My new Kai Ken keeps pooping in the house...
So Kiba does this thing where he poops as he is running away from me to put his collar on to take him outside to poop...
Things I have noticed
1. Definitely not diarrhea, good solid poops
2. Only does it when I am trying to put his collar on
3. Proceeds to not poop any additional outside
4. Is doing it when I come home from work or errands so he is going less than 8 hours from his last pooping
5. He still doesn't eat that much so surprised he can even poop more than once a day
6. I walk the dogs 3-4X a day mostly depending on if Kiba has eaten a lot of food or Taro is being a picky pooper.
The run down when I come home follows.
I say hi to Taro because she is excited and I grab the leashes. I put Taro's on first because it is easier. Currently Kiba is gated off when we aren't home since we can't trust the dogs alone together yet. He gets the bathroom and master bedroom to roam around. He is always running around at the gate when I come home, so I go over and remove the gate which then means he starts running around everywhere. I am trying to corner him so I can put on his collar and leash (we use a martingale for him hence why it isn't left on him when we aren't on walks). Not every time, but too many times as I am trying to do this, he poops as he runs away from me. He also NEVER poops when we aren't home. I've never come home to surprises except one time when he did actually have really bad diarrhea from when I changed his diet too quickly. He has now been on the same diet for about a month (same as Taro's) and I haven't made any changes.
Any suggestions? He also has never peed in the house and he is almost 3 years old. I got him from the Portland breeder rehome so he wasn't abused and was well trained prior to me getting him. Do you think it is more of a stress/fear thing versus him thinking its ok to poop in the house?
Things I have noticed
1. Definitely not diarrhea, good solid poops
2. Only does it when I am trying to put his collar on
3. Proceeds to not poop any additional outside
4. Is doing it when I come home from work or errands so he is going less than 8 hours from his last pooping
5. He still doesn't eat that much so surprised he can even poop more than once a day
6. I walk the dogs 3-4X a day mostly depending on if Kiba has eaten a lot of food or Taro is being a picky pooper.
The run down when I come home follows.
I say hi to Taro because she is excited and I grab the leashes. I put Taro's on first because it is easier. Currently Kiba is gated off when we aren't home since we can't trust the dogs alone together yet. He gets the bathroom and master bedroom to roam around. He is always running around at the gate when I come home, so I go over and remove the gate which then means he starts running around everywhere. I am trying to corner him so I can put on his collar and leash (we use a martingale for him hence why it isn't left on him when we aren't on walks). Not every time, but too many times as I am trying to do this, he poops as he runs away from me. He also NEVER poops when we aren't home. I've never come home to surprises except one time when he did actually have really bad diarrhea from when I changed his diet too quickly. He has now been on the same diet for about a month (same as Taro's) and I haven't made any changes.
Any suggestions? He also has never peed in the house and he is almost 3 years old. I got him from the Portland breeder rehome so he wasn't abused and was well trained prior to me getting him. Do you think it is more of a stress/fear thing versus him thinking its ok to poop in the house?
Comments
Maybe I can adjust the buckle collar and give it a few test walks when I've already been home for a while and he isn't so stressed out.
Also he isn't food motivated. He only sometimes takes food from me. If he is in his crate or other safe place, he isn't stressed or scared putting the collar and leash on.
I think I need to just be quiet when I come home and kind of let Kiba do his thing. Maybe just sit and be quiet and pet my shiba while he roams around and goes back into his crate on his own?
He also never has seemed to mind having the collar put on him. He does get stressed sometimes when I am taking it off.
Or maybe you could try a slip lead. Just leave a big loop and let him walk into it.
Your best bet for inescapable hardware would be a harness with a girth strap. The girth strap is important, because a dog's waist is much smaller than its ribcage it can't back out of the harness.
I agree that a martingale can be slipped too. A harness is safer. Does he freak with a harness too? I still don't get why you let him loose just to chase and corner him. So he's fine in "safe" places.. Does he consider the gated space safe? Like I said before, leash him up there. Or get him to go into the crate. Does he know a command to go in to the crate? Maybe work on that.
He doesn't freak out with the harness but it is harder to get it on him because he gets pretty stiff when you handle him and I don't want to pull his legs and then start freaking him out.
I think the gate is considered his safe place and me taking down the gate versus putting the collar on him while the gate is still up might be a better option as well. And good point about a tag collar. Right now he can't really run out of the house. We set up a whole gate thing for the doors (which doesn't entirely mean that if he was super freaked out that he could jump it). So I have one that is a tag collar and can use in the meantime.
Also at this point, I can't seem to do any training with him. He is still pretty unresponsive to everything except chicken and cheese sometimes...only when he is in his safe places.
All great advice, thanks everyone!
Regarding the collar. Right now you just need to work on every interaction being positive. If the collar in is scary get a buckle martingale so it doesn't go over his head but around his neck. Or get a harness and just have him wear it during the day and leash him that way. It's still going over the head (and the one most of us use with the girth strap is...can't think if the name @hinata23 would know among others), but it's close to inescapable.
Finally my suggestion is get a limited slip and a clip harness that doesn't regre anything over the head just clip around neck and after shoulders. Have him wear both for a couple of days straight so you just have to double leash him (one for the collar one for the harness). He can see leasing is good nothing traumatic happened we love walks! Then keep the collar on and take the harness off and work your way down. Do not corner him to leash him or in his safe space. I designated my room as if she was there I wouldn't bother her or try and leash, medicate, etc. But by the door where we collar and leash she knows I'm going to harness her (she hates on principle), touch her feet or clean her ears, but only there. Have him drag a leash on the harness if needed so that when you release him it's as easy as picking that leash up, leading him to the door, squattING down to leash the collar (weird but my kai is super flinchy still when I bend over where she is happy if I squat)
Coming from having an emotional dog and also a rehomed adult kai, it takes time. It will feel like 2 steps forward 1.5 back. Take every small improvement as a win. 2 years later I have the most amazing dog who is still bonding with me and opening up to me. We have always been top dog in our training classes and got into nose work, but that's all built on our bond. Take that time to establish a solid bond. It will be worth it.
Lol, I'm not quite getting the setup you have with the crates and gates. A picture would help.
Anyway, you can leave a limited slip/martingale collar on. I don't now, but I did do it with my Shiba girl that passed. I had it fitted so it wasn't too tight, but was tighter then a regular collar, so if she did get caught on something (which she never did in a couple of years of wearing it), she could struggle her way out of it. When I walked her, I used a harness. I used the martingale in the house, rather than a buckle collar, because it gave me some more control, esp. since I often had to catch her outside and leash her to get her inside or had to leash her in the house away from the other dogs (she had a lot of health issues).
And yes, it may take awhile for him to adjust--6 months, a year--but he'll come around!
http://www.nihonken.org/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/8014/raito-no-hoshihime-039sachi039-spam-10-24#Item_266
This way he doesn't need to get cornered, as he's stationary + is ready for a treat, and you get to put the leash on and go.
Worth a shot
He does take some food, bits of chicken, cheese, etc but only when he is in a very specific safe place. Anything outside of the safe place, he snubs it.
In the event that you would eventually like to try clicker training in the future, I'd suggest doing some "loading the clicker" training with Kiba, which you could start today if you wanted.
To load the clicker, you don't have to expect him to perform any task/command, just simply "click" and then give him a treat afterwards. At first, I'd do this in his safe place(s). Then once he gets the idea that "clicks" = treats, you can start doing some "clicking" in other parts of the house. Once he settles in more, gains more confidence, and builds that trust, then you can really hit the ground running with the clicker since he'll already have a strong association with the "clicks" and treats. (Of course you have a lot of other things to focus on right now. This is just a suggestion )