Anonymous wrote:OP I just adopted a trained dog 1.5 weeks ago and took her to a vet for a wellness check. I said, "I can't get her to poop in the yard" and she said,
"Why do you want her to poop in the yard?"
and basically said in all her years as a vet, she's never been successful at this particular project--it takes so much time and commitment. One reason is there is no "latrine" smell in your yard.
She pointed out it's just fine to give her a little walk up the block, and I've decided it's just fine for her to not poop in our yard.
She also said, "if you really want to, tie her to a spot and walk away and come back later, praising her..."
Now the breeder said to take her poop from the street and put it in the spot you want her to go. And I took paper towels and mopped up her pee and brought it back to that spot, to establish a latrine smell. You have to remove the poop after a few hours or they will not go there again.
Anyways I had started with that technique, but when the vet said what she said, I abandoned it. There is enough to do with a new dog without working on this.
OP here. This is interesting to me because we lost 2 dogs this year, and they both pooped/peed in the yard. So one would think my yard does have the "latrine smell".
I will try to put the poop back there and see how it goes. I don't mind walking the dog, I really don't. I'm just thinking that there are days when a long walk won't be possible (he only goes after 15 minutes or so of walking) so it would be nice to have a plan B.
Thanks for this helpful post.