[GeoffC]

Hello all- I apologize if this has been discussed before.

I have a 8 month Mini Dachshund, and potty training outside has been very hard.
The problems is that the only place the dog will go potty in our small backyard on a strip of fake grass. She will not go potty pretty much anywhere else other than that strip of grass.

She has never gone potty when we take her on walks or to parks...and not for lack of trying. We take her on walks often and give her verbal instructions "go potty" when we get to grass areas, to no success. She will hold her potty no matter where we are, until we get back to our house and she can go to the strip of fake grass in our backyard. We have been to parks for 2-3 hours before and she has never gone potty while there. We have never been able to get her to go potty while on a leash one single time. She's has been to our in laws house which has a big back yard full of grass, and she's held her potty for 6+ hours MANY times until she gets home.

Please help

 

[hamandeggs]

Hmm...well, to her the verbal instruction means nothing right now. It sounds like she is convinced that the only safe place to go is the strip of fake grass.

I feel your pain. My dog was 7 months old when we got her, and refused to go to the bathroom on leash at all for several days. We don't have a backyard. It was unpleasant and stressful for everyone. But, we got past it! I think some dogs, especially females, are naturally pee-shy. And I think punishment/aversive/traditional housetraining methods compound the problem for these dogs. Not sure if you tried that sort of thing.

How long have you had her? What methods have you used to housetrain her? Did you ever punish her, yell at her, or scare her for having an accident in front of you? What happens if you take her to the strip of fake grass on a leash?

 

[EdDTS]

Like with feeding a dog, if the dog doesn't want to eat then you take the food away, eventually the dog will eat. A healthy dog will eventually eat.
Take away the strip of grass, eventually she will have to go. Just takes a lot of mental toughness on your part. A healthy dog will eventually have to poop and pee.

Don't make a big deal out of it either. Some dogs really don't like it when the humans make a big deal out of something so small.
I remember seeing on a program a dog that had let itself become dehydrated just because the human was so focused on giving the dog water.

 

[InkedMarie]

Our Brittany was almost five months old when we got her. She went to the breeders backyard with the other dogs, loose. She will be two next month and even now, she won't pee on a regular leash. When we woke, she won't pee, only poop. When we went out for a day, we brought a long line and viola, it worked! Get a long line and try that.