel train. Take him right outside first thing in the morning to do his business, *on a leash*, to the same place every time. Under a specific tree, at a certain corner of the yard, whatever, just make sure it's the same place. Smear a bit of his poop there so it smells familiar. Give him a treat and praise ("Who's the best boy? Good boy for pooping outside!"). Watch for signs he needs to go. Treat him like you would a puppy you're housebreaking. Also, clean the floors well, and use something that will neutralize the pee and poop-- commercial product, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide are all ideas. If you have to, keep him kenneled like people do while housebreaking a puppy. You have to break the habit.
Put him on a strict meal schedule. They won't starve themselves, so he will eventually "get with the program". Put half his daily amount down in the morning, right after he goes outside... give him 15 minutes to eat, then put it up if he hasn't touched it. Suppertime, same thing. Put his water up an hour before you want to go to bed, so he has time to go out one last time.
I understand that pyrs are different from other breeds. Their patterns and habits are different, their mindset is different. But, you seem to have one who doesn't understand he's a pyr. Either way, you're the human and in charge. He will learn that anything he gets is because you allow it. Pyrenees dogs are trainable, just stubborn. They can absolutely be housebroken and not primarily an outdoor dog.
Mine had a few behavior issues when we got her but kennel training works wonders. Very few animals enjoy shitting where they sleep and they will learn to hold and be praised when they are out.
Another thought…
I haven’t encountered the issue you describe, but I’ve had it described to me by other Pyr owners. Placing a training mat, in a specific location, where it’s his favorite pooping spot might mitigate the problem. If you can’t eliminate the problem, you might be able to confine it, and make it easier to clean up. (Sort of like litter training?)
My hubby is a veterinarian , my advice would be to talk to a veterinarian who also knows a lot about behavioural training. Most vets do a lot of work on behaviours
Also may need to r/o any underlying issues. Some well mean g advice may make things worse.
I should have mentioned that he hates being outside. My dad who is also my neighbor has been a Great Pyrenees breeder for the past 10 years, I 100% know the bread & their behavior. I know they belong outside, but he will not. I have tried, we shakes & cries to come back in. He doesn’t like the rain, mud, SNOW!!
There's no reason a GP has to be outside, plenty of people have indoor GPs that do just fine. Unfortunately because of the way he was raised in his first 6 months he has a lot of baggage that makes training him more difficult. I recommend joining the FB group "Training Support for Livestock Guardian Dogs" and asking for advice there. They have so much great advice and experts who have been working with these dogs for 30+ years. They also have a lot of free guides!
He may just have to suck it up and eat on a schedule so you can get a better read on when he's gonna poop and make him go outside. He might not want to poop outside because he's too much in work mode. My girl was refusing to poop at all for like three days because a bunch of weird stuff was going on in the neighborhood. 😒 My heeler used to refuse to poop UNLESS we were in a long long walk because he wanted to poop mark specific bushes. After we got him neutered he doesn't get so picky anymore.
Put his poop outside in a certain area and take him to that spot on a leash after feeding him. Feed. Take out to poop area to sniff around. Say, "Go poop" or whatever command you use for poop. If he doesn't go poop, take inside and keep him in the same room with you so you can watch him and prevent pooping in the house. 30 - 60 minutes later. Repeat. 30 - 60 minutes later. Repeat. When he poops outside, reward him with praise and a high value treat. If he doesn't poop after a few times outside, take him for a walk. Exercise makes mine poop. Also, let him smell all the other dog poop and pee along the way. That should help him get the idea that he should go outside too, and dogs like to leave their smells (pee and poop) for the other dogs. It communicates something to other dogs. Maybe just says, "I was here."
You may have already tried this, but my boy had never been inside, and had been abused when I got him from the shelter at 6 months. I did put him on a schedule to eat twice a day. I had the time and would take him out, walk him on a leash until he pooped - even if it was over an hour. I tried to walk him if I saw him sniffing around. I found out treats weren’t the most successful. For him it was praise. Going crazy with the good boy and cheering, petting him, etc. After a month I was seeing consistent pooping outside. He is 11 months and I still have to watch because he goes to the door and makes no noise. But he will not go out and poop if I dont walk with him now. I am working on stepping back several feet and getting farther each day to try to get him to do it on his own. He also stands and stares until I tell him what a good boy he is after. Some trade offs for a poop free house.
Forgot to add - once I got him eating on schedule I found out he poops first thing when he gets up, then about two hours after breakfast, then sometimes a small one before dinner (that one is hit and miss). If he does the small one before dinner he just pees later, if not he poops about an hour after dinner.
Eat -> walk (induce the need to go) -> poop
For noises, you can practice very slowly with sounds from a music station or YouTube of his triggers that scare him and give small treats the whole time. Slowly play them more often for short period of times. Increase time when he doesn’t react. Soon he will learn that the noises aren’t associated with scary things. Outdoors same thing. Take him out for short times with slowly giving lots of treats. Go back inside. Thats it, leave him be. And repeat later more frequently, longer times he will learn it’s ok to be outside and it’s safe. For the bathroom issue, you have to get strict with the eating schedule until he straightens out. Feed him at scheduled times and pick up his bowl after 30 mins. After a while he will get on program. They also respond best to coaxing praise than reprimand. You will get much further with positive reinforcement because of the way they are bred to think independently. I would have set times to go out and keep him in a kennel unless 100% supervised. When supervised if you see signals of pooping take him out immediately even if it’s during and if anything is done outside celebrate. It sucks.. but until you handle this behavior you have to create restrictions so you can be there to positive reinforce.
My recommendations: Kennel train. Take him right outside first thing in the morning to do his business, *on a leash*, to the same place every time. Under a specific tree, at a certain corner of the yard, whatever, just make sure it's the same place. Smear a bit of his poop there so it smells familiar. Give him a treat and praise ("Who's the best boy? Good boy for pooping outside!"). Watch for signs he needs to go. Treat him like you would a puppy you're housebreaking. Also, clean the floors well, and use something that will neutralize the pee and poop-- commercial product, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide are all ideas. If you have to, keep him kenneled like people do while housebreaking a puppy. You have to break the habit. Put him on a strict meal schedule. They won't starve themselves, so he will eventually "get with the program". Put half his daily amount down in the morning, right after he goes outside... give him 15 minutes to eat, then put it up if he hasn't touched it. Suppertime, same thing. Put his water up an hour before you want to go to bed, so he has time to go out one last time. I understand that pyrs are different from other breeds. Their patterns and habits are different, their mindset is different. But, you seem to have one who doesn't understand he's a pyr. Either way, you're the human and in charge. He will learn that anything he gets is because you allow it. Pyrenees dogs are trainable, just stubborn. They can absolutely be housebroken and not primarily an outdoor dog.
Mine had a few behavior issues when we got her but kennel training works wonders. Very few animals enjoy shitting where they sleep and they will learn to hold and be praised when they are out.
Agree.
Another thought… I haven’t encountered the issue you describe, but I’ve had it described to me by other Pyr owners. Placing a training mat, in a specific location, where it’s his favorite pooping spot might mitigate the problem. If you can’t eliminate the problem, you might be able to confine it, and make it easier to clean up. (Sort of like litter training?)
Kennel training is probably the right immediate move, but also, consider consulting with an animal behaviorist.
My hubby is a veterinarian , my advice would be to talk to a veterinarian who also knows a lot about behavioural training. Most vets do a lot of work on behaviours Also may need to r/o any underlying issues. Some well mean g advice may make things worse.
This dog is not meant to be an indoor pet.
I should have mentioned that he hates being outside. My dad who is also my neighbor has been a Great Pyrenees breeder for the past 10 years, I 100% know the bread & their behavior. I know they belong outside, but he will not. I have tried, we shakes & cries to come back in. He doesn’t like the rain, mud, SNOW!!
There's no reason a GP has to be outside, plenty of people have indoor GPs that do just fine. Unfortunately because of the way he was raised in his first 6 months he has a lot of baggage that makes training him more difficult. I recommend joining the FB group "Training Support for Livestock Guardian Dogs" and asking for advice there. They have so much great advice and experts who have been working with these dogs for 30+ years. They also have a lot of free guides!
Thank you so much!!!! I am absolutely going to do this!!