Poopy Paws

I have a new issue with my new puppy during poopy time. She moves in circles as she is pooping and ultimately steps in her poo -- over and over. I've been holding her still to help her not get poopy paws, but whenever I let go she automatically 'pushes, steps a little circularly, pushes some more, steps a little more in the circular direction, and so-on -- poop comes out and her paw(S) right into the poop'.

Is there anyone out there that has a pooper that keeps moving?

My older pup just does his poo-poo dance and then squats in one place until it's all out -- then cleanly steps away!!! Isn't that more normal???

How old is she?

Maggie didn't get the hang of pooping in one spot until she was almost 3 months old... she'd leave a trail. We kept a box of pet wipes and a towel by the door. It just got better on its own and now she's a normal pooper.
I do not miss those poopy paw days.

Dylan does this but only on walks with his lead on. I try to either leave him do his circling or guide him in a straight line, keep moving. Soon as I tried to keep him still, he got in a mess by standing in it.

Ilsa can still do that. I try to guide her away from it but it is so frustrating. I can't say enough about puppy wipes, another great use for them. I always try to carry them in my bag with me.

Jen and Ilsa

If she is really young this isn;t uncommon for them to step in their poops at first. Two of mine are spinners but they rarely step on it -- if a puppy was initially reared in a clean environment by its mother it will tend to be careful about getting itself covered in poop. So part of the problem can be the situation from the breeder and how the dogs were kept, or it could also just be youth and a clumsy puppy who will take a while to figure out how not to step on things.

My Dotty will spin before doing the poo but sometimes just squats down.

I have this problem occasionally with Charlie, but his is because he "covers up" his poop afterward, where he kicks his feet out behind him like he's covering it up, and occasionally he moves backward at the same time and into the poop. Not always the brightest crayon in the box...

I'm trying to break him of doing this all the time by calling his name and clapping twice like "come here" when he starts and usually it will snap him out of it.

I had a Springer who had arthritis in his legs (he wa old at this point) and couldn't stand still while pooing so he used to squat and walk, well shuffle! Very odd - when I would clean it up I would be searching for more in the grass because he would go for a stoll and leave a trail behind him (lovely! )

I currently have a 7 month old pup who stretches out his legs and goes up on his toes when he goes to the toilet - like he is squatting but trying to get as far away from the ground as possible, and he sometimes backs into his own poo. As has alreasy been said, wipes are your best friend until they get the hang of it!

Plenty of dogs spin before they go, they have to find the perfect spot!

Thanks all

Appreciate the feedback...

She is 3 months and I hope she will grow out of it. The spinning must be her personality as it is so cute when she spins with anticipation of a treat or her meals!

The waddling and spinning during her pooping will hopefully stop -- the pre-poo ceremonies I can handle and think quite cute --- it's the perpetual motion during the pooping action that makes for 'IN THE SINK wash ups'.

Part of her spinning involves her wanting to see her poop to take a BITE - yuck, which is taking some work to teach her that poop is NOT ON THE MENU!

Nice to have a place to talk about poopy matters!!!!

my 11 year old still spins ...the poopy dance and still leaves a trail of poop instead of a mound ......now his legs are bad and he squats lower and gets it all over the bottom of his tail and the fur along his little butt He gets more baths then ever before !!