Dog not wanting to toilet outside at night/early morning

[ruralliving19]

We've had our 1 year old collie about two months now and she's doing really well. Initially we had problems with what we thought was fear-based aggression to other dogs and people but she has massively calmed down and now has doggie friends and people friends and is much better meeting new people, though she's still wary of new dogs.

Anyway, the current problem is that she doesn't want to go out to toilet last thing at night or, if she does go out at night, first thing in the morning. She happily goes in the garden during the day if she needs to.

Our house layout is not ideal (we are moving in just over a month) and she has to go through the kitchen to get to outside. She isn't normally allowed in the kitchen unsupervised as (a) it's the cat's domain and (b) she would eat anything she could get her paws on.

What she's doing is running round the kitchen, sniffing everything, looking very happy, trying to open cupboards and get to food and being stopped and then poking her nose outside, having a look and coming back in. I've tried putting her on the lead and taking her in the garden but she puts her stubborn collie face on and resists being moved and definitely won't toilet. I can't take her out for a walk at that time as the kids are in bed and I'm on my own with them.

Any ideas? Getting sick of coming down to wees and poos on the carpet when she wouldn't need to if she went last thing at night and I know that when she does, she can hold it till morning.

[Beamur]

My dog is fearful of the garden due to a previous owner. We always have to walk her away from home to toilet.
If I'm on my own I have to stay close to home if DD is asleep. She's old enough to be alone anyway though. But this usually involves fairly close circuits to home so I keep the house in view!

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

Is it possible that she dislikes the dark? If so, you could consider an outside light.

When moving house do pay her special attention, don't leave her alone there before she's settled in etc. It's common for a house move to unsettle dogs, sometimes causing separation anxiety or, in the case of my dog, a dislike of visitors.

[Notrusthere]

We've just got over (I hope!) A similar situation with our puppy.

He didn't like stepping over the door frame to go down into the garden so I was carrying him but he's too big now, and also he was starting to wee as soon as we leant down to pick him up (association or submissive I'm not sure)
We also have to go through 2 rooms to get to the garden

Anyway...I started putting his lead on and tempting him to the door/outside with treats.

1 day later and he runs straight out when we say "garden"

If yours is food orientated this may be worth a try

[ruralliving19]

Thanks, she's definitely food-orientated so I'll give it a try. Sometimes throwing a ball out into the garden helps, she'll always follow a ball! Sometimes she then decides to toilet while she's out there and other times not.

It may well be the dark, not a lot we can do where we are at the moment (rented) but our new house has a light in the garden which I could switch on.

I've taken some time off work to help settle her into the new house when we move. She's visited it with us (as it's being renovated at the moment) so it won't be entirely new to her.