Why won't my dog wee/ poo in the garden !!

[Polos Mum]

Short story -
Lab x 6 years old, always been a bit painful (! details below) has to stay on a lead in the garden but won't wee/ poo until I take him out. Getting silly now, I let them out this morning at 6.30am (he has a lunge line tied to fence so some space to wander around in the garden) at 8.30 I took them out to the barn to sort horses and as soon as we got out of the garden he did a huge wee, absolutely deporate then immediately a poo - he'd been outside for 2 hours and not gone ! - any ideas?
He gets walked on a lunge line twice a day(ish) but sometime not for long as he's not good on the lead

Long story -
He's a rescue - stray from Ireland, crossed with something terrier ish so he chases and runs off all the time,
We have had him since he was six months old
he's an amazing escape artist (seen him go over 6 foot panel fence!) and we live on a main road so he just can't be loose other than a few minutes when walked by my husband who can get him to come back if playing fetch.
He's very clever, probably could be recall trained but with the road (I have chased him down it once already at night and not an experience I think we'd walk away from twice!) I can't risk letting him off
He lives with our older collie (also a rescue) who's pretty perfect and has the run of our 12 acres
He's getting increasingly terrororial - to the point I have to feed him outside as he will wee next to his food bowl as soon as he's finished EVERY time !
He hates getting his feet wet/ going out in the rain - so if I let him outside in the rain he'll hide by the back door then poo in the house as soon as I let him in! - But he loves water to swim in!
He barks constantly at neighbours dog and our collie

TBH he's not 100% house trained as he just goes where he feels like it - not really sure there is much I can do about it at this stage.

I worry/ suspect that with lots of one to one consistant training he could be more family friendly - but with 2 kids under 3, 3 horses at home, and two full time jobs between me and OH we have to be realistic about what time we have
We had a trainer in after we'd had him about 6 months who thought he was really clever and with 2/3 hours of training every day - he should be recall/ toilet/ trick trained in just a few months !

My OH and I realise he's unhappy and doesn't have the greatest life - his suggestion is that we just risk letting him run loose and accept the consequenses of him getting on the road (which he will the first time a rabbit runs under the fence!) I'm not sure I can do this.

 

[Fools Motto]

I'm not really good at suggesting anything good, but first thoughts were, if he was territorial, get a friend with another male dog to come to your garden , and he should mark it, so your dog has to over mark him (male thing?) and hey presto, he at least May wee!!

 

[SadKen]

My big lad will NOT wee on concrete, only on grass. My little one will wee on concrete, but only on an old doormat. I think he doesn't like splashback! As above, I think it would help if you could get him to go in a particular place. Can you collect up any poos he does and put them in a corner of your garden? Get him to pee on something and put that in the garden in the place you want him to go? Get OH to pee in a corner of the garden and see if he'll mark over that!

How about getting some security fencing and fencing off a portion of your land to make a run for him? (I know it won't look pretty but it should keep him in, and he's loose to wee then).

Or get a slightly shorter, lighter lead and attach to a line which is fixed above him, so he can run up and down it without feeling the weight of the lead?

I know this will be terribly non-pc and I'm not recommending it, but my grandad used to tie the collies in training to the experienced collie, and experienced collie would then show them where they could and could not go!

Re the trainer - I would get a new one as a few months to teach this kind of thing sounds a bit excessive. Even puppies usually get it in a few weeks max. Maybe worth trying with another behaviourist? Does the rescue you got him from offer any support?

I wouldn't let him loose if you can't trust him - there was a thread a couple of weeks ago about the distress caused to drivers witnessing/hitting a dog on the road, and it's heartbreaking. I also don't think that his life with you sounds bad at all - I think he's a lucky boy. You just need him to fit into your life a bit better, but most dogs are really adaptable and I'm sure this can be done.

 

[cobmum]

My dog was exactly the same only when he hit his twilight years wouldn't poo in the garden, he would get to the end of the drive way and let it all go! To be honest we didn't mind as he had four walks a day anyway!

 

[minimex2]

Our 3yr old cocker is the same. He will only wee in garden if desperate. Never poo. He has 2 good walks a day so its not a problem unless it bad weather and we dont want to be out for hours. Ours also doesnt eat his breakfast until he's had a walk - few days weve deferred his walk till about 10am - hoping the weather lightens up and his breakfast has been down since 7. At least it saves our garden!

 

[Highlands]

I wonder if he has been tied up or left in a small area and not create mess he went when he could or maybe he was kennelled?

 

[Polos Mum]

Thanks all, Nice to know he's not the only one - but it must be so uncomfortable bursting to go for 2 hours and not going! The lunge line is 10m so he's got half a 20m circle, some on paving slabs and some on grass.

I'll try OH weeing out there (easier than finding a male dog to call in all the time - as I guess the sent wont last that long)
Maybe we'll try another behaviourist
We do let him loose in our barn (gates on either end and 100's of mice to keep his attention) but I wouldn't leave him in there (he'd easily get over 5 bar gate)and he's usually too busy racing about to wee in there.

 

[pippixox]

i have had this issue with my dog- he is not a huge escape artist but can jump quite high and our fencing in the garden has been broken since we got him in october as a 2yo rescue (not his fault- very old fencing and still waiting for landlady to confirm she will give us money to fix it!) so not very safe to let him off! also near main road.
i was told to praise him while on walks for wee and poo, and then transfer this to the garden. so on all my walks i would praise and treat for doing his business. felt a bit silly, saying 'wee wee good boy'! but thought worth a try. the other day he was desperate to go out, so i let him out on lead and said, go do your wee wee, and he finally did a wee and poo! i think it was a mixture of him being so desperate, and also he knew i was saying it was ok to wee there as he had learned what wee wee meant. i think he used to think the garden was like an extension of the house so he shouldn't wee there.

 

[Meems]

My dog was exactly the same only when he hit his twilight years wouldn't poo in the garden, he would get to the end of the drive way and let it all go! To be honest we didn't mind as he had four walks a day anyway!

Ahhh bless him, he didn't want to ***** on his own doorstep, or rather garden!

My dog will wee in the garden first thing in the morning but refuses to at night. So I always have to take her out for a walk for her last wee, sometimes we only have to go a few metres up the road and she does her business, but it would be so much easier just to open the back door and let her out. Unless a fox comes into the garden during the night, then she barks like mad until I come downstairs to let her out, and then she has absolutely no problems weeing all round the garden!

Dogs, you've got to love them!