# Human urine didn't work



## peaceablegarden (Mar 4, 2012)

I had posted in a previous thread that I was looking for bottled dog urine as it was the only thing that seems to get my Hugo (3 y/o, rescue, Brussels Griffon mix) to go potty in the yard. At the great suggestion of another member, I tried my own urine which worked for about 4 days and then stopped. Waiting a week or two and tried again, still no go. Grrrrr.

Here's where I am. Have been working very hard at trying to get Hugo to potty on command. He refuses to go in our yard and during bad storms makes this dangerous for us both to go for a walk which is where he wants to go.

I've gone back to puppy training techniques several times. Keeping him in yard and bringing him out and in many times until he goes. The problem - this dog has the bladder the size of Lake Superior. He has held it up to 16 hours with seemingly no problem. I didn't wait him out after that and let him go where he wanted.

I've been working with him very hard on leash behavior. Using 'get busy' for going to the side of the road or where ever to go potty. I wait til he's done then reward. We've been at this for two weeks. He seems to get it (though it can still take him 20-30 min to poo, but will not perform 'get busy' behavior in the yard. So trying to teach him to go on command doesn't seem to be working.

Back to my orginal thoughts about this guy. He will pee and poo instantly with other dog's smells to cue him. I took him to a well-known and heavily used dog walking spot today. He wasn't out of the car for more than 3-minutes and he peed 4 times and pooed. 

I've used high value treats and used his walk for motivation, but to make this even more difficult, he is not very motivated by treats or praise. I've also tried the making something desireable method to create a motivating item, but to no avail. Even treats he seems to really like, if he doesn't want to do it, he will walk away. 

I'm at a loss for making this work. We really need to teach him to at least pee in the yard. In the winter with major storms and ice and snow on the roads and our hilly driveway it is dangerous for us to be out walking. We both love to walk and enjoy our walks but some days we need to stay in the yard and get business done quickly.

Thanks for the help in advance.
Karen and Hugo.


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## HollowHeaven (Feb 5, 2012)

Do your neighbors have any dogs or do you have friends with dogs? Maybe ask one of them to walk their dog (their vaccinated dog) around in your yard and ask them to potty -weird as that sounds.
Take him to those spots, if he goes, super praise and treat and awesome times. 

Hmm... but I guess you would have to do that every day wouldn't you.


Maybe someone else has a better suggestion Dx


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## peaceablegarden (Mar 4, 2012)

Yes, I have a neighbor with an inside yapper who uses pads. Other friends with dogs who live elsewhere so it makes it problematic to get others to use our lawn.


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## BernerMax (Mar 15, 2013)

peaceablegarden said:


> Yes, I have a neighbor with an inside yapper who uses pads. Other friends with dogs who live elsewhere so it makes it problematic to get others to use our lawn.


 SO, you have a source for used pads! Acquire some and bury around where you need him to go.... Maybe in this case you DONT pick up the poo and leave some to "cue" him as well....


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## peaceablegarden (Mar 4, 2012)

Good thought! Thanks. Though not sure if I'm hip to digging pee-pee pads out of my neighbor's garbage and then digging up my yard and burying pads then re-digging them up to dispose of for weeks on end. As I've seen, one smell wears off quickly with him. 4 days obviously isn't enough with this guy who isn't motivated by high value treats, praise, or even my patented 'hooray, let's be joyful, crazy, happy potty dance.' So I think the problem is the smell needs to be a constant AND varying for a long period of time to make up for his lack of motivation. I think that like with my own urine, he'll get tired of that dog's smell which was why my other post was looking for sources of bottled dog urine. I thought about enlisting my local doggy day care, but I'm sure they've got better things to do than catch dogs urinating. Maybe my question is better how or what can I find that will be a bigger motivator for Hugo than another dog's scent?


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## BernerMax (Mar 15, 2013)

peaceablegarden said:


> Good thought! Thanks. Though not sure if I'm hip to digging pee-pee pads out of my neighbor's garbage and then digging up my yard and burying pads then re-digging them up to dispose of for weeks on end. As I've seen, one smell wears off quickly with him. 4 days obviously isn't enough with this guy who isn't motivated by high value treats, praise, or even my patented 'hooray, let's be joyful, crazy, happy potty dance.' So I think the problem is the smell needs to be a constant AND varying for a long period of time to make up for his lack of motivation. I think that like with my own urine, he'll get tired of that dog's smell which was why my other post was looking for sources of bottled dog urine. I thought about enlisting my local doggy day care, but I'm sure they've got better things to do than catch dogs urinating. Maybe my question is better how or what can I find that will be a bigger motivator for Hugo than another dog's scent?


 Just repetition I think, hopefully he will get the routine down and go on his own eventually... As for different dog pee smells-- just see if the doggy daycare has used pee pads from different dogs (or distribute you own)...


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## sharpei (Mar 15, 2013)

man i could corner the market on bottled dog urine, my dogs have had so many uti's I have become pro at snagging samples, now just to market it....

as for the human urine it doesnt smell like dog urine so thats a confusing signal at best.

as for pee pads just ask your neighbors to bag a few up for you, and you can set them in your yard with a rock on em to keep em from blowing away. one of my friends used the quick snatch method he taped a string to the pee pad so if he got lucky enough where the dog was attempting to pee on the pad without standing on it he could yank the pad away and let the urine hit the ground, thus putting the urine where he wanted it. the dogs always seem to turn and inspect their work after peeing so his dog quickly got used to the smell of his own urine on the ground. he was having trouble weening his dog off the pads but I don't see why you couldn't do similar in your situation.

you do need to find a high value reward for going outside, if food isn't his primary motivator find something that is if he loves to play tug bring his tug toy with you and when he does potty out side as soon as he is finished (i'm talking within three seconds) get him going in a game of tug. or if he loves to chase the thrown ball, the second he finishes peeing outside throw the ball for him after using a marker like a clicker or marker word. you definitely need to find rewards to suit him. I am struggeling myself with one of my rescues finding the appropriate reward for her, but some times it can be just as simple as you go for a walk after pottying. just dont give up.

also to help with potty house training (dont know if this has been pointed out) but NEVER ever punish for accidents or yell to startle the dog is you catch them going in side, just let them finish, because they quickly learn its bad to go in front of you so will often refuse to go outside without some other motivation like another dogs scent to cover.

overall I am not a huge fan of pee pads just because the textural similarities to many objects found in the house can lead the dogs to peeing inappropriatly on things that feel similar when they are standing on them.


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

Have you considered using a pee post? I've never tried them, but it might be worth a shot.


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## sharpei (Mar 15, 2013)

Crantastic said:


> Have you considered using a pee post? I've never tried them, but it might be worth a shot.


cant speak for the OP but I have tried them in house training before, and in my experience they some times work with unfixed male dogs, its spotty at best with any neutered or spayed dog. for some reason the female dogs I tried to get to pee on the post just seemed oblivious to it. dont know why. others may have a had more success but IMO they arent worth the money.


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## peaceablegarden (Mar 4, 2012)

Thanks for some other ideas folks. As for rewards, we've tried so very many. I've got a whole box full of toys, tugs, balls, chews, you name it. We've tried high value foods. I'm not giving up but it is an issue. As far as using the walk as a reward, tried, but the problem is he won't go in the yard in order to reward him. And then what happens is, we can't go for a walk following the action because the reason we need to pee in the yard is because it's too dangerous for us to be out walking. It's been a problem all winter, and we've had a record breaking snow season. As regards the pee-pee pads, I think this is out for us. Don't want him to think he can pee on anything other than the ground as someone suggested and hadn't thought about, he's a Brussels Griffon mix and refuses to be housebroken (again we've gone back to puppy training over and over again read earilier in the post about holding it for 16 hours). He can easily go months without an accident and the one day he'll pee or poo and then for several days after he'll go inside then go another month or two until it happens again. He is a complicated doggy. I've trained all kinds of dogs. I even had a dog I trained to sneeze on command, but I've never encountered a dog so difficult to train. We are very consistent in our work together and I work at home so we are even doubly consistent. I do think though this all hinges on my ability to find THE MOTIVATOR. I may try the Pee Post. He does seem to like things that stick out of the ground a bit. Though still concerned about it looking like things in the house. Keep the good thoughts coming. You guys are great. Thanks.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

Hey, I suggested human urine for simplicity not for accuracy  

I think you could ask the neighbor for pee pads; you might also ask the Vet about urine sample suggestions... he may have an idea. 

Don't know if this will help:
1. Dogs do not like to go potty in an overly soiled area.
2. However, dogs prefer to go in a spot that has been marked "This is the spot."
3. Sometimes, Dogs seem to mark objects, just to tell themselves, "I already smelled this."
4. Sometimes dogs are 'attracted' to rotting leaves and to weak ammonia ....


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## peaceablegarden (Mar 4, 2012)

I don't think we have a problem with any overly soiled areas. He likes to spread out which is the problem. (-: I think I definately see #2. He wants to go where other dogs have gone before. #4 intrigues me. He does like to nose around in leaves and there are none in the winter. He obviously like the smell of ammonia. Now I wonder if I over did it with my own urine and put too much. Hmmm. The vet may be a good place to go for urine samples though these would presumably be from sick dogs. Great thoughts. Thanks.


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## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

How big is your yard?
I raised Soro from puppyhood with a small concrete yard in the NYC area. We did newspaper training and he transitioned seamlessly into going on newspaper in the backyard. But once walking became a normal thing, he would refuse to go in the backyard completely and today he will virtually only go on substrate (grass, leaves, dirt, etc). At one point I tried everything I could to get him to go in the backyard, because I would rather clean out the yard than have to carry poop bags everywhere with me. But once he made up his mind, that was it. Now we live in a house with a huge grassy yard. If I let him out, he will pee on command but he will still prefer to hold his poo until we walk.
This also may or may not be the case for your dog... He might simply prefer to go during walks.


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## peaceablegarden (Mar 4, 2012)

Thanks for your thoughts. We have a large yard and lots of woods around us. Yes, it's probably true that he would rather walk to go do his business. We love walks and go several times a day, but when the roads are icy or we're in the middle of a blizzard and we still have to walk, it's a problem that needs to be changed because it's dangerous for both of us.


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