[creatureandjenna]

Hello! My boyfriend and I recently adopted a 2 year old female hound mix from the shelter. They rescued her from an abusive situation, so she is very timid and scared of mostly everything. We spent the past couple of months going to visit her in the shelter and letting her get to know us and our other dogs before deciding to foster her....we already know we are going to be foster failures. 😂
She's a very sweet dog and is doing great in the house. She's become comfortable enough to play, eat and sleep no problem. She's even made herself at home on our furniture. Our only problem is the potty training.
I've been taking her out on a regular schedule of every 2 hours, plus taking her out 10 minutes after any time she eats or drinks. However, she absolutely will not potty outside, no matter how long we stay out there with her. Yesterday my boyfriend and I spent an hour each walking her around the yard. Then she will come inside and within a few minutes, potty right in front of us in the floor.
I know most of it is just going to take time and patience, but I was wondering if anyone had any tips?
Thanks in advance!

 

[JoanneF]

Rather than taking her out and spending ages outside, I'd try taking her out, if she doesn't toilet, bring her in and keep her on leash, don't take your eyes off her. Stay near the door. If she attempts to toilet, get her straight outside. If she doesn’t try, take her out again after 5 minutes. Repeat until you get the outside toilet.

When she does toilet outside, immediately reward generously, maybe with a special reward that is only used for outside toilets. It has to be immediate to be clear that it's for toileting and not for anything else and it has to be generous to make it worth her while to hold her toilet until she is outside.

 

[Madra Anamchara]

One thing that has worked for me is to take the dog out and not go anywhere more than in about a 10-foot radius until the dog pees. This is to keep the dog from being distracted with all the things that might be in the yard (or on the walk if it is being done that way). I will walk the dog around, but do not go anywhere.

You could also take her out more than once every two hours. And make sure you always reward her for going outside if she does, and never scold or punish her in any way for going indoors.

Another necessary thing is to clean up the area where she has gone in the house very thoroughly with an enzymatic cleaner designed to neutralize dog urine smell. Don't skimp on this, pay the money to get a really good one. Dogs can very easily smell things that we cannot, as you know, so it's imperative that you remove the smell so she is not triggered to go there again by the smell.

Another idea is if she is going on carpet, keep her away from it by shutting her into the kitchen unless you are able to keep your eyes on her all of the time. Most dogs don't choose to go on tile or linoleum unless they absolutely have to.

Finally, if this is frequent urination, you should have her checked for a urinary tract infection.

Best of luck and good for you for taking in this dog.

 

[Curls]

Perhaps she was punished for soiling in the house by her previous owner. Often dogs learn the wrong lesson when they are punished for soiling inside. They think, "Uh oh, mustn't pee when anyone is watching me," instead of "Oops, I'm supposed to pee outside." It then becomes very hard to teach them to pee on leash, as you are always right next to them when they might feel the urge.

How are you dealing with the pee situation inside? Are you using pee pads, or are you just cleaning up the mess each time? Do you have a fenced yard, or are you stuck walking her on leash?

I think I would try setting up a protected potty area outside, one with some permeable screening so she feels secure but can still see that nobody is sneaking up on her. Put some of her poop and the rags you used to clean up one of her messes in her potty area. Add one of her dirty pee pads if you have been using them. Take her to the potty area, move off to the side so you aren't making direct eye contact, and see what she does. Give it multiple tries each day over the course of a week. Immediately reward her heavily, like half or even a whole stick of string cheese broken into smaller pieces, if she does pee.