Not going to the toilet when left during the day?

robocode

My 10 month old lab is a weird fella. His kennel is in the back garden and having made a mess of the garden over the last few months I now have the grass fenced off to allow it recover. This leaves him his kennel and the patio. The thing is, he will only seem to go to the toilet on the patio at the front of the house and when he is left in the back for a few hours during the day he just seems to hold it in. When either of us get home he is bursting to go, we bring him out the front and he goes. This can't be good for him, but it's so odd I have no idea how to address it!

CianRyan

Leave a patch if grass available to him.

For 10 months it's been drilled into him to only go on the grass and you expect him to just freely poop infront of your back door?
If not leaving a section if the grassed area open too him, a large tray of soil and grass will give him somewhere to go.

mistress_gi

Well some dogs are weird like that. My guy held it for 48 hours when we took him to europe in the ferry. I didn't know what to do, no pee or poo for 48 hours!!!

robocode

CianRyan wrote: »

For 10 months it's been drilled into him to only go on the grass

That's just it, it hasn't been drilled into him at all. He often goes on the concrete in the front of the house without a moments hesitation.

tk123

Would the fence be bothering him? I ask because if I put a fence up now and brought my dog out he'd be afraid! He'll wee out the back but prefers to poo out the front.. the pup will go anywhere!

bluejelly

Before we had our garden setup, our lab stayed in a fenced off area while we were at work. She held it in everyday too and was bursting to go once we got home. I thought it was either her protesting at being left alone or bc she would not go anywhere near her kennel. I put a sand pit into her area and filled another area with tree bark to encourage her to go but nothing. Even now with a huge amount of garden at her disposal she usually goes right when we get back. Our 2nd lab does the same but she definitely goes throughout the day, not sure about my older lab though.
Similar behavior when it is raining heavily, my older lab will not put her nose outside the door, let alone go out for a pee...............no problem going out though when she knows its for a run!

Graces7

mistress_gi wrote: »

Well some dogs are weird like that. My guy held it for 48 hours when we took him to europe in the ferry. I didn't know what to do, no pee or poo for 48 hours!!!

one of my cats was like that when i moved to ireland. scared mebut she was fine. three planes, a night in a hotel then a train journey and a drive. she made a mess in the first plane, a tiny island hopper in a gale but not after that

my dogs never pee or poo during the night or when i am out all day. they sleep etc in the annex

robocode

bluejelly wrote: »

Similar behavior when it is raining heavily, my older lab will not put her nose outside the door, let alone go out for a pee...............no problem going out though when she knows its for a run!

This sounds familiar :pac:

Frigga_92

Some dogs are just like that, they can hold it for a long time.
Some dogs are also just odd and very picky about their toilet area and maybe he prefers a bit of grass.
As long as it's not having an adverse effect on him (and I doubt it is) I don't think it's anything to worry about.

My great dane would hold his wee for 24 hours or more sometimes if the weather outside was bad, like hailstones.

sligoface

When is he walked? Usually I see this happen when dogs are not being walked enough.

robocode

He gets about an hour first thing in the morning and then again for maybe 30 mins after dinner

Graces7

sligoface wrote: »

When is he walked? Usually I see this happen when dogs are not being walked enough.

not sure of the connection here. or why this is a problem when so many dogs do this and are fine.

FurBabyMomma

Some dogs can be quite picky about where they go to the toilet - the literally want to keep certain areas clean and just for them - an extension of not messing in their beds. Sounds like he needs his patch of grass to be comfortable.

bluejelly

sligoface wrote: »

When is he walked? Usually I see this happen when dogs are not being walked enough.

Definitely no connection for my lab.........she is extremely well exercised.

robocode

FurBabyMomma wrote: »

Some dogs can be quite picky about where they go to the toilet - the literally want to keep certain areas clean and just for them - an extension of not messing in their beds. Sounds like he needs his patch of grass to be comfortable.

Yeah it sounds like I need to rezone some of the garden for the little oddball :P

tazwaz

hi op, I'm of no help to you really but I had a springer that used be in a run during the day while I was working. I used to go home at lunch time to leave him out to the toilet because there was no way he'd go in his run, ever!! One day I was nearly an hour later than usual and the minute he heard me pulling into the driveway he started barking at me as if he was giving out to me for being late...he was bursting for the toilet but still wouldn't go in his run. they all just have different routines :-)

sillysmiles

robocode wrote: »

we bring him out the front and he goes.

While a bit odd, in reality if it isn't causing a problem I would actually encourage him not to go in the back garden. You could use this to train him to go only where it is easy to pick up and clean.
It does mean though that you will need to be aware of how long he is in the back for if you are gone off for a while (which I'm sure you already are - not meaning to sound preachy.)