Going Potty On The Leash

[bemckimmy]

We have had our Greyhound Pixel since April, and we are having a hard time getting her to potty on the leash. She will go both ways just fine in our fenced in back yard, but doesn't want to go if she is on the leash.

 

We have had some success getting her to pee on the leash but not poop. We are going on a trip this weekend and there won't be a fenced in yard for her to go in, and we don't want her pottying in our family's houses.

 

She has a bad habit of refusing to go on the leash and then going when we let her off the leash in the house or office.

 

Suggestions??

[bradymom]

1 thing to consider is how long your leash is. For me a 6 foot leash would be the shortest I use. If your girl won't go, hook 2 leashes together to give her more distance. Some dogs need more privacy ... distance to go.

 

It's a great sign that she's peeing on the leash, pooping takes longer.

 

I would also walk her on the leash in your fenced in back yard until she goes, praise her, maybe give her a treat and then let her off leash to play. This is so she gets the idea.

 

Out on the street there may be too many distractions going for her to feel comfortable going on the leash. If you are walking her during times when she usually dose her potty business, try to keep her out longer. It may take longer for her to find a spot where she feels safe and comfortable enough to go.

 

Hope this gives you some options. I think others will come up with others.

 

Good luck

 

Debbie

 

And welcome to Grey Talk and congradulations on adopting your Greyhound and I love her name....

Edited July 22, 2014 by bradymom

[MachosMom]

Ditto what Bradymom said.

Hattie is my doesn't-wanna-go-on-leash girl. It has taken a lot of patience, praise, and treats for going potty to get a 90 percent success from her on a leash.

 

She has to have her space, so the other furkids can't go with her unless you give Hattie a longer lead and keep the others close.

 

I can usually get her to go if we jog around and I sing a silly 'lets go potty..lets go potty like a good girl does' song... Don't mock me...it works whatever it takes ya know?

[bemckimmy]

 

Out on the street there may be too many distractions going for her to feel comfortable going on the leash. If you are walking her during times when she usually dose her potty business, try to keep her out longer. It may take longer for her to find a spot where she feels safe and comfortable enough to go.

...

 

That definitely seems to be a problem. When I take her to work with me she has to potty downtown and she can't seem to focus long enough to get the job done.

[kikibean]

We had a new adopter with that problem and I recommended they try a 30ft training lead (not good if you have a dog at all spooky) and it worked like a charm. They've been shortening the lead up as she goes. You could also use the 30ft leash on a harness if you're worried she'll pull out of the collar. Seems to give them enough room that they don't feel you're on top of them.

[bemckimmy]

We had some success this morning. She pooped on the leash in our back yard. Yesterday was a bust, but she did it today. I praised her a lot. If I can get her to do that a couple more times, I'll move to the front yard and see if she can do it with the distractions.

[Gryffenne]

If she is at all food motivated, treats with the praise works great! All 3 of mine came to me as not wanting to potty, particularly poop, on lead.

 

Sammi (8 years ago) i started the double lead and turning my back (pretending to ignore her) and a yummy treat- like a piece of cheese when she potties. Gave her as long as she needed the first week. Second week, I started shortening the lead(s) down to 1 lead. Still gave her unlimited time, praise and the yummy "special" treat. Next week, we're down to 1 lead. Now she gets 10 minutes to produce something or we're going back in the house and trying again in an hour. Same lead, same treat, same 10 minutes.

 

I did the same thing with Lynni and River when we adopted them. Got them both down from 40 minutes each to 15 minutes & all 3 are done (each going out 1 at a time).

[Fruitycake]

Oh yeah, we've had this problem. Monty didn't want to do anything while on leash because he just wasn't used to it (from track, to a house with a fenced yard where he could potty at will, to our house where we have no fenced yard and he had to potty on leash!). It took a couple of months of every time we'd walk him that we'd end up walking him for up to and over an hour to get him to potty on leash [edited because it looked like I was saying we walked him for months...though sometimes when we were in a hurry and had to get somewhere, and it was raining or cold or we were tired it certainly felt like it!], and that he only would manage to potty when we were studiously pretending not to be there. If he saw us looking at him, or if we said anything, or even if we moved he would cancel the job and we'd just have to keep on walking. We could not give treats or do any celebrating when he'd go, because he was also pretty new to home life in general and wouldn't even eat when outside. Everything had to be very low-key for him, but he did get more reliable after he discovered that it was good to potty outside while leashed.

 

I'm glad you've had some success already, and I hope that things work so you can get her to perform adequately while you're traveling with her. If she still isn't reliable, when you're at your destination you're probably going to want to have her go back to "tethering" and keeping her with you at all times so she can't decide to scoot into another room to go potty in privacy. This will require constant attention on your parts, unfortunately, and an Exercise pen ("x-pen") can be a lifesaver if you don't have a kennel for her. If you have to leave her and she hasn't gone, I hope the family has a linoleum room you can block her in so it doesn't end up on carpet or wood or other less cleanable surface!

Edited July 24, 2014 by Fruitycake

[bradymom]

Glad Pixel is making progress by pooping on the leash in the backyard. It takes patience and time.

 

Debbie

[EllenEveBaz]

Best wishes for your trip. In addition to above, try adding to her sense of privacy by turning your back, or stopping next to a bush. Not good for your short-term needs, but some people gradually train their dogs to poop/pee on command, usually a phrase like "Get busy." A person who shows dogs told me a gross but she said effective technique -- she gently sticks something like a wooden matchstick into the dog's butt and wiggles it around for a few seconds to stimulate the dog to poop before its turn in the ring. I have not tried this.

 

I went to Earlham there in Richmond -- is that where you work downtown?

Edited July 26, 2014 by EllenEveBaz

[Feisty49]

Ditto what Bradymom said.

 

I can usually get her to go if we jog around and I sing a silly 'lets go potty..lets go potty like a good girl does' song... Don't mock me...it works whatever it takes ya know?

Just have to say this is so funny and don't we all do something silly for our hounds? I'm used to making a fool of myself in public for Annie. :-)

[Sambuca]

I would add a command whenever she pees or poops in the yard and give her a treat. Once she understands what she's supposed to do, start walking her. On walks, use the commands. Walk until she goes. You may be walking for a long time, but it works. I once walked Bu for 1.5 hours in a snowstorm because he wouldn't go. I threw a party when he finally went and I could feel my face again.

[maria]

Had that same issue with our almost 4 yo Maryl. It took her about 1-2 months to get the hang of it and now she is a pro, saving pee to mark along the trail!

I think it just takes time and patience. She's a dog, she will get it.