My Dog Won’t Go Potty!!!
During the potty training process or even long after a dog is potty trained, people sometimes end up with the problem of their dog taking what seems like ages to go potty when taken outside. This can be especially frustrating when living in an apartment or when you really want to go to bed or are late for work. Why does this happen and how do you stop it?
While there could be other reasons, this most often happens because the dog has associated going potty with the end of a good time or the dog simply has too many other fun things to explore. Unintentionally, people create this association after many repetitions of taking their dog out and then dragging their dog back indoors right after it goes to the bathroom. Eventually, the dog figures out that the longer he delays the inevitable, the more fun he will have. Maybe it started with walking the dog once around the apartment building and he went potty. As soon as he pottied, you went inside. A few weeks later, one time didn’t do it, it was two times around, then three….disaster.
This can also happen because there are too many distractions and the dog is not thinking about going potty, it is too busy looking at the 1,000 things as it walks. Either way, this is a problem. What do you do??
4 Steps for Potty Training Dogs
Step 1: Setup Success
At this point, you need to change the dog’s association with potty and end of fun. To do that, try to set yourself up for success. At a time you know your dog really has to go, take him out. To improve your odds, feed 20 minutes before, so you really know your dog has to go.
Step 2: Make it Boring
Select an area around where you live that is the most boring grassy area you can find. When you have set yourself up for success, take your dog to the area and make yourself as boring as you possibly can. Keep the dog restricted on a line to a circle that is big enough to give him some room to sniff about and potty, but not so much that there are a lot of options to distract. The first time out, be prepared to be patient and wait him out.
Step 3: Add A Word
When your dog finally does go potty, add a word to it and repeat it as the dog is going potty. “Good Potty!”
Step 3: Have a Party
As soon as your dog is done, have the biggest party ever. Food, toy, the whole 9 yards.
Step 4: Now go for a walk
Now take your dog for a nice walk and if he happens to go potty again on the walk, just make sure to have another party and keep walking for another few minutes before heading back in the direction of home.
Once you see that your dog is starting to go potty faster and faster in anticipation of getting good things to happen, just make sure not to slide back into old habits! Just make sure to continue to make sure that potty time comes first as the boring job that must be done, and the fun is after!
Contact us today for free consultation. Not sure what your dog needs or if he’s a good fit for dog training? Cosmic Canine offers free consultations, during which a trainer will assess your dog and help you decide what classes will work best for him.
