1 yearr old dog won't potty outside

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About a week ago I adopted from a shelter a 1 year old lab mix. She's a beauty and so sweet! But she refuses to potty outside. Everyone keeps telling me to just take her outside at high risk times (after eating, in the morning, when I get home, before bed...) and to just praise her like crazy when she goes. But she won't go!

Little background: I'm pretty sure she's been beaten. She cringes when I tell her "no." And is very submissive and timid. The first day we had her, the first thing we did was take her to the park. No potty. Then took her home and took her outside. Nothing. Then Bathed her, fed her, and played with her, took her outside and nothing! I figured she was just too excited to go. The next morning I expected a "surprise" when I got up but there was nothing. So we went outside and still nothing. As soon as we came inside she was acting like she wanted to go on my balcony (I live on the 3rd floor of an apt.) so I opened the screen door and went to the kitchen. I look out the window 2 seconds later and she's urinating and defecating on my cement balcony! I didn't yell but sternly said "no." I cleaned the mess as she watched. I stayed with her that day and kept taking her out and nothing. Finally at 10pm she started acting really uncomfortable and we went outside again and she finally pooped! I gave her treats and lots of pets and kisses and happy talk. She didn't pee though and then finally peed inside when I wasn't looking about 10 minutes later.

She's only pooped outside one other time since and I did the praise thing again. She's never peed out there though. The other day I dropped her off at the vet for the day. When I picked her up they said as soon as she got in the kennel she pooped (of course only 15 minutes after she had been outside with me and didn't go). After we leave the vet and are outside she is whining and sniffing and even circling but still won't go. She even looks like she's about to squat but doesn' t. After we get home we went back outside and nothing. I had to leave right away for work and 20 min later my boyfriend comes home and said she had left 4 piles of poop and peed in my room! 4 piles in 20 minutes!

So basically this is the pattern. She won't go in front of us inside but goes as soon as we leave. Refuses to go outside for some reason. I know potty training takes patients but I don't see this getting any better and I can't continue to have her go on my carpet! Thanks in advance for any help.

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Congratulations first of all on your choice for adoption...we need more people like you in the world.

She's probably going through a bunch of different emotions right now...she's in a new home, and if she was abused, she's trying to figure out what the boundries are. Maybe in her old home nobody bothered to take her out at all. Give her some more time...and invest in some carpet shampoo...maybe talk to your vet about it, and definately call the shelter to see if you can get some more history on her. Praise is always a good thing...but even if she was hurt before, you need to (gently but firmly) show her that it's not okay to do doo-doo on the floors (or the balcony).

Think of it as having a puppy...you have to start from scratch.

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Good for you to adopt a dog from a shelter, and I am sure, she'll try
to please you in no time.

The dog was probably trained to go on the balcony or was left alone
for too long and has adopted a habit of doing her business in the house
or the crate.

She's only been a week with you, so have some patience and try to
establish a regular schedule for her. Every morning/noon/evening
go at the same time out with her, put her on a leash and walk her the
same route every day. If she does her business, praise her, if not,
don't bother, and don't go out with her again until it is time for it.
She might go on the carpet again, but keep up the routine and she'll
learn fast. I'm sure she's smart, but is too confused right now, to get
into a new routine quickly.

Good luck with her, you're a good person.

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Also, was she on a leash? At one time, I had a German shepherd, almost perfect in all respects except she wouldn't dump while on a leash. Once I made the connection, we were able to accommodate one another.

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yes she's on a leash. I thought about that too but she would run off at this point if I took her off. She's not trained to stay around yet. I'm thinking of a crate. We just got back from outside. She just won't go. Wants to sniff and play but not poop. Also thining of making a visit to my parents' house. They have a fenced in area in their yard. See if it helps. I'm sure she's really confused.. I'll keep trying all these things though. Thanks for the help. I just want her to go outside so badly!

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Of course she's confused. I think you and she are going to do very well together, though. After a little period of adjustment, I mean. Do bear with her. She's in a whole new world.

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She peed on the carpet again. I took her outside. I fed her. I could even smell her dog toots and she still would not go outside. At about 11pm she pees on the carpet in my room. She was in there for less than a minute. I caught her in the act told her "no" firmly, rushed her outside and she just wanted to play. This would be more understandable if she would go outside some of the time but still have accidents in the house. But she just won't go outside! I'm wondering if this is why she was given up in the first place.

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Good news! Last night, after holding her urine for 48 hours, she peed twice and pooped twice outside! All in the same spot. And by the second time that she needed to go (they were on 4 different occasions) she was standing by the door and lead ME to the spot! So encouraging!

She just took her first heart worm preventative and she's on antibiotics, oh and I found tape worms, so I'm wondering if this is messing with her tummy a little. It's about 10:45am and there have been 2 outtings with no potty yet. She's only ever gone potty outside late at night after holding it all day. I need to get her to understand that it's ok to go everytime she goes outside.

I've been crating her. Everytime I leave, go to sleep, or even go into another room just for a minute I put her in there. She has a fluffy bed and toys and seems to like it. I don't let her out of my site. I figure that way she'll either eliminate in her crate (which isn't likely), or hold it until she HAS to go outside. Soon hopefully she won't hold it longer than she has to anymore.

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That is great news! Keep at it, and good luck!

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Re: 1 yearr old dog won't potty outside
I've just been re-reading your posts about your dog, dancergirl.

I suspect some of the problem stems from this incident ...

dancergirl wrote:

Little background: I'm pretty sure she's been beaten. She cringes when I tell her "no." And is very submissive and timid.

<snip>

As soon as we came inside she was acting like she wanted to go on my balcony (I live on the 3rd floor of an apt.) so I opened the screen door and went to the kitchen. I look out the window 2 seconds later and she's urinating and defecating on my cement balcony! I didn't yell but sternly said "no."

She's a submissive dog, new to you - and got the idea early on that peeing/pooping outside (the balcony) was wrong.

You're working on correcting it, but it takes a while.

I recently heard an interview with Dr. Coren (the dog IQ guy) and he said that mature dogs' I.Q's are in the range of an 18 month old human to three year old human. An immature, anxious, newly moved lab cross is going to be on the lower end of that scale right now.

She'll get there.

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1 yearr old dog won't potty outside

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