# Dog won't go to bathroom outside by herself



## pjbadding (Nov 22, 2011)

Hello,

We have a 8 month old Lab/Viszla pup that is crate trained. We trained her on a leash and now we do not utilize a leash because she stays around very well. 

In the morning we let her out by herself and she just sits at the sliding door and stares back at us and won't take care of nature calling. When we then go outside with her, she will get in the backyard and then "remembers" to take care of nature.

It seems that she is so attached to seeing and being with us that she doesn't remember to do normal things like going to the bathroom and even eating sometimes simply because she wants to be with us.

We don't know how to approach this and get her to be comfortable with being outside by herself. Maybe she needs another friend (dog) in her life, but I don't think we are ready for 2 dogs.

Thanks for your help.


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## acornah (Aug 10, 2011)

My puppy was like that at first also. I think it was partly separation anxiety (just her age, she seemed to grow out of it) and partly that she did not know what was expected of her. For us it was doubly hard because she has to go down a full flight of patio steps to get to her potty spot. I got her to go down on her own by slowly phasing out my going with her. Over the course of a few weeks, it went something like this:

1. Take her down on-leash, she does her business on-leash, we play a minute, and go back inside.
2. Take her down on-leash, remove leash, she does her business, play, go back inside.
3. No leash, she follows me down, does her thing, back inside.
4. No leash, she follows me down but I stop on the last step. She goes forward and does her thing. Back inside.
5. Same thing, but I stop halfway down the stairs.
6. Same thing again, but I stay on the top deck.
7. And gain, but I'm in the doorway with an open door.
8. She goes out, I close the door, and wait for her to come to the door to be let back inside.

Note: I only let her back inside if she wanted to. Sometimes she wanted to run around in the yard for a while. That was fine. I'd go back inside and she got used to playing without me. If I wanted her back in right away, I'd say "cookie?" and deliver when she comes running. She knows what cookie means. Also, I could watch out the window to see what she was doing. Sometimes she goes to the bathroom in the garden instead of the grass, but she's in the ballpark (and still a baby), and I don't need to go with her anymore. Also, during the times when I was outside with her, I'd praise her when she squatted.

I hope this helps!

Edit: I wanted to add that getting a second dog might actually make your problem worse. Shady has no problem going outside by herself, but when she's out with another dog, she's completely distracted. We've had some accidents in the house because she comes back inside without relieving herself. Another tip for when she starts to go out on her own... check her backside when she comes back in, this way you'll know whether or not she has done her business.


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