Expert: Liz Gregory - 1/22/2009

Question
I have a 7 month old male and a 5 month old female cavalier king Charles spaniel. one of them has started pooping in the house.  They are let out in the garden every 2/3 hours even when we are out, a neighbour comes in and lets them out.  I feed them twice a day around 9am and 4pm. They also go for a walk once a day.  I do not know which one it is, so don't know how to stop it.  one of them poops every night and at least twice during the day in the kitchen, where their bed and feeding area is. My male dog has been recently castrated and my bitch is getting done in 2 months.  This pooping problem is starting to get me down....as both dogs where house trained and we never had any problems.  please can you help. How can I can stop whichever one it.

Answer
Hi Rachel,
Cavaliers, from time to time, forget they are housebroken. Not to the point where they don't straighten out, but they do have their moments. One reason, depending on where you live, could be due to weather. They are going outside to please you and coming back in quickly because it is cold or wet. They don't really think about pooping or peeing just that they have to run outside and come back in. My dogs have done it as well. It does become a habit if you don't nip it in the bud so you need to work now.
What I would suggest that you do, is start all over. You need to reinforce the good behavior that they used to have. I would first crate them when they can't be watched. That means when you are out, or at night. It sounds as though you bought the second one to keep company with the first. If so, I know you won't want to separate them. You can get a crate for a large dog that both can fit in. Then put rope toys or something they can't tear up in with them. When they go out in the garden, make sure you observe that they did actually relieve themselves.
Also, when you do find poop, bring them over and just ask them who did it. They aren't going to tell you but they will realize they made a mistake and you are not happy about it. Cavaliers are very sensitive, they don't need much more reinforcement then a reprimand, they love to please.
I understand that you must be frustrated but about a week of this and you can start going back to letting them have a bit more freedom. Do it little by little so that you can always go back to a previous step if things stop working.
Also, you said something about jumping in the subject line but never went into it in the body of the message. A good thing might be to take one or both of the dogs to obedience classes, start with whoever needs it the most. You can always use treats and don't give them if they jump, but when they sit, give them a treat. Give them the command 'sit' and when they do sufficiently, give them the treat.
Good luck Rachel, let me know if you need any further help!
Liz