Crazy zoomies, doggie lawns, and going outside

[om7]

Hi all! We got our furry child, Fenri , a Mini Poodle Mix, 4 weeks ago and is about 14 weeks old.

So far, hes been a good puppy! He sleeps through the night in his crate, goes out to potty, and does expected puppy behaviors.

We live in an apartment and have a doggie lawn on our balcony that he uses almost everytime. He's a pretty picky puppy. He would refuse to go on the grass if it was in the direct sunlight, so we moved the lawn to another corner on our balcony. Since he was used to going in the original spot, we still catch him starting to pee/poop in the wrong area. He will also hold it if we are at friends, parks, or dog friendly places. We are currently trying with transitioning him to go potty when on walks and hoping this will help him go in other places if we wont be home too. He absolutely refuses to go though and this morning was super frustrating. I take him on walks after his breakfast to get things going. I knew he had to go because of his insane poop zoomies and I took him the a grass spot and just stood there. Instead he ran in circles around me, growled, attacked my feet, and barked/ran after anyone who would pass. I waited for 15 minutes and used our cue phrase but no luck. I took him back inside but he seemed too worked up to go for another 45 minutes. I'd put him in his crate for a few minutes and try again on our balcony. He wouldnt go with me and seemed afraid. I also needed a breather so my fiancee took over and eventually got him to go.

What has worked for others to get their demonic puppy to poop outside??

Edit: Few more things to add: We live in AZ and the average temp has been around 105 until later in the evening so I dont take him on walks during the day to avoid him getting overheated

 

[allaloneuk]

@om7 First, try not to be overly accommodating on things like "my puppy doesn't want to use the potty area if it's in the sun". Peeing or pooping only takes 15 seconds to accomplish and any puppy can be in the sun for 15 seconds without a problem. Overworrying about these kinds of things leads to a puppy that will only eliminate under very specific conditions, and that's not a good habit to develop.

You'll need to continue to give him every opportunity to poop outside. But...I would not go out and stand around for 20 minutes. I would go out for 5 minutes, complete ignore whatever the puppy chooses to do during that time, and then either praise and treat for success, or go straight back to your apartment if no success. He should be put into the crate as soon as you get back home. Wait 15 minutes and try again. It's very annoying to have to do this, particularly in an apartment, but it's the only solution if you want him to learn to go outside soon.

Another option would be to plan to take him for a long walk, but do not go to the grass spot. Just keep walking with him. The odds are that nature is going to push him to the point of needing to poop at some point that isn't that long after breakfast. Staying on the move can help with that. It also helps to teach him that he can poop in any number of outside locations.

The best time to work on this issue is on your days off. That way, you don't have to deal with the frustration of a puppy who won't go potty, when you know you need to leave for work soon.

 

[om7]

@allaloneuk Perfect thanks! Im definitely trying to find that balance, so I appreciate your insight. Is it okay that he continues to go on the doggie lawn out on the patio or should I try to get him to go downstairs, outside, every time?

 

[allaloneuk]

@om7 I personally have never trained a dog to a balcony potty spot so haven't experienced how the transition goes when you decide to remove the potty spot. Some people here have had zero issues, while others seem to have them for quite awhile afterwards. It probably depends somewhat on the puppy and the age at which the transition occurs, as well as the effort put in by the owner to re-train the puppy to only go outside.

As you've seen with him, he seems to develop a habit quickly, so the more he goes potty on the balcony, the more likely it might be that he will go potty out there even when the grass is removed. Are you in a high rise where getting downstairs is really difficult? Or is the puppy left home for a long time, so that he needs access to a potty spot? If not, I personally would go the route of not using the balcony at all, but instead just take him outside. (Yeah, I know, it's a royal pain.) When you do remove the balcony grass, I would not allow him out there for several days to a week, in order to break the habit of using it for a toilet. And then I would only allow him out there when supervised for a bit longer. You will have to housetrain him off using the balcony to eliminate.

Remember that, in general, very small dogs can be harder to housetrain than larger ones. I could speculate on some reasons for that, but haven't seen any real proof of why this happens. Anything you can do to get yours started on the right path of only going outside, the better.

I saw the edit about it being 105 there during the day, but that shouldn't really affect what you are doing after breakfast in terms of getting her out for a walk. You'll just have to decide how much time you want to spend each day working on pooping outside vs pooping on the balcony.