How often does your dog need to "go outside"?

[treedimensional]

How often do you walk your dog / or let them outside to relieve themselves?
 
If it is a combination of walking and letting them out, how often does your dog need to go?

I am beyond frustrated right now. Our new dog is NOTHING like our past two dogs, or any dog I've ever known.
He will HOLD IT and NOT GO in the backyard. He will also hold it during walks- I DON'T KNOW WHY- but he obviously can't hold it forever, and as soon as we leave the house to go somewhere, well you can guess what happens.
He will go when walked, but only after walking quite a while. Every other dog I've ever had gets right down to business, within one block. They also seize the opportunity in the backyard unsupervised. Not this one!
It's only been a week and I am losing my mind.

[dexteroni]

This is a new dog? He'll get used to it once he settles in, and after he learns his training. When we first got Dexter, we lived in an apartment, so he went on walks and was not allowed to go in the yard of our apartment building (building rules). So of course when we bought our house, he wouldn't go in the yard. I would say it took a few weeks to a month for him to really get that we wanted him to go there, and to willingly go on his own.

Try working on associating the word "potty" with going to the bathroom. Say "good potty!" when he does go, so you can eventually start using it as a command.

[dexteroni]

Oh, and to answer your question, Quincy and Sadie go outside a bunch of times on days when I'm home, mostly to play but of course they "go" while they're out there. On days when I'm not home, they're by themselves for 4 - 5 hours. I'm sure they *could* hold it for a full work day, but we haven't needed to leave them alone for that long yet.

[G22]

I agree with the PP. Maybe encouraging him with a word like "potty" when he goes will eventually allow you to say "go potty" and he knows exactly what to do. And praise him when he does go with that word.

RJ, our hound mix had similar issues when we adopted him. He had no issue going potty in our backyard. But he refused to go anywhere else. Not on walks. Not runs. Not even on a weekend road trip. He held it for almost a day and a half when we stayed in a hotel. We had the other 2 pups before him, and they were well trained. He eventually got better. He will potty when we are on road trips now (thank goodness!). He's still rarely goes when we walk or run, but it's ok.

Currently I am a SAHW, so my dogs go out often. Every couple hours, because they can. When I worked, I either took them to work with me (I worked part time at a kennel) or came home at lunch and let them out.

[KaraOrNot]

Now? Four times per day. It took months to get her settled enough to pee in our yard. It was over a year before she would poop in the yard. A very long year. FWIW, she was 4 when we got her and was likely abused, so that probably played into the time it took her to settle in.

[pitterwoo]

My dog gets to go out throughout the day because H is home, but otherwise a morning, evening and before bed trip outside would be enough for him. He does like to hold it more for going on walks, but he goes in the yard too.

Maybe your guy is still settling in. If he still won't get down to business in a couple weeks I would probably start training by taking him out for short trips and then bringing him back in whether he goes or not. Back inside and watch him or crate him and then offer another trip outside, rinse and repeat until he HAS to go and does his thing pretty quickly after you go out. Then I would reward the potty break by continuing on a longer walk. Hopefully he will begin to establish the new habit of going right when he gets out.

Eta: I've never had a dog with this issue, so if this is really about him being traumatized and he would refuse to go for like a whole day or something I wouldn't push it. I was more assuming that he is just in the habit of exploring and putting off going.

[nomad100]

Our 2 dogs are different. Cricket hates the cold and will go right away so he can get back inside. Willow likes to mosey about the yard to find just the right place to pee and then will mosey some more to find just the right place to poop. When it is colder, they both mosey about before getting down to their business.

Cricket will poop and pee on walks. Willow only pees but will rarely (like only 5 times in the last 4 years) poop on walks. She is a "private pooper" and doesn't like people looking at her when she is pooping.

When we first brought Cricket into our home, he did take some time to get acclimated. He wasn't keen on going in the grass and kept pooping on the patio. It took a few weeks, and watching Willow, for him to get that going on the grass was the thing to do.

[treedimensional]

Thanks, all. After a few accidents, we started crating him when we go out, which worked well until yesterday, when we came home to a dog in a crate covered in feces and urine. He was walked JUST BEFORE we left, and we were only gone for an hour. So even though he had to go very badly, he held it. As he has been doing for the entire week we've had him... and he lets go once we leave (crate or no crate).
I emailed the previous owner and she tells me she never let him outside to go. She only walked him on a leash, and apparently, she did so CONSTANTLY, so I blame her.

[nomad100]

Feb 13, 2014 10:22:17 GMT -5 treedimensional said:

Thanks, all. After a few accidents, we started crating him when we go out, which worked well until yesterday, when we came home to a dog in a crate covered in feces and urine. He was walked JUST BEFORE we left, and we were only gone for an hour. So even though he had to go very badly, he held it. As he has been doing for the entire week we've had him... and he lets go once we leave (crate or no crate).
I emailed the previous owner and she tells me she never let him outside to go. She only walked him on a leash, and apparently, she did so CONSTANTLY, so I blame her.

Have you thought about having some special treat he only gets after he pees and/or poops outside? 

We have used this type of thing with great success with our two when it comes to baths, nail clipping and ear cleanings.  They only get this one brand of banana/PB treat (that they LOVE!) after good behavior during those 3 activities.  We also make a big deal (lots of praise and pettings) after they are good and right before they get their treat.  It has helped tremendously with "doggy day spa" activities.