My housebroken dog is pooping inside.?

My 8 month old Lhasa Apso was perfectly housebroken and would let her out herself when she had to pee or poop. Recently, however, she somehow prefers to relieve herself inside despite the fact that I take her to the garden frequently.


She's a bit more careful with urinating outside, however she almost always poops inside - which is very frustrating because she was perfectly housebroken since she was 2.5 months.





Once she pooped and pee'd in the room despite the door open for her to go outside and do her business. Is she trying to be aggressive or trying to get some attention? I love her immensely and she's almost never on a leash. She can do whatever she wants to and even sit on the furniture if she likes.





Nothing significant has changed with us recently, except that I am pregnant and due in two months. I also need to know if its okay for her to be around the baby for the first few months.





I would really like to know how to fix this behavior. Thanks for your response!

My housebroken dog is pooping inside.?
Dogs can sense when things are changing, and they're very sensitive to our emotional state. Often times, they'll mirror our emotional state, whether it's happiness, sadness, fear, anxiety, etc... It's quite possible that she's picking up on any sort of tension or anxiety that you might have regarding your impending motherhood, and it's causing her to be stressed. When dogs get stressed, one of the things they tend to do is forget their training, and they'll start doing things they wouldn't normally do (i.e. tearing up things, pooping or peeing in the house, barking excessively or chewing your shoes/furniture, biting). My dog got lost for several hours a few weeks ago, and got picked up by animal control. After spending 3 hours in "dog jail", I brought him home, and he proceeded to run wildly through the house, obviously distressed, and he pooped and peed in 4 different places within about 20 minutes. He's housebroken, and he has never done anything like that before, but he was totally stressed out, and that's how he expressed himself.





As for being around the baby, my own personal feeling is that you should start conditioning the dog to stay away from the baby's room, and everything that smells like the baby. I would keep her away from the newborn for at least a few months, because dogs are so naturally curious, and they think nothing of walking up and licking someone on the face or the hands the moment we turn our backs. Though we might think our precious pooches are clean, they really aren't as clean as we'd like for them to be. As much as I love all 3 of my dogs, I wouldn't want their paws near my newborn while they're in their bouncy seat on the floor, nor would I want the same tongue that's been licking their butt to be near my baby's face/hands/head.





Also, I think some dogs, especially the ones who have basically had the "run of the house" prior to the baby being born can accidentally hurt the child by just being themselves. Jumping up onto the couch or trying to excitedly jump on you to give you some licks could result in scratches to the baby if you're holding him/her at the time. That's just one example, but there are many others. I think for a little while, it would be in the baby's best interest to keep the dog away, but again, that's just my own personal opinion.
Reply:My dog did this a couple times at night, then he began doing this several times a week, both night and day.


We started crating him at night, and then when we were gone during the day for the next two weeks to help reinstate the housebreaking rules in him. After that he didn't have a single accident in the house.
Reply:She wasn't perfectly housebroken. She just needs to start over with crate training.
Reply:My Lhasa Apso/Terrier mix is doing the same thing in my son's walk in closet. I would shut the door but we have a curtain hanging down to cover the opening so the dog just goes in. My vet asked if the dog was fixed. Mine is not however he is male. I am not sure about female dogs but I want to tell you that my doctor told me it may be time for a snip.