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My stubborn puppy bites and won't poop on the pee pad. What can I do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | unspayed | 2 months and 8 days old | 5.5 lbs

She is a 14 week old maltes-shitzu mix. Very stubborn. She understands bad & No & knows exactly when she is doing something wrong, but is fearless & continues. She is very aggressive & tries to bite me when I take something away from her she is not suppose to have. I will say again... she is very stubborn. I can get her to pee on the pee pad, if I offer a treat, but not poop. It's like she is going to poop where ever she wants & then gets in trouble. HELP!

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Davis

Veterinarian

Published on March 8th, 2018

She is a baby. You can’t expect her to be housebroken or know proper behavior at this age. I recommend a puppy class so she gets socialized with other dogs and to burn off excess energy. Taking her for lots of walks and tossing toys for her to play with outside will tire her out and decrease the biting behavior. She’s just playing now, and this behavior will improve as she grows up. Personally in order to house break a dog I keep them in a crate at all times that I’m not able to supervise them so they do not have an opportunity to poop in the house. I recommend taking her outside more often as she may prefer to poop outside rather on the pad. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Sofie.

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    Answered By Dr. Elizabeth

    Veterinarian

    Published on June 20th, 2019

    Try crate training Yuri. Here is a great link: https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-crate-train-your-dog/ Remove the puppy pads unless absolutely needed as this only causes confusion (is it ok to go potty in the house?). Assuming she will not potty in the crate. Take her outside for 15 minutes, if she does not potty outside, CARRY her back inside and put her back in the crate for 30-45 minutes. Then CARRY her back outside for another 15 minutes. You will repeat this until she potties outside. Praise her immensely and give her treats as soon as she potties. Then she can be free in the house. Using a leash and baby gates in the house will help to avoid her from having accidents. You did not mention how old Yuri is so I will guess she is a puppy. Here are some helpful links: https://www.petcoach.co/article/puppy-biting-nipping-of-hands/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/puppy-biting-when-does-it-stop/ Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

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