Potty training a scared adult rescue dog in an apartment

[hbwink]

Hi everyone! I am fostering an adult non-housebroken dog for the first time. She was rescued from a breeder and is afraid of everything. I live in a walk-up so it’s difficult to take her outside “immediately” when she defecates at home. I was told the next best thing is training her on the pee pad but that isn’t going too well either.

Example incident with a pee pad - she was pooping in the living room floor and I immediately picked her up to place her on the pee pad. She is v afraid of such encounters so she didn’t continue pooping on the pee pad.

I take her on regular walks too and am just waiting for her to do something outdoors so I can treat her as positive reinforcement. But she doesn’t like eating treats outside (she will eat the same treat v willingly at home) neither does she do any business outside.

Any guidance will be appreciated!

 

[helenalindberg]

@hbwink If she is not taking food outside then she is too anxious to be learning. Unfortunately I think your best bet is to take her out every hour until she starts going outside. You are going to have to treat her like a puppy. Also going out so frequently will help because it should help her get over her fear of the outside. I would make going outside the best experience you can do her. Bring a yummy treat she will only get outside and slowly work her up to accepting it. Put on her leash at home and walk her around your apartment and then take it off. Do this a couple times a day so she doesn’t stress out when you get the leash. Also take it slow with her outside. Take her out for five minutes and let her sniff around. If she seems anxious, rail tucked, whale eyes, not sniffing, tense. Take her inside after her five minutes is up. Slowly extend out her time as she gets comfortable. She sounds like she hasn’t experienced anything outside of a crate so she just needs to learn. Approach her like you would any puppy.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@hbwink I think your best bet is to manage the behavior. Crate, tether, umbilical train, take her out every hour, and treat heavily when she goes outside. I think your best bet is to just ignore the mess when she goes inside, because redirecting seems to be a punishment.

 

[bluegill_04]

@hbwink I'd make a space in your home where she feels safe and she can easily do her business (lay a tarp down to save your floors and lay pee pads down on top of that. If you need to build a playpen space around it with blankets covering the playpen sides.. with plenty of space to move around and a space to sleep and a space for water and food). Outside seems too scary right now to venture out there. If she is not taking treats that's a sure sign she is too scared. Consult with a vet behaviourist to discuss medication that could help her feel less scared for the time being and then hire a trainer to discuss a behaviour modification plan.

http://www.drjensdogblog.com/behavior-medication-first-line-therapy-or-last-resort/

Keep us posted and so happy she has you to guide her through this. Fostering a scared pup is not easy!