Go Off On Your Own Cooper!!!!

[Wasseem Sidhom]

At 9 month old, I still can't get Cooper to go off to the backyard on his own to do his business. Granted, I haven't tried very hard.

We leave the house from a door to the deck and have to go about 10 steps down off the deck to the backyard.  I have an 80 foot chain, that I can tie him to, but he won't go down the stairs without me.  He'd rather hold it and stand by the glass door to be let in instead of going and playing in the yard by himself.  I know he's a pack animal, but really??? BTW, the chain is a temporary thing until the summer when I can install an electric fence around the whole property.

Any advice as the temp will be miserable for me (he doesn't seem to care) already and it will simply be getting worse.  I'm kicking myself right now for not thinking through this earlier :)

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I'm going through the exact same thing with Winnie, who is the same age as Cooper. Even though we have a fenced in yard, I have always gone out onto the deck and down the steps to watch her do her "business." Now that it is already below zero outside, I'm not wanting to do that so much! Last week she had me "trained" to walk a step or 2 out onto the deck with her, and then she would go down the steps by herself. 

This week I decided to put an end to that completely. And, I have found that if she has to "go" badly enough, she will go down the steps by herself. I used to let her out first thing in the morning before breakfast, but now I feed her first and then let her out. That seems to help. If I'm really in a hurry and don't have time for her to dawdle, I put her on a leash and go out the front door instead. She knows that there is a small area in the front yard that is strictly for pottying, not playing.

[Chris & Abby]

Abby is 6 mo old and still wants me to watch while she potties. Sounds like a doodle thing!!. I stay with her when I can and otherwise I leave her and she barks. Hoping she wlll outgrow it!

[sheri & zoey]

Zoey is almost a year and I still take her out on a leash to go. How do I train her to go, do her business and come back in? We have a large fenced in lawn, but if I just let her go she will dig and not come when I call her. Otherwise, she's a great dog!!