Waya is refusing to go potty in the back yard. it is now 12pm and she hasn't pooped or peed since last night around 10pm. I put her in the back yard and she sits on the porch wining to get back in. I try to force her off the porch to walk in the yard so she will go pee and we walk by her poop she acts like she's in trouble or has done somthing wrong. she obviously has to go potty her body language screams "i have to pee" Last night when i put her out she did the same thing so i let her back in and she promptly peed on the carpet. so now i'm not letting her back in till she pees. How do i teach her that the back yard is where she is supposed to potty if she refuses to do it there?

I'm having the same problem. Nikko pees or poops at his convenience. If I don't take him out every 30-45 minutes then an accident is imminent in the house. Even if I do take him out, he'll pee, then he'll chase leaves and what not. I bring him inside and he promptly goes to the sunroom and poops. Frustrating dogs.

Do you physically go outside with them? I know Waya is a bit older than the puppy stage but maybe she doesn't like being out there alone. Callie's younger but she won't go to the bathroom unless she can see me so I have to go out with her. She also associates the backyard with play so she doesn't potty back there unless it's urgent. Otherwise, I've got to take her out front.

And for Nikko, I know it's frustrating but hang in there! It does get better, I promise! Callie did the same thing and it felt like it took forever for her to stop. Do you have treats on hand when you go outside so you can treat him as soon as he goes? I do think that helps a lot, but Callie is extremely food motivated. You also might want to try back tracking. Keep him on lead so he has to potty. When he goes, praise and then if you choose, you can take him off lead to play. Or you can even go all out and after he goes potty, bring him back inside then take him back out to play so he associates it as two separate things. Otherwise, he'll be asking you to go out all the time just to play.

Will she urinate on Walks?

Even if it is just marking territory or spreading her scent so to speak you may be able to work off that and reinforce when she does do it. As always praise or reward and work those methods into your backyard on leash at first and out wait her.

It reads as if she is scared or thinks she is doing wrong by eliminating in the back yard right now so building her confidence about it might be the way to go. If you can start on walks or work into it, it may just help.

How ever else you trigger one outside and really pump her up so to speak.



I've been following your progress and it seems like she is asserting herself into the DOM role so I don't see how it could be a problem, but she may be nervous right now because she sees the backyard as Dakota's territory. Training her in some neutral location like a park or on a walk might help her.

Apart from that the only thing It could be is the relocation and she just isn't used to what is expected of her yet.

Reinforcement, training, and time. It goes without saying but clean as best you can any location she voids in the house with an enzyme cleaner.

Hope it helps,
~Chris~

i was just out there with her for about 30 min while i pooperscooped. i was thinking maybe she thought the yard was too "gross" to potty in. she remained on the back porch wanting inside. i've finally let her in but she is confined to the laundry room ( it has linolium and if she goes it will be easier to clean up) I feel bad b/c she's locked up but when she pees she pees a gallon lol and it's massive pain to clean up out of the carpet. I shot an email to the previous owner to see if they had a special command they used to let her know it was ok to potty. what worries me is she might only potty while on a walk. We use walks for exersize not stopping every 3 feet to sniff and potty . I've never liked my dogs peeing or pooping on other peoples property. I can pick up the poop , well most of it at least. but i can't stop the pee from ruining someone elses grass.
There is also the concern of if it's horrid weather i don't want to be out walking the dog at 5 am in freezing snow blizzard, i want to be able to shoot her outside let her do her buisness and come back in lol. sigh just frustrated

ramoscl wrote:

There is also the concern of if it's horrid weather i don't want to be out walking the dog at 5 am in freezing snow blizzard, i want to be able to shoot her outside let her do her buisness and come back in lol. sigh just frustrated

Trust me. I completely understand. That's why I'm trying to wean Callie off of needing me out there with her. It won't be so bad once I'm in FL but while I'm here in NY, I'd love for her to not need me to come freeze with her!