Puppy vs. bad weather question... ;)

[Dsnygirl]

:paw:I know I can google this, or try to read about it in one of our books, but thought I'd ask here, too... you guys are usually a wealth of info & ideas!!

Short version - 13 wk old Morkie (aka Maltese/Yorkie mix) who we have had for 5 weeks. Very good at going outside when we take him, not good at telling us he needs to go, yet, though... we have to be watching and proactive.

Fast forward to cold, rainy days - like today - won't come out on his own, I have to carry him, with an umbrella - and the moment I put him down, he high-tails it back inside. (We have a loose screen on our porch door he discovered, have to fix it & he'll be then stuck on the step at least... ;) ) And yes, when he gets back inside, he goes. (This may be TMI, but he'll quickly pee outside, but not #2 in this weather. :confused: )

Any ways to combat this? I know he's tiny and young, and thus hates being cold & wet... but we live in Upstate NY - this is a fact of life around here, and I DON'T want to get into using pee pads. :ack:

Thoughts, advice, tips... any ideas welcome!! :dog:

[dobby2010]

Don't have much great advice but can commiserate. We have a three year old beagle something (he was a rescue so we're not sure the breed) and he still will do this on occasion if it is stormy out. Sometimes I just won't let him back in until I'm sure he has gone both 1 and 2. Other times he simply won't and I'll end up cleaning something off the floor later. Can't blame him really, I don't want to be out there either!

[SBETigg]

My corgi still hates to go in the rain. But they have to do it. What worked for us is to take her out further so that she can't scramble back indoors and wait for her to do it outside. An exercise in frustration for both of us, of course-- but, she learned that no matter how much she wanted to go back in, that we were out until she did her business. Now, most of the time, she will go as soon we go out to the rain just to get back inside faster. Use lots of positive praise and encouragement when he does go, and be consistent with your word choice so he doesn't have any confusion as to why he's outside and what it takes to go back in. Be prepared to hang out awhile and get wet. :) Training takes persistence and sometimes you wonder who is training who.

[Disney4us2]

We go through this every rainy season. Our dog (a standard Dachshund) is not a water dog and hates getting wet. She is also very stubborn which does not help. She has been like this since she was a puppy.

I got her a couple of rain coats and have to take her out front on the leash to do her business. She wil weewee out front but the other she won't. I have to take her out back. Still with the rain coat on. I take the leash off and mission accomplished...most of the time. This is where she can get stubborn and just refuses to go and then will leave us a gift in the house.... I dread when it rains. Wish we had a patio cover.

The rain coats do help so she doesn't get so wet. I also keep a look out for a break in the rain and get her out between the drops.

Good luck

[BrerGnat]

Use a leash. Taking a dog out in bad weather stinks for everyone involved, but if you actually take him out on a leash, and walk him around, he will go. Eventually, you can probably graduate to just opening the door and letting him out.

They make this rock that has pheremones on it, and you put it down in your yard where you want the dog to go. It works great. Get one of these and take the dog over to it, to show him that is where you want him to go. Keep the rock near the house, so he doesn't have to venture out too far, and can come back inside quickly when the weather is bad.

[Dulcee]

Yeah my 6 year old husky shep mix looks at the rain like its out to kill her.

We leash her. Its the only way.

[Mickey'sGirl]

I agree with leashing the doggie.

Also, when training a puppy, it is a good idea to give him/her access to water when he/she is outside doing his/her stuff, and he/she will get the idea that wet stuff is outside. I don't know if this is just crazy or what, but the breeder who we worked with told us she does this will all her dogs. I can attest to the fact that our doggies NEVER went in the house. Coincidence perhaps, or maybe it works? I would not resort to pee-pads. They are the Pull-Ups of the doggie world!

[Jeri Lynn]

I trained our puppy to ring a bell when she has to go out. I went to a local craft store, bought some Jingle Bells, tied them onto some ribbon and then hung the ribbon by the door. Whenever I brought her out to do her business I would ring the bell on the way out. Now she rings the bell when she wants to go out. As for bad weather, she is on a leash, I am with my umbrella and I only give her a certain amount of leash and area to go in. I tell her to go, and for the most part she is good, though now that she is older she's easily distracted by birds and squirrels...I'm hoping the snow in the winter won't delay her business!!!

[Dsnygirl]

:paw: Thanks for all the quick (and great!) replies!! I hadn't thought of using a leash at all - our 9yr old lab doesn't need one, we just let him out, so it never even occurred to me. :blush: Jasper is all of almost 3 lbs, so it's easy to feel sorry for him, all wet & bedraggled and racing for the door like he!! itself is on his heels... but the dog-training mom in me says we can beat this!!

I had to run an errand, and took Jasper out on a leash when we got home... granted, it was barely raining, but still wet and raining a bit... and he at least pee'd for me... we'll see what happens when he needs to do more than that. ;)

And Jenn, I agree... no pull-ups in this house!! :D

Jeri Lynn, how long did it take your pup to get the idea of ringing the bell himself?? We just started this...

[Wolf]

I trained our puppy to ring a bell when she has to go out. I went to a local craft store, bought some Jingle Bells, tied them onto some ribbon and then hung the ribbon by the door. Whenever I brought her out to do her business I would ring the bell on the way out. Now she rings the bell when she wants to go out. As for bad weather, she is on a leash, I am with my umbrella and I only give her a certain amount of leash and area to go in. I tell her to go, and for the most part she is good, though now that she is older she's easily distracted by birds and squirrels...I'm hoping the snow in the winter won't delay her business!!!



Oh my gosh brilliant!!!!!

We have my little dude on a system of he goes and stands/sits by the back door when he has to go out and then one of us will olympic style sprint to him because we are always on a hair trigger cause he's still young but so far so good! I need to see if I can't get him onto the bell plan, thats amazing!

[TinkerbellT421]

I know this may sound a little over the top but, my friend who had a Yorkie, had read in a book that it is in the breed that they tend to be "divas" when it comes to certain things. Apparently, Yorkies despise the feel of wetness on their paws.....(it was a psychology book based on dogs, don't ask lol) but their solution was using the dog boots. Which she was able to find at Petco, and it worked wonders, she also bought her a "rain jacket" to battle the effect of the wetness on it's fur. Again, I know it seems odd and over the top but figured I would through that out there.....whoever decided they would become a pet psychologist makes me wonder how really they came to that decision lol.

[Janmac]

When it's dry weather and you're outside with him, have you tried telling your pup, "Go pee!" or "Go poop!" AS he are doing whichever. (Or whatever words you're comfortable with.) Those two words are short and easy for a dog to understand. And then praise him, "Good boy!", pet him up. Maybe even give a treat, at first.

If you do this every time you're outside, it won't take long before he will do either almost on command when you know he needs to but is reluctant to because of the weather.

We had an older Lab that I trained to go on demand within a few weeks, mostly as an experiement, but also because we thought we might want to take him for extended camping trips.

Our daughter's Lab never did like to go outside in cold wet weather to "go", but he'd dive right into frigid water after downed ducks.

My niece's little girl has a Bichon that was originally mat trained (eventually! - what a hard headed dog) but now at a little over 2 yrs old, he is trained to go outside. I'll have to tell my niece about the bell trick.

My cousin's Bichon will do #1 as soon as he gets outside (front yard) but has to run off to the side yard for #2.

Dogs are so funny. We currently have seven - never a dull moment. :thumbsup:

Jan

[Katzateer]

Oh my gosh brilliant!!!!!

We have my little dude on a system of he goes and stands/sits by the back door when he has to go out and then one of us will olympic style sprint to him because we are always on a hair trigger cause he's still young but so far so good! I need to see if I can't get him onto the bell plan, thats amazing!

My mother in law had a cat that would ring a bell when he wanted to go out. That wasn't why the bell was hanging by the door but Oscar trained himself ( or my inlaws, depending on how you want to look at it ;) ) Her other 5 cats didn't give the bell a second glance.

[MNNHFLTX]

Use a leash. Taking a dog out in bad weather stinks for everyone involved, but if you actually take him out on a leash, and walk him around, he will go.
Great advice. Our black lab mix has never liked going out in wet weather and in her younger years was known to "hold it" almost 24 hours rather than get her delicate paws wet. The only thing that got the message across that she needed to go when we told her to was taking her outside on the leash.