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Hello - My girlfriend and I are pulling our hair out trying to help an adorable little rescue terrier mix we've named Phoebe. The rescue agency definitely left a lot out of her description. I am not the type of person to window shop an animal and return something that isn't perfect cuz I am far from that myself. The vet labeled her level 2 timid, but of course no one can tell me what that means. She had a tiny bit of fear aggression the first week, but now it is just fear. The first 2 days we got her she would not go potty period, then she had a few accidents in the house so we started laying down potty pads in the areas where she had the accidents. The good news is she has been going on the pads, but the bad news is if we move the pads she is really just going in the "spot" -----She has gone pee, and poop 1 time each outside but neither my girlfriend or I can tell why...The general pattern is she will hold the pee and poop for hours and hours and then at night when we turn the lights out in our bedroom she will go.....Or downstairs as soon as we leave the room......
1 - What we are doing - We are taking her on short walks in front our our home (in the place she did actually pee that once) so as to not scare her with unfamiliar surroundings. We have treats in case she goes but she really refuses to take anything from our hand anyway so it will be hard to shower her with treats and praise. We have tried both walking back and forth in the area (where we have also taken potty pads and smeared her pee, and a couple of pieces of her poop) and sitting on a stoop and letting her walk freely for an hour or so...We have taken potty pads out to that same area. We have tried days with many walks, and days limiting the walks.
2 - What we are not doing - we haven't been locking her in her crate throughout the day or night (mainly because we have a teenager that is home for many hours during the day and we were afraid that would feel more like a punishment seeing people walking around while she is locked up).
In spite of her fear of people she is a sweet dog and we really feel like she will warm up to us given plenty of time, but I am at my wit's end with the potty thing..I mean I was outside with her for and hour and a half the other night and she did nothing but as soon as we came in I took the leash off, went to the bathroom myself, and boom she had gone....I have never had such difficulty potty training a dog before and I am at a loss trying to figure out how to turn it around, especially because as I said we tried slowly moving the potty pads closer to the door and she went in the old space where the pads were and where she had that first accident.
Help me Doggie-Wan Kenobies you are my only hope. Dino
1 - What we are doing - We are taking her on short walks in front our our home (in the place she did actually pee that once) so as to not scare her with unfamiliar surroundings. We have treats in case she goes but she really refuses to take anything from our hand anyway so it will be hard to shower her with treats and praise. We have tried both walking back and forth in the area (where we have also taken potty pads and smeared her pee, and a couple of pieces of her poop) and sitting on a stoop and letting her walk freely for an hour or so...We have taken potty pads out to that same area. We have tried days with many walks, and days limiting the walks.
2 - What we are not doing - we haven't been locking her in her crate throughout the day or night (mainly because we have a teenager that is home for many hours during the day and we were afraid that would feel more like a punishment seeing people walking around while she is locked up).
In spite of her fear of people she is a sweet dog and we really feel like she will warm up to us given plenty of time, but I am at my wit's end with the potty thing..I mean I was outside with her for and hour and a half the other night and she did nothing but as soon as we came in I took the leash off, went to the bathroom myself, and boom she had gone....I have never had such difficulty potty training a dog before and I am at a loss trying to figure out how to turn it around, especially because as I said we tried slowly moving the potty pads closer to the door and she went in the old space where the pads were and where she had that first accident.
Help me Doggie-Wan Kenobies you are my only hope. Dino