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My dog just will not go to the toilet while on a leash. I take her out in the morning and 3-4 times during the evening (once before bed). She constantly whines - and when I mention going outside she gets really excited. However, she just will not urinate outside. She instead does it in her kennel while I'm out for the day.

I've recently moved from a house which had a fenced backyard and a few other dogs for her to play with to an apartment with a dog park and many places, including trees, for her to sniff out and use - but it seems nature just isn't running its course here.

When we go outside, she tends to stand or sit right next to me and rarely sniffs around even though there are many 'dog spots' to indicate this is the bathroom. I'm looking for tips on how I can key her in that it's better to go out here than in the place she has to stay for 8 hours a day.

My dog is a 4 year old dachshund.

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  • Could you explain what it is that makes you think it's the leash that's the problem? Was it that she was used the backyard as a toilet in your previous house?
    – starsplusplus
    Mar 13, 2014 at 15:43
  • Well I think it's a combination of me not being with her when she goes potty, the new environment which has more distractions, and the stress of not being with the other dogs. Usually I would just let her out into my backyard with my other dogs where she could run around. I guess I'm not 100% sure the leash is the problem but I don't know how else to train her to use the bathroom outside while I'm with her and she's on a leash.
    – Howdy_McGee
    Mar 13, 2014 at 15:53
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    It's a more remote possibility, but sometimes dogs with bladder infections are hesitant to urinate. If it looks like her going during the day is more of an "accident" or eventuality than a deliberate act, it can't hurt to have it checked out.
    – jonsca
    Mar 14, 2014 at 1:03

3 Answers 3

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This is a difficult situation.

Aside from existing Q&A we have for dogs I don't have a lot to offer.

I would suggest a path using positive reinforcement. Take her outside on the leash in the area you want her to use and stay there until she goes potty. When she does, give lots of positive reinforcement, pet her, give her a treat, etc. It could be a long wait (8 to 12 hours?) so trying to anticipate when her need will be strongest, may help.

Try to keep a positive attitude while you are waiting, you don't want make the trip to the potty place an unpleasant event. She has to go sometime, your goal is to have her be in place that you can reward her for at the correct time.

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My 6 month old Red Nose Pit Bull loves to poop in the house- we started using pads so when she pooped on the carpet I would take a piece of the poop (with a kleenex, of course) then when Sadie got the hands of going on the pad, I would pick up the pad(with the poop still on it and would just keep saying (in a nice way) "potty outside" repeatedly until we got downstairs in the grass(where I wanted her to go) then I would set the poop down in the grass, show her one more time and say "Potty outside" then go back in After a couple of times, she started getting the hang of it

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Sometimes, during training, you just have to out-stubborn the dog, stay out until she has no choice but to go and then praise her. Repeat daily until walks get shorter. Yes, it can mean long walking time, possibly in foul weather, until she gets the idea... but that's what you signed up for when you got a dog.

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