Won't go potty infront of us! - YorkieTalk.com Forums

NewYorker10 · 06-21-2010, 09:03 AM

I've never had a dog like this before, but this is also our first small dog. Nikko basically refuses to pee or poo infront of us. He will hold it for hours, only to make a huge puddle and poo as soon as we leave him. It is making potty training even more difficult than normal! He's using his pee pad and going outside about 50% of the time . . . The other half he'll go on the floor in the hallway a few feet from his pee pad

.

Is there any obvious solution to this that we're missing? He's so unwilling to go infront of us that he'll even hold it until he gets in his play pen for the night and then go in there. Last night we put him in and came back downstairs 5 minutes later to find that he had peed and pooped in there in that short amount of time! He also has a small crate (which he hates) and he'll "go potty" in there too when left for a few hours. . . Yet he'll hold it for long periods if we're with him for extended periods of time (if he's not out of our sight at all).

Also, just to clairify, he has has this problem with refusing to go infront of us from day 1 when we brought him home from the breeder. She used pee pads in her house and I have no idea where this issue with not going infront of people came from. One the (rare) occastion that we do actually see him going, on his pee pad or outside, we praise him like crazy and give him treats.

YorkieProud · 06-21-2010, 09:28 AM

My Emma has never liked to go in front of us. We have had the same issues with her. We had to put her on a set schedule to go potty and not deviate from it at all. When we would take her out, she had on a long retractable lead. This allowed her to go around the corner of the house and obtain some privacy, while we laid in wait on the other side of the house. We also made a point to not pay any attention to her and act like it was no big deal, while she was doing her business. Now, she will go with no problems, but she is still on her schedule. It will take a while, but you should eventually get there with persistence. I hope this helps out.

YorkieProud

EMMA AND DAWSON ARE MY FUR BABIES AND IF MY SKIN BABIES LISTENED HALF AS WELL AS THEY DO, MY HOUSEHOLD WOULD GET ALONG GREAT!!!! LOL!

DvlshAngel985 · 06-21-2010, 09:32 AM

Did you ever hit Nikko when he was really young for accidents? Yell at him? Shove his face in his accidents? Did any one else in your household?

Forgive my questions if they sound insensitive, but that gives everyone a clearer idea as to whether this was a learned behavior or he's just a real shy pooper.

Nancy1999 · 06-21-2010, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewYorker10

I've never had a dog like this before, but this is also our first small dog. Nikko basically refuses to pee or poo infront of us. He will hold it for hours, only to make a huge puddle and poo as soon as we leave him. It is making potty training even more difficult than normal! He's using his pee pad and going outside about 50% of the time . . . The other half he'll go on the floor in the hallway a few feet from his pee pad

.

Is there any obvious solution to this that we're missing? He's so unwilling to go infront of us that he'll even hold it until he gets in his play pen for the night and then go in there. Last night we put him in and came back downstairs 5 minutes later to find that he had peed and pooped in there in that short amount of time! He also has a small crate (which he hates) and he'll "go potty" in there too when left for a few hours. . . Yet he'll hold it for long periods if we're with him for extended periods of time (if he's not out of our sight at all).

Also, just to clairify, he has has this problem with refusing to go infront of us from day 1 when we brought him home from the breeder. She used pee pads in her house and I have no idea where this issue with not going infront of people came from. One the (rare) occastion that we do actually see him going, on his pee pad or outside, we praise him like crazy and give him treats.

I'm a little confused; you say he went in his playpen, that's ok isn't it? While they don't like going in their actual bed, they can go in the playpen. If he's going in his crate, it means that the crate is too big, or you have left him too long. You say he makes the pee pad 50% of the time, how old is he? When training I had several pads out, and he was never too far from a pad. It's not unusual for dogs to want privacy when they relieve themselves; they are feeling vulnerable at this time. I've had grown dogs who while walking would not go, if I were looking, so I just pretended to look away. Sometimes even praising too much can confuse them. For some dogs a simple "good boy," is enough. This sticky has some great tips: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/tra...ebreaking.html

NewYorker10 · 06-21-2010, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DvlshAngel985

Did you ever hit Nikko when he was really young for accidents? Yell at him? Shove his face in his accidents? Did any one else in your household?

Forgive my questions if they sound insensitive, but that gives everyone a clearer idea as to whether this was a learned behavior or he's just a real shy pooper.

That's a fine question to ask. As I had said originally, he has had this issue since day one when we brought him home at 5 1/2 months old. . . I can't speak for his life experiences up to that point. We give him a calm "No" if we catch him going in the wrong spot and bring him to his pee pad. We are aware that it's best not to scold, punish or react to mistakes in an excited or harsh manner.

Maybe a long leash would help outside. He does sometimes go infront of us outside, but sometimes he'll "hide" behind small shrubs to do his business.

DvlshAngel985 · 06-21-2010, 10:00 AM

I wonder if the breeder did. Regardless, try something that will make him comfortable enough to go in the right place. If a long leash outside will make Nikko happy, then try it!

Wylie's Mom · 06-21-2010, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DvlshAngel985

I wonder if the breeder did. Regardless, try something that will make him comfortable enough to go in the right place. If a long leash outside will make Nikko happy, then try it!

This is what I wonder too. I wonder if the breeder was harsh. Dogs can start to associate their version of "shame" with going potty/poo if someone is too harsh with them after their less correct potties.

But NewYorker, you have the right idea in terms of not reacting strongly to incorrect potties, you're already on the right track there!

We're potty training Pfeiffer right now, and when she has a correct potty on the pad - we have a huge "potty party"; we both get down on the floor and just go crazy over her, and then she goes crazy too, and she's so proud.

When she has an less-than-correct potty...we ignore it completely if too late, or we grab her-if there is time-and place her on the pad - then have the potty party, -or- we make an interruptive noise if she is at the end of her incorrect potty, then put her on the pad.

It sounds like your little kiddo just hasn't yet given you the opportunity to have those potty parties...which is too bad. I like your idea of the long leash and think that just might work. And even when he goes outside...I'd act all excited and positive, so he associates going potty with doing "a good job".

NalasMommy · 06-21-2010, 11:03 AM

ya ususally dogs that dont want to go infront of you act like that bc they are scared to. they have been punished in the past of peeing or pooping. they dont know its bc they peed inside they just know they got punished for it. so you have to retrain your dog. lots of praise and treats each time they go. it will take time, but your dog needs to learn that it is ok to go pee infront of you.

NewYorker10 · 06-21-2010, 12:27 PM

I tend to doubt he was "punished" or handled improperly for mistakes, I highly regard my breeder and would recommend them to others. I think the "why" is a little off track and really doesn't matter . . . He's not being punished for mistakes. I'm looking for a way to help work on this now because it's making potty training difficult. While I wish we did, we don't often have time to wait for hours for him to finally "go potty" infront of us. We're working on it as best we can though. Thanks for the suggestions!

Lee B · 06-21-2010, 01:11 PM

Many years ago, I had a German Shepherd who was the same way: he'd never poop in front of us. Pee was OK, but no poop. When I had to take him for walks (as opposed to just opening a door to the back yard), we'd use a long leash and turn our backs, then he'd go. Once, I tried to turn around before he was done, but he was looking over his shoulder and stopped mid-poop

.

Never did find out why he was that way ...

I hope you figure out the answer for your pup.

DvlshAngel985 · 06-21-2010, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewYorker10

I tend to doubt he was "punished" or handled improperly for mistakes, I highly regard my breeder and would recommend them to others. I think the "why" is a little off track and really doesn't matter . . . He's not being punished for mistakes. I'm looking for a way to help work on this now because it's making potty training difficult. While I wish we did, we don't often have time to wait for hours for him to finally "go potty" infront of us. We're working on it as best we can though. Thanks for the suggestions!

It's easier to figure out a way to work with him when you know the why he acts a certain way to then work with him to get past it. It's harder to work with them when you're left speculating. Regardless, try something that will make him comfortable, pressure might scare him further.

shawnzeppi · 06-21-2010, 04:55 PM

Daisy is like that to this day, after 4 years! We never hit her, and only yelled at her when she messed up. But her behavior was so consistent, we had no choice but to close her in a bathroom with the pee pad to do her stuff. That works. It's not convenient at all, but it does work for pee. It used to work for poop, also, but now she will pretty much only do that outside, which is not so bad unless its raining or 100 degrees out.

The conventional thinking that "his/her crate MUST be too large if they are pooping in it" was completely wrong in Daisy's case. It did not matter if we kept her in a big dog's crate or a smaller travel case. WHen we got home from work, she would always be smeared with crap (a terrible mess to have to clean after a hard day at work, we'd have to soak the bottom pan)!

More recently, we have left her in the bathroom (large with a gate so she can see out a window). We leave the radio on too. SHe has good days and bad days. Basically on the weekend she is fine, but on week days she can make an awful mess if she did not poop enough on her AM walk. We find she really needs 2 walks to get her business done in the AM.

One thing that helps is to LIMIT the food in the AM if you are going out. She then either makes no mess or more commonly a much smaller mess. One of the big problems is she does not seem to mind jumping up and down on her poop and making the mess 100X harder to clean up. If she'd just poop in the corner, let alone on the pee pad we always leave for her, it would be easy. But she is a VERY excitable girl, and often stomps in it. SHe does it right at the gate. Its as if she did not do it intentionally, but she gets too excited.

SO if you really need to, I'd recommend closing him in the bathroom and seeing if that works, but be warned you may be stuck with that inconvenient system for the rest of his life if he wont go outside.

Our other Yorkies had no issues at all with going either on the pee pads (by themselves) or outside, pee or poop, so we could let them roam the house while we were out without ever having an issue, but not spazzy ms Daisy.

Mr Gatsby even gets me and paws me until I get up and see the nice pee or poop he did in the middle of the pad, so he can have his cookie

Good Luck

sherile · 06-21-2010, 04:56 PM

Moses was like that when I first got him at 10 months. You could walk him for 1/2 hour, bring him in and as soon as your back was turned, he'd go in the floor. He would not even lift his leg to mark anything on walks, so I don't know what that breeder did. Eventually, I learned to turn my head and not look at him. It still took seemingly forever for him to go, but it is much easier now. I still try not let him see me watching, but we've had him a year now and the change is tremendous.

Belindtch · 06-21-2010, 05:06 PM

Our Alyssa is almost 7 years old and she will not poop in front of anyone. She will pee but with poop it is a whole different story. She now keeps us from watching her by always turning her back to us. I guess she thinks if she can't see us watching her...then we are not watching. She always goes outside to potty...and barks to tell us when she needs to go out.

zekie's mom · 06-21-2010, 06:37 PM

You are probably going to think that I am nuts, but have a little talk with him every day about how going potty is okay and nothing to be ashamed of. Even if he does not understand all you are saying, just your tone of voice can be reassuring. I don't think any of us know just how much these dogs understand, but I think it is a whole lot more than we give them credit for.

06-21-2010, 09:03 AM	#1
NewYorker10 Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NY Posts: 58	Won't go potty infront of us! I've never had a dog like this before, but this is also our first small dog. Nikko basically refuses to pee or poo infront of us. He will hold it for hours, only to make a huge puddle and poo as soon as we leave him. It is making potty training even more difficult than normal! He's using his pee pad and going outside about 50% of the time . . . The other half he'll go on the floor in the hallway a few feet from his pee pad . Is there any obvious solution to this that we're missing? He's so unwilling to go infront of us that he'll even hold it until he gets in his play pen for the night and then go in there. Last night we put him in and came back downstairs 5 minutes later to find that he had peed and pooped in there in that short amount of time! He also has a small crate (which he hates) and he'll "go potty" in there too when left for a few hours. . . Yet he'll hold it for long periods if we're with him for extended periods of time (if he's not out of our sight at all). Also, just to clairify, he has has this problem with refusing to go infront of us from day 1 when we brought him home from the breeder. She used pee pads in her house and I have no idea where this issue with not going infront of people came from. One the (rare) occastion that we do actually see him going, on his pee pad or outside, we praise him like crazy and give him treats.

06-21-2010, 09:32 AM	#3
DvlshAngel985 Donating YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Los Angeles, California, USA Posts: 12,693	Did you ever hit Nikko when he was really young for accidents? Yell at him? Shove his face in his accidents? Did any one else in your household? Forgive my questions if they sound insensitive, but that gives everyone a clearer idea as to whether this was a learned behavior or he's just a real shy pooper. __________________ Littlest JakJak We miss you Kaji

06-21-2010, 10:00 AM	#6
DvlshAngel985 Donating YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Los Angeles, California, USA Posts: 12,693	I wonder if the breeder did. Regardless, try something that will make him comfortable enough to go in the right place. If a long leash outside will make Nikko happy, then try it! __________________ Littlest JakJak We miss you Kaji

06-21-2010, 01:11 PM	#10
Lee B YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Land O' Lakes, FL Posts: 735	Many years ago, I had a German Shepherd who was the same way: he'd never poop in front of us. Pee was OK, but no poop. When I had to take him for walks (as opposed to just opening a door to the back yard), we'd use a long leash and turn our backs, then he'd go. Once, I tried to turn around before he was done, but he was looking over his shoulder and stopped mid-poop . Never did find out why he was that way ... I hope you figure out the answer for your pup. Last edited by Lee B; 06-21-2010 at 01:13 PM.

06-21-2010, 05:06 PM	#14
Belindtch Donating Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Rossville, Georgia Posts: 972	Our Alyssa is almost 7 years old and she will not poop in front of anyone. She will pee but with poop it is a whole different story. She now keeps us from watching her by always turning her back to us. I guess she thinks if she can't see us watching her...then we are not watching. She always goes outside to potty...and barks to tell us when she needs to go out. __________________ Belinda and my furbabies, Alyssa , Emily Kate , and Lucy Lucy Dexter

06-21-2010, 09:28 AM	#2
YorkieProud Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2010 Location: North Carolina Posts: 206 Blog Entries: 6	My Emma has never liked to go in front of us. We have had the same issues with her. We had to put her on a set schedule to go potty and not deviate from it at all. When we would take her out, she had on a long retractable lead. This allowed her to go around the corner of the house and obtain some privacy, while we laid in wait on the other side of the house. We also made a point to not pay any attention to her and act like it was no big deal, while she was doing her business. Now, she will go with no problems, but she is still on her schedule. It will take a while, but you should eventually get there with persistence. I hope this helps out. YorkieProud EMMA AND DAWSON ARE MY FUR BABIES AND IF MY SKIN BABIES LISTENED HALF AS WELL AS THEY DO, MY HOUSEHOLD WOULD GET ALONG GREAT!!!! LOL!

06-21-2010, 11:03 AM	#8
NalasMommy Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Kent, WA, USA Posts: 110	ya ususally dogs that dont want to go infront of you act like that bc they are scared to. they have been punished in the past of peeing or pooping. they dont know its bc they peed inside they just know they got punished for it. so you have to retrain your dog. lots of praise and treats each time they go. it will take time, but your dog needs to learn that it is ok to go pee infront of you.

06-21-2010, 12:27 PM	#9
NewYorker10 Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NY Posts: 58	I tend to doubt he was "punished" or handled improperly for mistakes, I highly regard my breeder and would recommend them to others. I think the "why" is a little off track and really doesn't matter . . . He's not being punished for mistakes. I'm looking for a way to help work on this now because it's making potty training difficult. While I wish we did, we don't often have time to wait for hours for him to finally "go potty" infront of us. We're working on it as best we can though. Thanks for the suggestions!

06-21-2010, 04:55 PM	#12
shawnzeppi YT Addict Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Springfield, va Posts: 457	Daisy is like that to this day, after 4 years! We never hit her, and only yelled at her when she messed up. But her behavior was so consistent, we had no choice but to close her in a bathroom with the pee pad to do her stuff. That works. It's not convenient at all, but it does work for pee. It used to work for poop, also, but now she will pretty much only do that outside, which is not so bad unless its raining or 100 degrees out. The conventional thinking that "his/her crate MUST be too large if they are pooping in it" was completely wrong in Daisy's case. It did not matter if we kept her in a big dog's crate or a smaller travel case. WHen we got home from work, she would always be smeared with crap (a terrible mess to have to clean after a hard day at work, we'd have to soak the bottom pan)! More recently, we have left her in the bathroom (large with a gate so she can see out a window). We leave the radio on too. SHe has good days and bad days. Basically on the weekend she is fine, but on week days she can make an awful mess if she did not poop enough on her AM walk. We find she really needs 2 walks to get her business done in the AM. One thing that helps is to LIMIT the food in the AM if you are going out. She then either makes no mess or more commonly a much smaller mess. One of the big problems is she does not seem to mind jumping up and down on her poop and making the mess 100X harder to clean up. If she'd just poop in the corner, let alone on the pee pad we always leave for her, it would be easy. But she is a VERY excitable girl, and often stomps in it. SHe does it right at the gate. Its as if she did not do it intentionally, but she gets too excited. SO if you really need to, I'd recommend closing him in the bathroom and seeing if that works, but be warned you may be stuck with that inconvenient system for the rest of his life if he wont go outside. Our other Yorkies had no issues at all with going either on the pee pads (by themselves) or outside, pee or poop, so we could let them roam the house while we were out without ever having an issue, but not spazzy ms Daisy. Mr Gatsby even gets me and paws me until I get up and see the nice pee or poop he did in the middle of the pad, so he can have his cookie Good Luck

06-21-2010, 04:56 PM	#13
sherile Yorkie Yakker Join Date: May 2009 Location: Pewee Valley, KY Posts: 48	Moses was like that when I first got him at 10 months. You could walk him for 1/2 hour, bring him in and as soon as your back was turned, he'd go in the floor. He would not even lift his leg to mark anything on walks, so I don't know what that breeder did. Eventually, I learned to turn my head and not look at him. It still took seemingly forever for him to go, but it is much easier now. I still try not let him see me watching, but we've had him a year now and the change is tremendous.

06-21-2010, 06:37 PM	#15
zekie's mom YT Addict Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: PA & FL Posts: 403	You are probably going to think that I am nuts, but have a little talk with him every day about how going potty is okay and nothing to be ashamed of. Even if he does not understand all you are saying, just your tone of voice can be reassuring. I don't think any of us know just how much these dogs understand, but I think it is a whole lot more than we give them credit for.