Help with Ruby .....

[captain]

Don't exactly know how to fix this little issue .........

We have a doggie door on the back door into the laundry so that if it rains or is windy, or the dogs want to - they can simply sleep in the laundry, and go in and out to the backyard at their leisure.

Since Monday - Ruby has decided that it is too cold to go out in the day, and now poos in the laundry. We have always thought that she NEVER leaves the laundry all day - too comfortable inside, but she has not done this before.

We unfortunately do not CATCH her in the act, but last night she stayed outside for about 2 hours (we locked her out). When I got home, I did not realise anything until I went to open the laundry door, and found the poo - but no dog!!!!
She was hiding outside - as if she KNEW she had done wrong.

Any ideas?

[bckrazy]

thats so wierd! we have the SAME exact set-up ! We have a really big laundry/storage room with a dog-door in the side door leading to the backyard. When we aren't home we have occasionally let Gonzo have access to the laundry room with the dog-door open. I've never had this problem with him

When we were puppy-sitting my sisters Chi while she was getting married/finding a house (for 1 year!!), the Chi went potty a couple times in the laundry room when we had that set-up. She was a VERY prissy and lazy dog she also rarely left the house, except to bark at neighbors. To fix that, we crated her while she couldn't be supervised and gave her access to the whole house with the open dog-door when some one was home. She wouldn't got potty while we were home, she knew she'd be in BIG trouble . . she also got plenty of walks and exercise before and after going into her crate. Have you tried vigorously exercising Ruby before leaving her? That usually stimulates them to go #2! If you synchronize her meals and exercise right, you can get her to go #2 during walks or exercise while you're home, so she won't do it anymore in the house. Also try walking/jogging a mile with her before leaving and encouraging her to potty. That's all I can think of

[pnance]

I had a problem somewhat similiar with my dog Nikka, she's completely housebroken, but when it rains she hates going out. She'll run out to pee on the deck not in the yard, but won't poop, so I come home to it in the house. I ended up walking out with her when it rained (painful since I had to get an unbrella and stand there), but wouldn't let her come in until I saw her move off the deck into the yard to do her business. If she came up before she pooped I confined her to a small area in the kitchen(about crate size), so that if she went it would be like she was going in her sleeping area and she's way to much of a priss to ever do that. It seemed to work, now she'll run down do her business really quickly and run back up.

[captain]

Thanks for your input. Much appreciated.

One thing to work on I guess is the "go potty" when we are out walking. At this stage (Ruby is 3 years old), she very rarely wees let alone poos when we go walking, no matter how far!!!!
She seems to "hang out" to poo in the yard when we return

Gotta keep trying tho ........