Adventures in housetraining
Our new 3 year old corgi, Ein, is actually housebroken. We got her on June 21st. But I'm trying to train her to eliminate in the back yard---without much success. I think I accidentally trained her to think she's only supposed to potty on her walks. The first few days we had her, I took her on lots of walks because it really seemed to ground her and helped with her new-home nervousness. And she always happened to potty on her walks. I didn't think anything of it at first. We're going on 12 days with her, and she's only peed in the back yard 3 times. No poop in the yard. She saves it up for her 2 walks, and so far has demonstrated an ability to hold it for close to 17 hours. At first I thought it was an issue of her just not urinating often enough, but when I asked in the forum here and did some research online, I learned that it's not uncommon for newly adopted adult dogs to be unsure of where it's okay to eliminate.
I don't mind that she goes on the walks, but we want her to use the yard too. So, yesterday we said no AM walk until she pees in the yard. She held it for 16 hours before she went in the yard. I gave her lots of lots of praise right after she went.
Well, today it's going on 17 hours and nothing. I've been taking her out to the yard about every 15-20 minutes, and giving her enough time to sniff around but not so long that we're just dawdling. And all she does is either lay at my feet if I stand, or follow me around if I walk. It's so frustrating!! There is no way this is comfortable or healthy for her.
I have to leave for work at 2:30, and my husband will get home in the evening and will walk her, but I can't leave her that long with peeing. So, I'm giving it until 1:00 before I give in and walk her, although that's probably just going to reinforce the "hold it until the walk" problem. :(
Other than this, she's a great little dog! No chewing, no aggression, very little anxiety ( just whining when we leave the room), and no destructiveness. She's even great with our cats (even though the cats don't return the good will haha).
Any advice? PLEASE tell me this will get better!
Comment
-
Comment by Melissa and Franklin! on July 3, 2012 at 12:05am
-
They make attractants you can buy at petstores that may work for this. I had trouble when I moved to my current apartment getting Franklin to go potty on my patio. He has a dog door leading out but would NEVER go outside He was used to going on the patio at my old apartment so not sure what the difference was. I used an attractant spray and it worked well. My chihuahua was also very unreliably potty trained so we used the attractant on her potty pads and she got much much better about peeing where it was appropriate and not on any rug or dog bed she felt like.
-
Comment by Gail Phillips on July 2, 2012 at 8:05pm
-
Our Alex was a rescue and we also had difficulty getting him to go in the back yard. Walking on leash in the yard definately helped.He still occasionally will not poop in the backyard but if I put his leash on and take him in the front yard he will immediately poop. Sometimes getting them excited by throwing toys and playing will get them to pee.He also pees and poops while walking. I also am wondering if his former owners did not let him stop on his walks.
-
Comment by Jessica on July 2, 2012 at 6:13pm
-
My first thought would be to try and "walk" her on a leash in the backyard - and than celebrate like a crazy person when/if she went. It might take a few tries but it might be easier than de-bagging her poo onto the lawn or buying a spike - although both of those are great ideas I'd probably never even think of on my own! :)
-
Comment by Ingrid & Ein on July 2, 2012 at 4:37pm
-
@aronna No, from what I understand, in her previous home, she was alone most of the day and went outside through a dog door. Your ideas sound good---I will try those. Thanks!
-
Comment by aronna welsh on July 2, 2012 at 4:22pm
-
Do you know if the last owner trained her to potty on walks. She may think she is doing her best. You can bring her poop home and put it in the back yard far back and let her see and smell it. There are also hormone spikes you can put in the yard that will attract her to them. You can have a friends dog over and let them pee in the yard, she will want to cover their mark. Good luck she sounds like a great dog.
Rescue Store
Stay Connected
FDA Recall
Canadian Food Inspection Agency Recall
Groups
We support...
Badge
© 2024 Created by Sam Tsang.
Powered by
You need to be a member of MyCorgi.com to add comments!
Join MyCorgi.com