Adult Dog Occasionally Poops Inside

[judy1981]

We adopted a 3 year old dog from the pound about 3 months ago. He came to us pretty much house-trained and just needed a litle adjusting after being in the shelter. We take him out for walks often (5-6 times per day) because he enjoys walks and so do we.

About once a week or so, he will poop inside. The problem is, he doesn't ever signal to us when he needs to go outside. Is there a way to train him to do this? To scratch at the door or something? He's pretty smart and has picked up sit, down, and stay pretty quickly. He just doesn't seem to be communicative that way...he doesn't paw at his bowl or anything when he's hungry either.

Should we just treat him when he poops outside? I'm not sure if this will work, because he's not that interested in food outside, and I think he would much rather go outside anyway. He just doesn't tell us when he needs to go.

Thanks for your help!

[adunphy]

You could teach him to sit at the backdoor, or to nudge your hand, or even ring a bell. Take a look at this article on how to do that
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001b/bell.htm