Won't toilet when out on a walk!

[Billy.A]

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I have a six month old Lowchen, Archie (along with a 3 and a half year old Lowchen Billy). I am having problems with Archie in as far as he won't pee or poo when we are out walking! In some way this would be great as I don't have to clear up after him, and then when we get home he goes out I to the garden and goes! He has just started weeing in only one spot in the garden ( wish he would do that on the poo front!). However, in all seriousness this is a real problem when we are out for the day or in fact try to go away, it becomes a complete nightmare. I have just been to my daughters and our routine was that we went out as soon as we got up and it took him about 45 mins to do what he would normally do immediately, about an hour later after his breakfast we went for a long walk, we were out for two hours and he did nothing, got back to my daughter's flat and he immediately weed on her carpet and then pood. I know he is only 6 months and I hope that when he is a bit older and his hormones kick in he might grow out of it but at the mo it makes it difficult to go away. He is very happy (I think) when out, is great on the recall and gets lots of treats, it just seems that he does not associate walking with doing what he needs! Any suggestions would be most welcome.

 

[MissYeh]

He may have a certain insecurity to pee/poo in places where he normally doesn't go. Inside and the garden obviously are the right places.

How often does he go out? How much does he drink per day? How often does he eat?

He's allowed to wee in the back but only poo in the front?

There is unfortunately no magic word or simple trick for this to change. Getting him to do it outside requires a bit of training from the owners part.

1st part

While in training, it's important that Archie doesn't get a chance to relieve himself inside. How? By keeping a close eye on him and minimizing his chances.

Dogs show a certain behaviour before they relieve themselves. You must learn to notice them and once you notice the behaviour e.g. just about lifting his paws to wee or sniffing for the right place, distract him and take him outside (see part 2).

If you need to run around the house, keep Archie close to you so he doesn't get the chance to relieve himself. Keeping him on a lead which you attach to e.g. your waist.

Don't let him in the garden again for the time being if he hasn't weed outside yet.

This all will help maximize Archie's need to relieve himself outside.

2nd part: regular toilet trips

It is important that Archie gets more than plenty of chances to do his business outside to build up confidence and that is why you take him out ever hour, to start with. You can extend this to few hours and longer once he starts doing better.

The goal is that Archie isn't distracted so he can focus on relieving. It's better not to play with him, till after he's done his business.

3rd part: increase confidence

Every time he does his business in the right place, praise him afterwards! Smile, high pitched voice, a stroke.. and mean it. This will make him feel a bit more confident the next time to do it in places where he isn't used to relieve himself.

While doing his business, attach a word to it that you will use every time he's does it in the right place, e.g. potty time. This will make him associate it with relieving. In the future you can use the word and he'll understand what you ask of him.

Well, this is a good start I'd say. Good luck with Archie and keep me posted on the progress.

And oh..make sure he doesn't drink much much more than necessary. Archie is not a big doggy and drinking a lot helps his irregular and uncontrollable wees.

 

[Billy.A]

Thanks for that advice. I am sure we will get there in due course!

 

[MissYeh]

If he keeps peeing inside, then you have the above to refer to

Good luck and keep us posted... Would love to hear about the progression, especially if you managed to toilet-train him in a different way than I described.