Dog won’t poop in new garden - how to get him to?

[dustofneptune]

We moved into a new house coming up to 2 weeks ago and are finding that our dog won’t poop in the garden (and will barely pee out there also). He always goes just fine in gardens whenever we stay at a holiday cottage or visit family - doesn’t even need prompting.

We previously lived in an apartment, and one of the main reasons for moving to a house was to end the 6x daily schlep around the block for dog toilet breaks. So we understand he has a routine - we just don’t know how to break it.

I guess my first question is - what do I do? Do I just cut off walks after 5pm and wait it out? We tried this the first few nights, but then he just woke us up at 3-5am and still wouldn’t poop in the garden. He knows to “go potty” on command, but just won’t go. Instead, he goes to the front door and makes his “I need to poop” noise. 🥺

Second question is - those of you with gardens, do you still walk your dog specifically for toilet breaks? Right now, I’m walking him in the morning for about 15-20min, then an off-lead country walk in the afternoons. I would just like him to be able to use the garden to pee/poop at night, as there are no streetlights here and no pavements in some parts, which will be tricky come winter.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

If you can try and catch some of his wee, or pick up a poo, and dab it around the garden so it smells of toileting.

Probably still settling in. Have you tried your dog on the lead in the garden? As if on a walk.

I was going to suggest this too. That's how we cracked DDog.

We’ve tried that yep! Didn’t work unfortunately

Will give this a go today!

When he goes on a walk, bring the poo home with you and leave it on the area of the garden you want him to toilet.

For peeing, you can buy these cone things you stick in the ground - the idea being that they stink of pee and encourage the dog to mark.

I would also try taking him into the garden first thing (instead of a walk) and literally waiting there until he goes. Yes, it could be hours so I'd pick a nice day where you have no plans 😂

This is a prized trait where I live, and thought of as a boy-dog thing. Friends whose dogs are like this just manage on two outings a day. Their dogs either cross their legs in between, or manage the odd wee in the garden in extremis. But poos are outside-outside, and this suits the owners fine.

My DD is a girl and poos wherever. Makes no odds to me as either way I poo-pick after her.

Besides pp suggestions I don’t know what else can be done as this inhibition around pooing at home comes from a deep instinctive place and is hard to train out.

We still walk dog three times a day but he will go in garden morning & evening.

Is it fake grass? I don't think dogs like to go on that artificial stuff.

At what point on the walk does he wee and poo?

If he wees and poos quite early on I would take him out the gate walk a bit and then come back into your garden and keep walking as if on a walk. If nearer the end keep him out for longer and then come back to your garden and hopefully time it right. Some dogs need the exercise to get things moving

He has a change in routine and it will take time for him to alter his set routine

I had a dog once who wouldn't pee or poo in the garden,ever, luckily we lived opposite a park,so it was 4 walks a day. When she was older,(she was PTS at 12, liver failure) she would collapse and I had to carry her home!I have a friend whose dog isn't allowed in the garden,it takes longer for them to get their shoes on,dog lead than the actual walk. The dog we have now an 8 year old border collie,was trained only to poo in the garden. She is walked for excercise, stimulation,fun. You can take her out for 3 hours (live opposite the South Downs) she comes home, straight out in the garden for a poop. Course, with a male,they just want to keep scenting. So I think you are in for several walks a day. Did previous dwellers have a dog/cat,do you get foxes, rabbit?

I never knew this was a boy-dog thing! I think I'm going to try continuing with the two walks a day then - am + pm, and hopefully he'll come to understand that poops happen on those walks.

Guess the benefit is a poop-free garden!

It's not a boy dog thing, mine was a girl

I've never let ours shit in the garden or wee. I take them to a bit of scrubland near our house. I like lying on the grass and let the kids play football etc

Ours only toilets in the garden in extremis. We generally have to walk her for last wee of night and poop in the morning. She’s got incredibly good control.

My girl dog doesn’t toilet in the garden. Never has really since she was a tiny puppy. She will go for a wee as soon as she’s outside the gates but poos are generally at least 100m down the drive.

It’s not really an issue for us but I always thought it was better for Dc if the garden wasn’t used as a dog toilet.

I think it is quite normal for dogs to avoid pooing in their own garden as they grow past puppyhood. My dog certainly needs the routine of a morning walk in order to get into the poo zone.

Of course, there are ways to train a garden poo, but I would be tempted just to make sure I always have my poo bags and head out for a walk.

My ddog chooses very specific spots to poo, long grass or bushes and rarely at home. They don't necessarily go that often so if walking twice a day they are waiting

We have a 5 year old male mixed breed (mum was a rescue, pregnant when friend adopted her) and we've had him since a puppy.
We trained him to wee and poo in the garden, all good until he was about 2, and since then he point blank refuses to toilet in the garden.
His mum lives next door and she uses our garden to toilet but he doesn't seem bothered about covering that up/marking like he does multiple times on walks.
We got into the habit of walking him a lot during the pandemic and wonder if that routine fixed his ways, and now he sees walking 3 x daily as his toilet time.
We've tried retrain him to use garden as a toilet but to no avail. It's no big issue as I WFH and walking is part of my daily fitness routine but it would be amazing for him to use the garden for those days when it's raining sideways.

My boy needs a vertical. He won't go on the lead. He fusses in the morning then we walk, he heads into the stingies/brambles and goes in there. We don't wade after him to pick, as no one else will be in there to step in it, either! It's easier in the winter when there's less undergrowth!

If you do want him to use the garden, pick a specific area and stick to it. As pp suggested, leave a poop there, in fact leave them for a couple of days and he will get the idea, and buy a pee stick. Male dogs, especially after neutering, are just as good as bitches at leaving yellow patches on the grass.

My two both poop on walks, I think the male needs the walking to get him moving, and the bitch is just very clean.

We've the opposite problem will go fine in the garden even in the house in extremis, but on a walk zilch. She's only 13 weeks so the walks have to be short. It's frustrating. We have another dog which has helped with the garden I think.

Mine will wee but hates pooing in the garden, although will if desperate.

We walk her twice a day and she goes in garden first thing, after lunch and before bed.