[Fishman899]

Hi,

We recently rescued a 15 week old lab/hound mix. She is great in every way but we cannot get her to use the bathroom outside. She constantly goes pee/poop in her crate or in the corner of the living room. We clap and tell her no and immediately take her outside whenever we catch her doing this. We have spent many hours outside with her after feeding her waiting for her to go outside so we can reward her but she seems to hold it in and go as soon as she gets back inside. Any advice on how to train her to use the bathroom outside would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!!

 

[Shell]

She may have been punished for potty inside and associated that with pottying in front of a human. Clapping or something noisy may seem harmless to you but might be startling her enough to make her try to "hide" her potty from you.

But she also may simply just be only 15 weeks and have the normal limited control of her bodily functions at that age. Many dogs at that age don't really have the neurological connections formed yet to tell their brain it is time to go until the very last moment of when their body has to go. Crating usually helps a lot by reducing activity and using the natural desire to not soil the sleeping area, but once a dog starts consistently pottying in a crate it does make it a more difficult task.

Clean everything where she has pottied very well with an enzyme cleaner like Nature's Miracle or a white vinegar/water 50/50 mix. Whatever is suitable for the surface. Take her out on a schedule--- after eating, after playing, immediately upon waking in the morning or from a nap. If she doesn't potty after 10 or so minutes outside, go back in and crate her for 10 minutes or so and then go back outside. Repeat.

Do not clap, do not tell her No if she starts to potty inside. Just kind of calmly distract her, maybe a light "la la la" or just touch her side or neck and then rush her outside. You may need to let her have some space in order to potty outside so if you have a fenced yard, let her roam a bit and if you don't have a fenced yard, you might try a very lightweight long line.

 

[Fishman899]

Thank you for the response!

I took her out this morning right out of her crate (which she did not pee/poop in overnight for the first time-progress??) and she did potty outside and was thoroughly praised and rewarded with a treat. i then fed her and took her out again before i left for work and she would not go. I took your advice and crated her when we went back inside for probably 15 minutes then took her out again and she went outside again! and again, was thoroughly praised and rewarded. although she does not seem that motivated by treats as other dogs that i have known. we can put a treat on the ground right in front of her and sometimes she wont touch it, other times she will pick it up but not eat it and then spit it out. and then other times she eats it... we also put bells on our door and are trying to train her to ring the bell when she needs to go potty. of course when my girlfriend came home on her lunch to walk her and let her out she had gone in the crate again. (she was in there probably 3 hours or less). I know she is young and these things will take time but i really want to get her to stop going in her crate. But going potty outside twice in a day is a record for her so far so hopefully she is making progress

 

[icollamati19]

I had a similar case with my German Shepherd when we first got her (though she was almost 2 years old so I'm not sure how much it applies), we would take her out for hours and she would do nothing until she came back in and went behind the couch. We started using a very long, light line as opposed to our normal 6ft leash and it made a huge difference. Before coming to our house, she was a completely outdoor dog with no leash experience whatsoever. We think it was either how close we were standing with the shorter leash or just the concept of having one that made her reluctant to go. I still use the long line occasionally since it's the next best thing to off-leash but we were able to introduce her to an 8ft and then 6ft leash after time. Not sure if this will help, but I hope it does!