How often should a 1 year old or older dog go?

In terms of peeing and pooping.

Now that I am back home for the summer I am dealing with Kelly refusing to pee or poop in the backyard. She only goes when we go for walks, play at a friends place, or at the dog park. Sometimes when the entire family is busy until dinner time, she holds it the entire morning and day without disturbance and when we let her outside into our backyard she just doesn't go. Sometimes she doesn't even go outside. Now on days that we cannot walk her or talk her to play, she does indeed go in the backyard but she lags it out to 10 -11 pm.

I know this is a bigger problem amongst other breeds, and I did read about this with the Shibas but I had no idea it was this extreme. Any advice or opinions on this matter would help a lot. Thanks.

Comments

  • edited November -1
    Koda holds it all day at 3 months old. He won't even use wee wee pads, and only likes to go on lead out on the grass. If I'm not there he doesn't go. I just make sure I take him out every couple hours to get him to go.

    Try putting her on a lead and taking her out into the backyard. I do it with Koda. Also, you could hire a dogwalker during the week.
  • edited November -1
    Bella, who is almost 4, poops usually once a day. She does pee two to three times a day depending on her activity level and how hot it is (obviously if it is hot, she goes more because she drinks more). She is very particular about where she poops, though, and sometimes if she can not find her 'perfect' spot, she will not go that day.

    Nola, who is just over a year, goes more often. She generally poops twice a day (once in the AM, once in the PM) and pees 4-5 times a day depending on activity level and temperature.

    Some Shibas refuse to use the bathroom in the yards if at all possible. It sounds like Kelly would rather not soil her territory. You may need to take her on a few quick walks during the day to see if she will go.
  • edited November -1
    Katsu poops twice a day, morning and evening and will pee whenever we walk her. She actually pees on pavement and black top, and has even pooped in the petco parking lot. She can hold it for a while though, no accidents since the first week.
  • edited November -1
    Beebe used to be so (unreasonably) stubborn about not going where and when I thought she should go, but I really don't think she had to. She would seem to be perfectly fine holding it all day long even though we had plenty of outside time and frequent breaks. The only info I had ever had on house training was for labs and goldens and breeds like that that are nowhere near as tidy as Shiba so that is the worst case scenario I planned for going in with my first Shiba. As a result, I probably worried way too much about her voiding from day 1 (aside from the poo eating.) As she has matured, she has become a little less stubborn about holding it when she doesn't really need to.

    The 2 new girls I have had here for training this last few months are a different story. Neither of them went for the first 2-3 days, pee or poo, and this last girl wouldn't poo at all for about 5 days until she finally exploded in a Petsmart (it was embarassing, but at least she didn't do it in her crate). We went to Petco 4 days later and she did it again. Talk about stubborn, but they refuse going on walks, and really don't want to go in their new yard. They chose the furthest corners of the yard to go (behind trees, under shrubs) and bury the messes with leaves. Oddly, I think Alona is sort of waiting until we go to Petsmart again...
  • edited November -1
    Duke will go in the yard, but prefers to go on walks. If he goes for a walk, he will poop 4-5 times, with nothing left after the first.

    Its like he has diarrhea, but only on walks, never any other time.
  • edited November -1
    Keiko will only go on walks, and she is VERY stubborn about going. Sometimes she pees twice a day, sometimes only once, and sometimes not at all. Same thing for poo - usually if she goes once per day we get super happy.

    As most of you probably remember she's always been stubborn and picky about going.
  • edited November -1
    I let my guys out every morning and every evening, and often times Tetsu won't take advantage of it in the morning. He'll usually hold it in for a walk or the dog park or for the evening let out. He doesn't mind going in the yard, but he'll find the farthest area he can reach and go there (unlike Tikaani who will go practically by the door).

    I know it sounds a little disgusting, but did you think of maybe leaving some of the poop in an area that you want Kelly to go (and maybe mark it off so that no one else steps in it). Sometimes the presence or smell of their own poop can encourage them to poop in that area.
  • edited November -1
    Wait. Why are there some days that you can't walk your dog? It probably would only take 15 minutes for a potty walk. Is everyone in the family gone until 10pm?
  • edited November -1
    I never said everyone was gone. We are currently adjusting to this situation because I am home for the summer (I usually live at school where there is no problem.) What I am saying is that if we do not walk her she refuses to go until 10 or 11pm in our backyard. I hated seeing her hold it for that long so I asked to see if this was a problem with other people too. Now we try to take her out once in the morning, work/school, then for a long walk after dinner.

    If you read my post again you'll likely find the answers to your questions.
  • edited November -1
    Really I would just make a point of getting up earlier and taking her on a good walk. None of my dogs will relieve themselves in the yard. So we get up at 5 or 6 EVERY morning and walk them a few miles. At the very least long enough to get them to do their business. Then even when both of us are working we have someone come to the house to walk them until they pee. Just because they CAN hold it doesn't mean they should. In the best interest of the health of your dog, I would strongly encourage you to bump up your walking schedule.
  • edited November -1
    Yup,I agree. Our family has definitely adjusted. I really hated to see her hold it for so long. It would always be on my mind when I was busy working.
  • edited July 2009
    We have a routine with Tank and we stick to it like glue. The hub gets up at 4:30am, takes Tank out on a brisk walk until he goes poo & pee (the walk lasts about 30mins or a mile). I take Tank out around 6:30am, walk him for 15-20mins & only sometimes does he pee. Tank is extremely picky about where he goes (either pee or poo) and absolutely refuses to go in our yard or anywhere close to our home. I think it has to do with his Shibatude of some patches or grass simply not being good enough for him to relieve himself on lol.

    Due to our work schedule, Tank doesn't get to go out again until 3:30 or 4pm but he usually poos & pees again during this walk. Sometimes, the walk can last up to an hour before Tank goes potty. I've noticed that we can sometimes speed up the process by running with him - lots of movement usually can get Tank's little system going. :P

    At night, Tank goes on a walk again around 8'ish and sometimes he poos other times he doesn't but he always pees.
  • edited November -1
    Wliu, have you tried teaching her to pee / poop on command? I find that extremely helpful especially when she's goofing off and I really need her to pee (usually it's right before I have to go to work). The poop command doesn't always work, but it gets the idea through to her head (I think).

    Shao New is 9 months, we do 5 walks a day (2 in the morning 6am/8am, one at 4:30, 7pm and 9:30pm)., 30-45 min each, and she poops 2 -3 times a day--also she only peed once in my parents back yard, never pooped there and refuses to pee there now since it's her digging / pear snatching playground.
  • edited November -1
    The funny thin is that I THOUGHT she knew it. Cause when we are at school, I would get a treat and tell her to "potty" and she would go and then come back for the treat. This was pretty consistent. But now I realized that shes probably conditioned in that setting rather than actually understand the command. So I'm going to have to retrain her with the word potty.

    We set up a new walking schedule and shes going 4-5 times now (including once or twice in our backyard when we play fetch or some other active game.)
  • edited November -1
    yeah, just retraining should do the trick. yay on the new schedule! :) Dogs are hard work, but it's all worth it.
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