you could stop the walks for a day and give him opportunities to only go in the yard.

 

This will help you train where to go. Clicker training is great for training to go in a specific place.

 

A friend of mine had the same problem with their rescue dog. They solved it purely by accident by placing a log in their yard. For some reason it got this dog started using this to pee on and eventually do #2 as well!

 

Hello all,

I recently adopted a dog from one of my local rescues. He is 4 years old and is a shitzu/wirehair terrier mix. He is a fantastic dog, which really surprised me because he came from a rescue.

Anyway, the only thing that is kind of bothering me about the dog is the fact that he will not go to the bathroom unless he is on a walk. Now, this isn't that big of a deal right now, but I am from North Dakota, and it is just about winter time. That means that I will not be able to take him for walks when it is -30 degrees outside.

Does anyone have any suggestions to get this problem taken care of?

I don't have any advice for you other than to say that MOST dogs who come from rescue are FANTASTIC and I am not sure why you are surprised.

 

Our previous dog was the same and he was not from a rescue. I could take him to the backyard and he'd do nothing. The only way I could get him housebroken was to take him for walks. I really never did totally solve the problem. I found myself walking in all sorts of inclement weather. On the plus side, though, I actually began to enjoy the walks. We seemed to really bond during those walks. I found that I enjoyed the alone time with just his company. And I got a bit of excercise as well.