[Lannguyen0508]

I have a 5-year-old dachshund. Before, my husband and I took her on walks once a day everyday and she would pee and poo on the walk. During the day if she needs to go again she would go in the garden.

We're on a lockdown now in Vietnam and not allowed to leave the house unless for essential reasons (you can get fined otherwise). So, we can't take her out for walks anymore. She protested by refusing to poo in the garden for 4 days (yes, 4 days) even though we tried everything to encourage her. She finally gave in, but I know she's a ridiculously stubborn dog.

The last 2 weeks of lockdown have been fine. She was accepting not going outside (whenever she does her business in the garden we always gave her lots of praise and rewarded her with her ball - which she loves). But now it has been raining for the last couple of days and she refuses to go out to the garden cause she hates wet yard/ lawn (I don't know how we ended up with such a princess dog). As a result, she hasn't peed or pooped for over 2 days now even though she's still eating and drinking. We've tried everything we could think of (we even have a toilet tray indoor for her so she doesn't have to go out if she doesn't want to) but nothing works. We're getting worried now but taking her to the vet is not an option either cause most vets are closed.

I'm getting so close to losing my patience over her stubbornness. What can I do?? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[DaySleepers]

Is it possible to call one of the few open vets and see if they can give you advice over the phone, even if they're not in your area? Given the situation they may be more willing to guide you through things remotely if possible.

Another option that might be a little messy would be to cut out a little chunk of grass/lawn and bring it inside for the tray. It can dry out a bit in your house and then she may be more inclined to pee on a familiar, grassy surface. I'd also confine her to a smaller area that includes the potty tray, so you can be absolutely sure she's not sneaking off to pee somewhere you haven't found yet. But I'd definitely still suggest trying to call an open vet in case there's options they can offer that you're not aware of. The worse they can do is say they can't help you.

 

[parus]

I'd also suggest, if you haven't already, transferring a sample of urine from letting her pee outside to where you want her to pee indoors. Dogs are more likely to mark an area that has already been marked.