It is a strange phenomenon; my special rescue pit bull, Lucy, refuses to go to the bathroom in our yard. I hear you, and your disbelief; but believe. Perhaps it has something to do with the abuse in her past, perhaps it is the fact she now has her own yard, or perhaps she just loves messing with me.
When we first brought her back from North Carolina, we laid pee pads down as a training tool to direct her towards the door. However, she found her favorite spot in the living room, where she would do her business. Now don’t think our young lady is classless, she will only pee or poop when she is alone in the room. I can see her looking down her nose at me, “Really, how degrading pooping with an audience present. What do I look like? Your ex-wife?”
In an effort to modify her behavior, my wife and I would take turns walking the yard with Lucy. However, all this accomplished was our yard began to look like it had a moat around it from the “Lucy Path.” Really, the path we wore trying to get our girl to use the outside facilities was easily six inches lower than the rest of the yard.
I began walking her around the block, and that was successful, but I am selfish, and 6 am, or midnight stroll around the block was a bit too much. We eventually began walking around a local cemetery daily. This was, at first, to avoid other canine types. While our girl loves people, other dogs, not so much. The only problem was that Ms. Lucy would not go to the bathroom until we took our stroll through the spirit world.
I don’t know about you, but going to the bathroom is more than just a once daily occurrence with me, so I was a little concerned about Lucy’ health, and comfort. So, in a great compromise, of sorts, I built a small stall around her favorite pee/poop pad area. It is high enough to protect my girl’s dignity, but low enough so she can watch her favorite television programing on Cspan.
When we first brought her back from North Carolina, we laid pee pads down as a training tool to direct her towards the door. However, she found her favorite spot in the living room, where she would do her business. Now don’t think our young lady is classless, she will only pee or poop when she is alone in the room. I can see her looking down her nose at me, “Really, how degrading pooping with an audience present. What do I look like? Your ex-wife?”
In an effort to modify her behavior, my wife and I would take turns walking the yard with Lucy. However, all this accomplished was our yard began to look like it had a moat around it from the “Lucy Path.” Really, the path we wore trying to get our girl to use the outside facilities was easily six inches lower than the rest of the yard.
I began walking her around the block, and that was successful, but I am selfish, and 6 am, or midnight stroll around the block was a bit too much. We eventually began walking around a local cemetery daily. This was, at first, to avoid other canine types. While our girl loves people, other dogs, not so much. The only problem was that Ms. Lucy would not go to the bathroom until we took our stroll through the spirit world.
I don’t know about you, but going to the bathroom is more than just a once daily occurrence with me, so I was a little concerned about Lucy’ health, and comfort. So, in a great compromise, of sorts, I built a small stall around her favorite pee/poop pad area. It is high enough to protect my girl’s dignity, but low enough so she can watch her favorite television programing on Cspan.
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