Is your dog pooping on the couch? If your beautiful baby has suddenly taken to using your couch as his potty spot, you want answers!
Common reasons for a dog pooping on the couch include insufficient training, changes to routine, odors from previous accidents, anxiety, territorial or dominant behavior, health issues, attention seeking, general displeasure with a situation, and issues related to aging.
After we explore the reasons your pup may be pooping on the couch, you’ll find a helpful section on how to stop the behavior for good.
Reasons Why Dogs Poop on the Couch
There are many reasons why your dog may be pooping on your couch. Learning the reason will help you come up with the correct approach for correcting the behavior.
1. Not Properly House Trained
Of course it goes without saying, a lack of training is the most obvious reason for a dog doing his business on the couch.
It’s best to start house breaking as soon as you bring your dog home, whether it is a puppy or an older dog.
Decide if you plan to crate train or will allow your dog to roam free in your home.
Set a schedule for your pet to go outside for training or place puppy training pads in a designated location to train your dog where to go.
An untrained dog will leave his “deposits” wherever he pleases, and without intervention, the problem will not resolve itself.
2. Changes to Normal Routine
Dogs do not do well with change. If something is different in your normal routine, your dog may be able to tell, you may find your dog pooping on the couch because he is confused and anxious.
This behavior may stop once your dog adapts to the new routine.Â
3. Odor Left From Previous Messes
Dogs tend to return to the same spot to poop and pee. If your pet has previously pooped on the couch, he may smell the odor and feel the need to go there again.
Cleaning the mess and using products made to remove pet odors like this citrus super-strength formula, could help prevent this issue.Â
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4. Marking Territory
Dogs mark their territory, and they may feel like the couch belongs to them. If you recently got another pet, have had guests sit on the couch, or even got a new couch, your pet may feel the need to mark it as their own.Â
Unfortunately, both urinating and defecating are ways dogs use to claim property as their own.
5. Digestive Upset
When pets don’t feel well or have digestive problems, they may go to the bathroom where they shouldn’t. This can be out of confusion from pain and discomfort or out of urgency.
6. Stress or Anxiety
Dogs don’t do well with stress, and if they are experiencing anxiety, they may begin pooping in odd places.
If you had a schedule change and aren’t home as much, if someone new has started visiting, or if you made some changes to your home, your pet may be experiencing stress or anxiety.
7. Expressing Displeasure
When your pet isn’t happy about something, it may poop in inappropriate places to show it.
He may not like the couch, where the couch is, how it smells, or they may be upset about something else entirely.
As a result, the pet poops somewhere that you will easily notice in an attempt to make his displeasure known.
8. Seeking Attention
Like children, dogs can act out for attention. For dogs, even negative attention is better than no attention at all.
If you haven’t been spending as much time with your dog or if you have started to limit his walks or outside time, he may be pooping on the couch to try to tell you to pay attention to him.
9. Aging
As dogs get older, they start to lose their ability to hold in their bodily waste. They can also forget where they are and aren’t supposed to poop.
Older dogs can also suffer from pain and mobility issues that make them want to poop on the couch rather than go outside or find a different location.
10. Health Issues
Certain health issues can affect your pet’s thinking and digestive tract.
If your pet is distressed or in pain, he may not think to go out to poop and may do it where he is or in a place where he feels safe.
11. Not Taken Outside Often Enough
It’s important to take your pet outside often, especially in the early stages of house training. If your dog needs to poop and can’t get outside, he may go anywhere in the house.
12. Showing Dominant Behavior
Dogs like to be dominant, and if he is pooping in random places, it could be his way of showing that he feels in charge. This may be directed at you or another pet in the house.
The behavior may stop once the dog adjusts to your home or life with a new pet, or you may need to establish yourself as the leader and reassure him of his valuable yet lower status.
How To Stop Dogs From Pooping on the Couch
If your pet is pooping on the couch, some of these solutions may help you put a stop to it.Â
- Take your pet outside more often.
- Clean the mess thoroughly.
- Take your dog to the vet to rule out a medical issue.
- Block access to the couch.
- Learn your dog’s poop schedule.
- Consider crate training.
- Spend more time playing with your dog.
- Reduce the time away from your dog.
- Provide plenty of stimulation.
- Move nervous pets to another room when you have guests.
- Introduce changes slowly.
- Improve your dog’s diet.
Related Questions:
Do Dogs Revenge Poop?
No, dogs are not thought to be capable of doing things for revenge. Dogs do not understand feelings of spite and revenge, so if your dog is pooping on your couch, it is not because he wants revenge.
What Is the Best Way To Clean Up Dog Poop?
Remove the poop from the area with a plastic bag or paper towels. Mix dish soap and hot water in a bucket and apply it to the soiled area with a sponge or cloth.
Gently blot the soiled spot to remove the stain. Use a pet odor-removing product to remove any lingering odors (this step is critical).
Conclusion
If your dog is pooping on the couch, it can be frustrating! Thankfully, there are some things you can do to deal with the issue effectively.
It’s best to find out why your pet is pooping on the couch so that you know how to approach the behavior and resolve the problem.
Work through the above common reasons to figure out what is causing the problem, and then take a proactive approach to eliminate the behavior once and for all.
Sources:
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/how-to-crate-train-your-dog-in-9-easy-steps/
https://www.thedogplace.org/Training/Command-consistency-in-puppy-training-k20R11.asp
https://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/pets/dogs.htmlÂ
Last update on 2024-04-30 at 05:41 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
