8mth dog won't pee outside - help

[leighmb84]

Hi all,

Our Border Collie/Labrador cross is 8mths old and still won't 'eliminate' outside. She learnt to 'go' on the puppy pads within about 2days of getting her at 8wks old and, since then, won't 'go' anywhere else. She'll hold it in for hours on a walk then wait until we get home to 'go'. We've tried everything to get her to 'go' outside but she just won't do it, no matter how long we spend in the garden/outside. We've tried taking the puppy pads away but she just 'goes' on the spot they used to be. We've put her 'eliminations' outside so that her own smell would encourage her to 'go' - all this did was get me some strange looks from the neighbours for dotting poop around the garden! We even walk with other dogs once a day in the hope that she'll see them getting praise when they 'go' outside and copy it but it hasn't happened. The vet says "it'll happen eventually and to just keep working at it" but, at 8mths old, it's getting ridiculous and costing a small fortune in puppy pads as we're going through 4 a day! She's a great dog and all her other training was super easy but the toilet training is driving me nuts, I've never known another dog like it? We can't afford a behaviourist/trainer so any advice would be super helpful, especially if you've also had the same issue?

thanks.....

 

[JoanneF]

It sounds like you have inadvertently taught her to go indoors by using the puppy pads. So that shows at least that she is a good learner.

So, first principal is that the reward of going outside is worth holding on for. So watch her like a hawk and as soon as she starts to look like she's about to pee or poo, get her into the garden. She may choose not to perform so just ignore that, let her back in, and repeat. Eventually she will have to go; having followed the process you should be outdoors with her, and praise her like mad and give her a high value treat. She needs to get the treat straight after toileting, don't even have her need to walk towards you, so she is clear the treat is for toileting and not for coming to you. Even dogs with a cast iron constitution cant hold it in forever!

It's going to take a lot of repetition of this pattern to break the habit and instill the new one but persevere. Enlist family members to help if you can, everyone being consistent.

Don't get angry with her for messing indoors, you don't want her to pick up on that and be reluctant to tell you she needs to toilet.

 

[Biker John]

One other suggestion is to put a pad outside if you have a place it would be ok in rain.

 

[gypsysmum2]

I would crate train her. Call it a den if you hate the idea of crating her. Dogs are den animals. They like their special places. Make it beautiful and fill it with a lovely soft bed. Treat it like a fantastic new toy and encourage her, slowly, to love being in it. I have lined the inside of mine with seat pads tied up to hang down and make a soft side to my metal crate. You can, of course, buy, or borrow, soft crates.

A dog's instinct is to keep its bed clean. When she can't be watched like a hawk then she can be popped in her den until you have time to take her straight to the garden. When you know she needs to go just keep taking her from the den straight to the garden until she has to eliminate. Be ready with a fantastic handful of treats, like chicken or liver, and give her at least five, one after the other. Once she is empty then she can have free run of the house for a while. As soon as a pee or poop is expected then pop her back in the den and repeat the visits to the garden until she performs, when she gets the fantastic treats again. Eventually a light bulb will go on in her head and she will realise that performing indoors gets her ignored while performing outdoors gets fantastic rewards (as has been said it must be immediately she performs). you will notice the light bulb moment when she starts to look at you to go outside in order to get those lovely treats.

If she whines to come out of the crate then she can only go outside. Try to decide when the whine is for toilet purposes and ignore any other whining. She can have toys and chews in her crate. It is her haven after all.

Do clean the area she has used as a toilet with a 10% solution of biological detergent. Rinse it. Dry it. Agitate a spirit into the area (it lifts the last of the fat deposits that dogs can still smell).

Some dogs with housetraining issues pick up their owners feelings about pee and poop. If she has done this then she may be reluctant to pee and poop when you are around due to sensing your displeasure. Does she do it in the house when you are there or wait until you have left the room/gone out? Does she go to other parts of the room or house? If this is the case then she will be reluctant to perform in front of you in the garden or out on walks. You will have to handle this very sensitively and try to give her as much space as you can while outside in the garden. You could even go as far as introducing the clicker and using it to reward her from a distance. If you don't know how to clicker train then do ask or go to kikopup on you tube.

The whole idea is that she finds it hugely rewarding to toilet outside.

If I could ban one dog accessory it would be puppy pads! (oh and newspaper)