Help! Need suggestions .... (potty talk ahead)

[Diana Erhart]

All of Charlie's life we had lived in the south and didn't have any snow.  We are now in the northeast and got our first significant snowfall of his 7 years this past Wednesday.  There is not a blade of grass showing out of our 8 to 10 inches of snow.  The first day Charlie didn't want to do any potty functions at all.  Finally on our walk we ran into a trash can that was close enough to the street that he lifted his leg and peed on it.  But he didn't want to do anything else.  My husband shoveled out a rectangle of grass in the yard but he didn't want anything to do with it.  I had to just keep taking him out until finally around midnight he had to go poop so bad that he went on a sidewalk that had been shoveled but was covered with about 2 inches of snow.  The second day Charlie learned the fun on playing and digging in the snow.  He was better about lifting his leg and would pee on snow piles outside.  But still he would not poop.  Again, after midnight he finally went on the slush covered street when he couldn't hold it any longer.  And here we are today and he still won't poop in the snow.  I know it is deep for him (he is a mini) and if he would try to poo in the snow it would be up around his midsection.  So does anyone have any ideas for how to get him to understand that it is ok to go in the snow?  I don't know why he won't go on the shoveled grass but that isn't working.  Any other ideas are greatly appreciated.  I am getting tired of walking for a mile or two every night at midnight until he can't hold it any more!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You'll notice that many dogs have to do a little ritual dance before they can poop, which often involves rapidly walking back and forth, round and round, until they find that exact spot, lol. So I have always shovelled out enough of an area of the grass portion of my yard so that the dog can do this. It's a lot of work, but it's really the only thing that has worked for me with my smaller dogs, and even for huge JD it helps. I shovel an oval shaped track-type path from my back door to the area of the yard where he usually goes, and then that area has to be large enough for him to move around, circle, etc. You also have to keep the whole shovelled area picked up, for obvious reasons.

[Margaret & Pebbles]

Karen I do the same thing.  Not so much for Pebbles, but for my non doodle Mitzie.  I shovel a rather large area, and I make several crossways through the snow so she can run and circle.  My neighbors laugh at me,  "There goes Margaret shoveling her grass!!"  Anything for my girls!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL, exactly!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Don't clean up his old poo. Leave it in one area and return him to this area  each time.  Good Luck

[Diana Erhart]

Problem with these is that he usually will not poop in his own yard unless he has an upset tummy and it is the middle of the night.  Otherwise, he will only poop when he is on his walk.  Maybe I just have to suck it up and walk around the same little spot for an hour.  Although he is so strong willed he probably would rather hold it.  I have raised a monster doodle!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

JD used to be that way, he would only poop on walks, never in the yard. But when the snow was too deep for us to walk through, he figured it out, and so will Charlie. I promise you that eventually, when he has to go badly enough, he will learn to do it in the yard. All you can do is make a space for him to use as best you can and the rest is out of your hands.

Every year it takes JD a day or two to get used to not getting his regular nightly walks every single night. But he will be much unhappier if I break a hip falling on the icy sidewalk in the dark than he is having to poop in the shovelled out backyard, lol!

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

I live in the northeast, when I had Shih Tzus I would shovel a path and a cul-de-sec (sp?) for them.  They loved to play in the snow.  But since your dog needs to get use to the snow he will soon adjust to it and have no problems.  The more you take him out in the the quicker he will get use to it.  My doodles are bigger so the only time I have to shovel is when there is a foot or more.  I would try to play with him while he is outside... maybe throw some snowballs etc. so he is more comfortable etc.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yes! "A path and a cul-de-sac" is exactly the right way to describe it!