dog poops in other peoples homes but not mine

[werenanook]

So i have a 3 year old collie/st. bernard mix that has a bad habit of pooping in my girlfriends house but not mine. We take him out at her place and most of the time he wont poop outside but as soon as we bring him in he will go in the house and when he does go to the bathroom outside he will still turn around and go again inside. It doesnt just happen after being outside either. He could be inside for some time and he will just suddenly go. When he is home I dont have this problem from him. I can take him outside and he will go after I walk him around the yard for a few mins.

Im thinking he is just trying to mark his terratory as she has two dogs of her own but im not sure that is the whole problem since he more or less refuses to go to the bathroom outside.

I have tried using most of the traditional potty trainging methods and havent had any luck.

Currently when he is over there we are having to leave him in his cage all day (he doesn't go to the bathroom in his cage) or put a doggy daiper on him but neither of those are solutions to the actual problem.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Margot49]

You need to keep him on a lead so you can control him and he can't sneak off.

[werenanook]

Taking him out a lot and  praising him when he does go and taking him out when we catch him is what we are currently trying but we havent seen any noticable improvement probably because we are having a really hard time catching him in the act. He tends to wait for us to stop paying attention and then sneaks off and does it were no one can see him.

I have talked to his vet about it and they said that it appears to be a behavioral issue but they havent been able to offer any more advice then basic potty training methods.

Thanks for the help though.

[werenanook]

His bathroom times seem to go completely out the window when i take him over there. At my place he will normally only go once a day and it will happen on any random trip outside. When he gets to her place he will go multiple times throughout the day.

We have tried the walking thing in the past but even if he goes while on the walk he will still go as soon as we bring him in.

Thanks for the suggestions though.

[ginger899]

I don't know enough about dog behaviour therapy to be able to offer you a good sound suggestion to stop this.
It could be territory-marking, or some form of insecurity....but usually dogs are more likely to pee (?) I think so, but as I say I don't know enough about this.

But would it make any difference if he was properly walked before visiting another house....a walk round the yard might seem fine, but it might not be enough for him to completely empty his bowels. A good hour-long energetic walk should do it (?) before he has to stay inside for a length of time. not only that but he would be fully relaxed, having used his energy during the walk, and may settle down for an hour or two without needing to go out again?

Does he have certain times when he's more likely to need to do #2?
(For instance, my dog used to always need to 'go' first thing in the morning....then about 1-2 hours later, and sometimes also during the afternoon. Now her body-rhythms were so definite you could set your watch by her)
I was just wondering -if you got used to his 'times' for doing a poop, then maybe you can pre-empt him!