Walkies / Weeing and Pooing during Walkies

Hi everyone and Happy New Year!

Bella is now 14 weeks old and for the last week we have been going on walkies. We walk for approx 15 minutes in the morning (about 6:30am) and again for approx 15 minutes in the evening (about 6:00pm). During walks I stop every couple of minutes so that she can have a sniff around in the hope that she will have a wee or a poo but she never does. She wont even wee or poo in the garden, despite me putting down paper taking her out about every half hour for 10 minutes. She just waits until we are back inside so that she can go on her paper.

Do any of you have any tips how I can encourage her to wee or poo outside in the garden or during walkies?

Also, is it best to feed her before or after walks? I feed her a complete dry food twice a day plus treats.

Unfortunately Bella is left alone during the day whilst I am work which I know isnt ideal. The plan was for my parents to be able to look after during the day but they are now having to provide 24 hour care for my grandparents at the moment due to ill health and will be for atleast the next month or so. She doesn't seem to mind being left alone at all, no crying or whining (have checked with neighbours) and she wees and poos on her paper and rarely makes any mess.

Many thanks in advance for you help!

Michael

Take her out as soon as she wakes up in the morning, so she doesn't have a chance to do anything. She doesn't have complete control of her bladder, so if she needs to go, she'll go, even if it's outside. As for getting her to go to the toilet in the garden, that's much easier but requires more patience: stand outside there with her until she does it no matter how long she takes. They usually need to go after playing, waking up or eating, so take her out then and stay out there with her and then give her lots of praise when she does something outside. It'll take a while at first, but once she gets the hang of it, it'll go smoother

Personally, I feed Loki after his walk. I just think it's easier for him to run around on an empty stomach rather than with a belly full of food

It may seem like a lot of hard work, but you just need to stay out their with her until she goes, and when she does give her heaps of crazy happy praise Eventually she will HAVE to go.. My girl was the same, she flat out refused to go on lead or while I watched her, but after a few weeks of persistence and looking like a crazy woman, jumping around saying "Good Girl" blah blah on walks she now has noooo shame and will go straight away when we go out for a pee break or for a walk, both wees and poos She no longer cares who is watching her

If she is only going on the paper have you tried taking the paper outside?

Just a little add on to the above excellent advice. When she does go and you are praising her use "clean girl" rather than good girl, clever girl etc. and you you will eventually achieve the added benefit of her going on command on those horrible winter nights when you don't want to be out too long. I trained my last dog in this way and Bacchus is also getting there.

At 14 weeks old your pup should be getting 3 meals a day. I know your situation isn't ideal, but she really needs somebody to at least pop in during the day to let her in to the garden & give her a lunch. Can you trust a neighbour or friend just to do that?

As already said, when you get up in the morning, throw some old clothes on & take her straight out - don't give her a chance to pee or poo beforehand. Eventually she'll do one & you can praise her!

Personally I always feed Dempsey about an hour after his walk. That way his cardio vascular system has returned to normal & there's less chance of bloat.

Evening everyone, and many thanks for all of your really helpful replies!

Well this evening I took Bella for her evening walk and again she refused to do her business. When we got home I kept her on the lead and stayed in the garden with her for around 45 minutes, staying in one particular area. I was really close to giving in and taking her inside as it was getting cold and I needed a wee myself, but I stood my ground and eventually she had a wee on the paper I put down. Lots of praise followed, I used "clean girl" as suggested above, as did a couple of treats and some fuss, and then I took her inside for her evening meal.

Bella sleeps in the kitchen, she has a crate but the door is only shut when I am cleaning the floor etc. The rest of the time when I am out or have gone to bed she has the whole kitchen to run around. At night time when I go to bed I turn the light off and shut the kitchen door and I can hear her getting in to her crate. On a weekday I get up around 6:00-6:30 and Bella will be lay in her crate chewing her toys, no noise or fuss what so ever. On the weekend when I get up a bit later she will be playing in the kitchen when I come downstairs, but again there is never any noise or fuss. She's really well behaved in that respect. There is always a combination of paper and puppy pads in one corner of the kitchen and she hardly ever goes anywhere else, even during the night. I usually feed her as soon as I get up in the morning / as soon as I get home from work, but will switch to taking her out for a walk first and then feeding her as suggested above. I will carry on putting paper and puppy pads down for her until she no longer needs them and also continue with taking her in to the garden after eating / playing / sleeping etc.

I know leaving Bella alone all day isn't ideal but she doesn't seem to mind at all and she is a very happy little girl. She has lots of fuss and attention, and at evenings and weekends she is with me 90% of the time either playing or cuddling. When I do put her in the kitchen on her own, if I am eating dinner or its not safe to have her out for any reason, she doesn't mind at all. She has lots of toys to chew on and play with, she's finally sussed out what to do with her kong, and I have ordered her some stag bars too.

Thanks again for your help!

Michael

The stag bars are a great idea, and they are a completely natural product, Rocky loves his and has a good chew on it before bedtime, it seems to relax him so he sleeps better.

Try not to feed before walkies or leave a gap of at least 2 hours in between feeding and exercise. We now find that Rocky has a good walk in the morning, a good snooze followed by lunch. He then has a good walk in the afternoon another good snooze then dinner.

Well a further quick update for you all. This evening I took Bella out in to the garden and within about 2 minutes she did a wee. About half hour later I took her outside again and within 30 seconds she did a poo.

Not going to count my chickens before they hatch but really hope that if I keep praising her, using "clean girl" and giving her treats she will carry on.

Thank you all again for the help and advice!

Michael

Bella is doing so well. It's so easy to be worried about puppies' toilets when you read tales of puppies who are perfectly house-trained at 12 weeks old.

In my experience, toilet training is a "sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't" kind of affair, especially when the puppy is so young and cannot hold his/her evacuations for very long. The fact that Bella is doing her stuff on paper would be more than good enough for me at her age. The paper can always be moved gradually by inches towards the garden door and then eventually into the garden itself (this time of year is not ideal for this, but spring is coming!)

She WILL come to the stage when she does a wee or a poo outside, whether on a walk or in the garden, and praise for Bella then will reinforce the idea for her that she has done the right thing. Many pups (mine included) will only poo on grass, so make sure that you include plenty of opportunities for Bella to walk on grass and especially when on that grass, to circle around and around, which is a prelude to pooing.

It'll come - don't worry!