Our girl won't do her usual bathroom break outside due to the fact we currently have a bunny nest in our back yard :s

taking her for a walk to get her business done is out of the question because she's leash shy

any suggestions?

My only suggestion would be to walk her she needs to get over being on a leash. I feel it is very important to the training of a dog.. Have you tried a harness with the leash.??

we've tried EVERYTHING with her, I was even outside with her for almost 2 hours one day when I knew she REALLY had to go and the stubborn girl waited until we got back home and she was on her tie-out before she would go.

We've tried a traditional halter and she hates it
She currently has one of the nose halters and REALLY hates it (she spends the entire walk trying to pa it off her nose - won't concentrate on anything else but the halter)

I honestly think she won't go when on the leash because of how close we are to her, she always tries to get as far away as possible when on the tie-out

Quote :

taking her for a walk to get her business done is out of the question because she's leash shy

I would work on this as much as possible. Getting her used to the leash by leaving it on her even while at home. Try and correct her removing it or biting it and reward her when she relaxes and just accepts that the leash is on her.

You can even try and umbilical her to you. This has the added benefit of you being able to supervise her more and allows her to get used to the leash at the same time.

With the umbilical you'll be able to see as soon as she starts to act up or any warning signs about when she would have to pee... and in due time she will begin to be desensitized to the leash.

It's also a good way for you to start reinforcing your role in her life as with the leash tied around your waste she would be forced to stay close to you and move when you move.


Apart from that you may just need to out stubborn her in terms of waiting her out..... 2 hours seems long but your dealing with a very very stubborn breed here


If your lucky enough to have a food motivated pup you can use kibble to get her moving forwards while leashed on walks and slowly wean her off that. Just holding it in front of her nose (carrot on a stick so to speak) and give her the kibble time and again when forward progress is made without any bad leash ticks.

Hope it helps.

~Chris~

I guess I should have mentioned that we're in a high traffic dog area and she's currently in heat, so being out on a walk with her is something we're trying to avoid.

And while I know that the whole leash shy business is something that needs to be corrected in the long run I was more hoping for a short term solution to get her to do her business while the nest is still there

Without knowing the layout of your yard or when Nova normally does her business and where the bunnies are...

Hmmm I assume you would have moved the tieout somehow if you could.

You could use Pee pads until her heat has passed I guess.... But there could be a chance she picks up that behaviour.

Fence off the nest somehow????

Walk REALLY early and or REALLY late if you can to avoid as many dogs as you can.....

Don't know more you could do to be honest.... Being confined to your property but not having access to your yard cause of the nest kinda takes away a lot of solutions....

If it where me I would still use the umbilical in this situation and just do a quick out when I thought my dog needed to pee.....

~Chris~

I guess I should have mentioned that too, the bunnies are currently in her favourite pee spot. In all honesty I have my fingers crossed that mama bunny moves her little ones through the night, if that doesn't happen I'm considering calling the OSPCA Wildlife hotline. I might try your suggestion in the morning

Thanks Chris!