# Picky on where to pee



## FrancoD13 (Aug 9, 2012)

Hello everyone, haven't posted in a long time. A quick update first I guess. I have a 3+ year old male, fixed V. He is just amazing. So smart, so gentle, very well trained. Has a love hate relationship with my 18 month old daughter, but otherwise he is more than I ever could have asked for.

So my question to the knowledgeable readers on this site, we live in the city and therefore at night before I go to bed, I have to put the leash on and walk outside to a tree across the street for his last pee before bed time. For 3 years this has been our ritual and it worked well. So about 4 months ago, the city cut down this tree, so now there is nothing there and Bryce isn't happy. The other trees nearby he doesn't seem to like. by that i mean I walk over to them with him and he smells for a bit and then just stands next to me. We try 3-4 trees before I either go back home or eventually he goes. 

My concern is that as the winter comes (Live in Boston and praying this winter isn't like the last one) I don't want to be outside to long at this time. He was always a quick jog to the tree and back...2 minutes tops. I've tried bringing treats and when he does pee I dispense them until my arms are tired, but to no avail. 

Any suggestions, things I could try, etc?


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## lyra (Nov 2, 2012)

I haven't got any suggestions but I can pass on our similar experience.

We live in a house that used to have a (mostly) grass front garden and a concrete back yard. When we got our first bitch she used to go on the grass at the front. The grass naturally suffered a bit but wasn't too bad. When we got our second bitch the grass die back made the front garden look like a wasteland. We decided in the end to pave the front garden and get the dogs to toilet in the back yard. 

At first the dogs both just refused to go. There were no accidents they just waited for their next walk - sometimes this could be 12-15 hours! I then tried building a sandbox in the corner as they were used to going to the beach. That didn't work. Next I got some turf and laid that over part of the sandbox. Reluctantly one of dogs started to use that. About a week later our other dog started to just go on the concrete. Now they have got used to their new routine we are back to 'normal' although it is still the case that one always goes on the concrete and the other always goes in the sandbox.

I suppose the point of the story is that our dogs are quite ritualistic about their domestic toilet arrangements but they will adjust to change - eventually!


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## gingerling (Jun 20, 2015)

This is really a tragedy for him, and I am not at all being sarcastic! If this was "HIS" tree and "HIS" territory and they cut it down..wow. We can understand both his confusion and sense of loss. Dogs are very territorial, and even neutered ones like to mark and remark their spots. Good news: They find new ones, it's instinctual.

I think you should walk around the neighborhood and let him investigate a few trees and get to know them and their smells, probably in the afternoon when you have time and it's not the last potty walk. It's likely he'll find another, note which one he lingers and sniffs longest, which one get a few extra squirts, or ones that he particularly enjoys and needs to hit from a couple sides and angles. Give him sometime and the opportunity to find a new one,and then go back to that one for the last potty walk, and reward him for going.


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## FrancoD13 (Aug 9, 2012)

thanks, these responses are very helpful. It is funny how "attached" they do get. He actually uses these trees during the day, just not the night time visit. But we are getting there. I used to feel real bad if he didn't go before bed time, but it is amazing how long he can hold it.


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## dextersmom (Oct 29, 2013)

Let us know if something works for you! Our two are picky, too. Dexter will only go on leash (never loose in the yard) and Birch will only go in the yard (never on leash). They were each raised that way (Dexter because we didn't have a yard at the time, Birch because we did when she came along) and no amount of cookies/praise seem to change their minds very much. 

Dexter is a bit easier because he really knows what the word "potty" means and is great about pottying on demand... but you have to at least ask for him to go in the yard, or clip on his leash in the yard.

The only thing I can think of is getting another dog to mark a nearby tree. Maybe that would entice your dog to use that tree afterwards?


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## lyra (Nov 2, 2012)

Dextersmom raises an important point that I had forgotten the 'wee' command.

Both of ours have been taught that command from when he have got them. Of course knowing a command and doing it are not always the same thing to a V! I'm not not sure what our neighbours thought of the frantic cries of "wee" from our back yard!


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