Ernest won't pee outside (or poo)

[ITZ11006]

It's not that he pees all through out my apartment-- he goes on the potty pad that I keep in the same corner at all times. The thing is, he doesn't go pee or poo outside at all. He hasn't once since I adopted him last month. I take him out everyday for walks-- to quiet places away from the busy street that just happens to be right outside of my apartment. I have taken him out for the entire day and he will hold it until he gets home.

How do I get him to go outside?

[pukka]

The problem with him is that he lived at the shelter for at about 5 years. All that
time he was never taken out to potty. When volunteers started to help them out
by taking him for fresh air, they basicly just carry him around because he was
scared of walking.

Best to start is to find out when he goes to poop. Usually that is a few minutes
after his meal. That is the time you take him out.
Every dog has to pee when they wake up. Pick him up and don't let him pee on the
pad.Let him lick on a little water or a little yogurt drink.

Take him outside and see if he pees or not this time.
I hope more people will help you out with suggestions!

One thing I think you are lucky that he goes on the pad as he is very small,small dogs
needs to pee more often than bigger dogs and peeing on the pad is good for during
the day when you are not at home. Though he should learn to do it outside as well.

[Karen]

It sounds like Ernest has found the appropriate place inside (that's pretty darn successful, congrats!) and now he only feels comfortable with that. Poor guy!

When my dog was a pup (not from the shelter) we had some trouble teaching her to go pee, etc., outside after we had paper-trained her indoors (I was super-over-cautious and didn't take her to walk outside until her entire series of puppy shots were finished). I read about some ways to "trick" her into going outside:

Let her drink a lot of chicken soup and then take her outside right after, stay with her until she's done her business, then praise profusely!

We tried that and even brought clean newspaper outside to pee on so she could go on a familiar place (that wasn't so easy, and frankly I know I looked like an obsessive mama :D- but you could try bringing a peepad outside so he knows what you want him to do, or bring a small piece of paper with a few drops of his pee on it, put it down outside and let him smell it so he will (hopefully) instinctively go there...

Once we were walking our dog on a regular schedule outside, though, she switched to outdoor only. We removed all the newspapers from the house and she's been only going outside since (with one hilarious exception of pooping on a copy of "Bushisms").

I read that dogs should be taught to go EITHER on a pad/paper inside OR outdoors only, otherwise some will get confused. That said, I know some people are successful with having pads inside and getting them to go outside, too. But you may have to choose one or the other.

As an aside, when we fostered Jasper from the shelter we had trouble getting him to walk out of the apartment door, let alone do his business outside! It was like he was thinking "I've got a home now and there's no way I'm budging!" It took much longer than 4 weeks to get him feeling confident and comfortable just going outside (not bathroom stuff, just going...). I wonder if Ernest has similar confidence issues? For the record, Jasper found a great mom and his confidence has been building ever since... A lot of the initial issues resolved, it just took time.

Hope that helps!

[ITZ11006]

Thanks for responding to you both. I will try your ideas and see how it goes.

I know I am lucky to have him going in one place on the pee-pads. I just have been getting concerned when I take him out with me... I want him with me when I'm out, but I don't want him to hold it and lead to more health problems. He loves to take walks... he kinda prances when we go fast!

Karen- I actually do take potty pads with me in my bag for when we go out. I whipped one out at Haeundae beach last week! (I live in Busan) Haha. But no luck...

Anyway, I will try the tips you gave me. Thanks a lot to you both!