I've had my almost-2-year-old black lab for almost 4 months now - adopted her from my girlfriend. And about 2 months ago, I discovered that she refuses to go to the bathroom in my yard. I own a townhouse, so I don't have the luxury of a fence unfortunately.
It's not a physical problem - she used to do #1 and #2 three times a day, every day, back when I used to walk her all the time when it was warm. And she'll still go instantly if I walk her for 30 seconds in any direction away from my property. She just refuses to go in the yard. I originally started trying to train her to do it exactly for times like this, when it's single digit highs for 10 days in a row - I'm not always going to feel like actually taking a walk just for her to relieve herself.
Rewards for going in the yard and punishments for not going have had ZERO effect. When she does go, it means praise, a treat, and an actual walk - her favorite thing. When she doesn't, she gets a stern reprimanding and then goes in the laundry room and stays there until our next attempt. She still refuses to go until she absolutely has to. And she can hold it for a *long* time - her record is 60 hours. I give her ample opportunity - once it's been 24 hours since her last time, I usually take her out every 6 hours. But she usually won't go until it's been at least 36 hours.
I'm at my wit's end. I just don't understand how - rewards/punishments aside - an animal can resist the natural urge to go for so long. It's obviously some type of mental/psychological thing. I briefly considered her not wanting to go so close to the house (a la not going in a crate) but my girlfriend has a fenced back yard (and it's smaller than mine) and she never had problems going there. And the fact that she's still exhibiting the same behavior after 2 months is frustrating.
Any ideas or tips are gratefully welcomed and appreciated.
Thank you.
It's not a physical problem - she used to do #1 and #2 three times a day, every day, back when I used to walk her all the time when it was warm. And she'll still go instantly if I walk her for 30 seconds in any direction away from my property. She just refuses to go in the yard. I originally started trying to train her to do it exactly for times like this, when it's single digit highs for 10 days in a row - I'm not always going to feel like actually taking a walk just for her to relieve herself.
Rewards for going in the yard and punishments for not going have had ZERO effect. When she does go, it means praise, a treat, and an actual walk - her favorite thing. When she doesn't, she gets a stern reprimanding and then goes in the laundry room and stays there until our next attempt. She still refuses to go until she absolutely has to. And she can hold it for a *long* time - her record is 60 hours. I give her ample opportunity - once it's been 24 hours since her last time, I usually take her out every 6 hours. But she usually won't go until it's been at least 36 hours.
I'm at my wit's end. I just don't understand how - rewards/punishments aside - an animal can resist the natural urge to go for so long. It's obviously some type of mental/psychological thing. I briefly considered her not wanting to go so close to the house (a la not going in a crate) but my girlfriend has a fenced back yard (and it's smaller than mine) and she never had problems going there. And the fact that she's still exhibiting the same behavior after 2 months is frustrating.
Any ideas or tips are gratefully welcomed and appreciated.
Thank you.