Walking your dog is an excellent and fun way to get some exercise and fresh air, and it can be a huge bonding experience for you and your best friend. If your dog walks and poops, you might wonder if something is wrong. So why does your dog walk and poop?
Your dog walks and poops for various reasons. In most cases, dogs are just being their silly selves and marking their territory. In more severe cases, they might be trying to pass stool, have constipation, joint pain, or poor bowel control.
Dogs are funny creatures – they seem like they’re plotting world domination one minute and acting as if they have no clue what’s going on the next. While we can’t help them with the world domination part, it’s our duty to figure out why they walk and poop. More on that below!
Is It Normal for Dogs To Walk and Poop?
Our pets are a part of our everyday lives and are often treated like family members – it’s only natural that we want to know everything they’re doing and help them out. This is especially true when they’re not looking well or doing something out of the ordinary.
It is normal for dogs to walk and poop. When they leave small gifts all over the place while on a walk, they are either marking their territory, talking with other canines, or moving as fast as they can without any time to stop.
If your dog’s pooping habits become a concern, or if your dog goes in inappropriate locations, you can visit a trainer, but for the most part, a dog has to go when a dog has to go. If, however, you think it’s something more serious, you should take your dog to see the vet as soon as possible.
Sometimes, your dog may be walking and pooping for reasons beyond their control, and I’ll cover this in the next section.
Why Your Dog Walks and Poops
Many dogs are delighted to relieve themselves while they’re in motion. If your dog has become accustomed to doing this all its life, he’s probably fine. However, there are some situations where a dog might become an in-motion pooper.
Here are some reasons your doggo might poop and walk:
Marking Their Territory
The most common reason for your dog walking while pooping is an attempt to leave their scent.
Scent glands can be found on either side of a dog’s anus. They serve as a type of identification tag for your dog. When your dog takes a poop, these smell glands generate a musky odor that other dogs passing by can detect. Because those anal glands can be expressed when a dog is terrified, they can also warn another dog of danger.
So, when taking your dog for a stroll, they may walk and poop because they detect another animal’s scent and want to lay theirs down without becoming visually vulnerable. Walking exerts pressure on their scent glands, allowing them to leave a more prominent scent in their wake.
Trying To Pass Stool
The second primary reason your dog poops while walking is stimulating movement in and around the anus. This movement makes it easier for the anus muscles to move the stool.
In fact, taking your dog for a walk is an excellent strategy to assist your dog to poop at the appropriate time. All these movements can cause feces to pass through and give your dog the need to go to the bathroom.
Diarrhea and Constipation
We’ve already established that when you take your dog for a walk, it increases the stimulation of their muscles, making them more likely to pass stool.
The activity of walking can help your dog with the feeling of constipation. So, If you notice your dog walking and pooping at the same time, this could also be an indication that it’s constipated. They’re likely walking to try and remove the stool because other attempts haven’t been successful.
Additionally, if you have noticed your dog has diarrhea, it’s likely that when you take it for a walk, it will poop a lot too.
Joint Pain or Muscle Pain
Dogs can develop joint or muscle pain for various reasons, including old age and arthritis. Muscle atrophy occurs in dogs as they age. Senior dogs are typically less active, and their muscles can deteriorate over time.
It takes your dog a lot of strength to stay in that squatted position, especially for older, more frail dogs. Muscle and joint soreness contribute to a dog’s lack of strength and might make it challenging to keep in a squatted position for a lengthy period. The solution for older canines can be to walk and poop simultaneously.
If you think this is the reason for your dog’s walking and pooping occurrences, you can make sure by looking out for body signals like shaking legs and if they look uncomfortable when attempting to squat.
If this is new for your dog, it’s likely associated with a muscle issue you’re unaware of and should be something to look into with your local vet.
Poor Bowel Control
Bowel control is a dog’s ability to control the passage of feces. Dogs with bowel control problems often have trouble defecating and may strain excessively. Therefore poor bowel control in your dog should be considered a medical problem.
While bowel control problems are more frequent in older and younger puppies, they can affect any age or breed of dog. A loss of bowel control may be caused by sickness, a bad diet, or disease.
When this occurs, your dog will struggle to regulate when they relieve themselves. If this is the case, you might recall your dog having more accidents within the house, let alone on a walk, because they cannot hold it in.
If your dog shows any symptoms of a lack of bowel control, take them to the vet and make sure no underlying medical issues are causing it.
How To Help Your Dog Stop Pooping on a Walk
By now, you should know this is a fairly common issue for all dogs and owners, and not something you should immediately be concerned about.
In more severe instances, it will be easy to note the symptoms associated with constipation, diarrhea, joint and muscle problems, and poor bowel control.
If you believe that the problem is behavioral, you can address the issue through basic training techniques or by taking your pet to dog training classes.
When constipation causes your dog to poop while on a walk, you can try and increase the fiber content in their diet. Sometimes introducing probiotics can help with this, too.
Causes of diarrhea can also be dietary but if you’re unsure, it’s worth consulting with your vet. Your vet will be able to assist you with causes and solutions for your dog’s potty problem.
Conclusion
Walking while pooping can be natural for dogs. Sometimes the reason behind it isn’t an instinct, but your furry friend is trying to mark its territory.
However, health-related difficulties should encourage some level of action. This can be done by consulting your veterinarian, and they may advise treatment to address an underlying health condition.
Ultimately, your dog walking and pooping simultaneously is rarely cause for concern. You may not understand why your dog behaves this way, but as long as there are no underlying symptoms, there is nothing wrong with your dog defecating on the go.
