Help!!! Cavalier owner at end of tether!

I need to ask for some advice.

I have a 10 month old Cavalier girl and we've house trained her since she was very little. She knows the rules and she knows how to ask to go out. The problem I have is that when it is cold, wet or windy she will not go outside. Even if I take her out and stand there she refuses to go to the toilet and then goes indoors when my back is turned.

I've tried everything - standing outside with her trying to wait her out, taking her out at regular intervals, telling her off and putting her outside - everything I can think of and I still can't crack it. We've done well and had no problems for a few months and then tonight - another puddle. She's just so stubborn and I feel that i'm losing a battle that I have to win.

Can anybody help?

I probably won't be the only person to say don't rub their nose in it :yikes

Apart from the obvious things like loads of praise when they do go outside and don't shout at them when they have an accident or they might do it but hide it from you (pee behind the chair or when you go out of the room). Also no point telling them off if you didnt catch them in the act.

I have noticed on the show, "It's Me Or The Dog", the dogs who are peeing in the house, just aren't getting out enough. Victoria gave one lady who had dogs who drank an awful lot a timer to take the dogs out every hour. Another dog who was marking on the bread bin :yuk: out for a wee every three hours. She said free feeding (leaving the food down all day) is bad is the dog will be thirsty more often/drink more/pee more.

Try a few ice cubes instead of water after 5pm. Thus giving a constant supply of water but not too much at once.

Oh I've just noticed he's 10 months and you say he's been good for a few months. That's not bad then.

Hope this helps.

Wish I could help..but I have the same problem. The only difference is that my girl doesn't necessarily go inside...she just holds it. Stinker!! It was very damp yesterday and again this morning. She finally popped about 2:30 this afternoon...she usually goes about 6 in the morning!

My elder girl has always hated widdling outside when it's cold/wet. Even when she has the opportunity to go, she'll often take one look at the weather, turn tail, and pee on the kitchen floor. She's now nearly three and a half and is completely reliable the rest of the time.

That pup of yours is a princess! How gorgeous!

A few accidents can still be expected at 10 months. I found it was about a year before they are really totally reliable and even then I have had a few accidents -- each time with a specific cause, either not getting out in time or some upset when a new dog came into the house.

Jaspar of my three HATES going out when it is wet. He even will look out the mail slot in the door if on an earlier walk it was raining. But mine HAVE to go out on walks as I don't have a garden. So he knows there's no choice.

You have a couple of options. One is to cover some area of the garden so that becomes the wee and poop place in wet weather. The other is to walk the dog, not let him out to go. Put him on a leash and out you go. Try buying a raincoat for him as well -- you'd be surprised at how much happier they will be if their coat stays dry. Finally -- have you trained him to go on command? Even in the pouring rain if I give Jaspar his command to go, he will go.

I take Kosmo out on a leash as Karlin says and say "GO POTTY!" I also refuse to come in no matter how wet we get until he has gone. He's caught on to the fact that we don't go in until he goes potty so now he's started ZOOMING out, squatting, and ZOOMING back in.. it's the funniest thing to watch.

Good luck! :flwr:

You're in good company, Fraggle. Cupcake is a total stinker about going potty outside in sub-optimal conditions. Due to this, and an allergy issue during the late summer months, we actually made a 3' x 3' x 2'' box and lined it with potty pads and when it's pouring, snowing, blowing, etc. out I just open up the door to the garage and she zips in there to take care of business.

I realize this is probably a huge no-no among dog trainers and probably makes me a bad mommy, but it works for us! We just make sure to always have her go outside when it's nice out so she remembers that it's okay to take care of business there.

Isabella hates the rain but will grudginly go when it comes down to it.

Abby, unfortunately, has learned to hate the rain but hasn't learned to accept it.

Mine hate the rain and will only go out if absolutely desperate, but I'm lucky to have a semi-sheltered passage by the back door, so they don't have to get soaked. Teddy is three, but if it's raining, he will wee outside, then do a poo indoors, if I don't catch him planning it.

Wow...I didn't know there were so many of us with rain-a-phobic cavs! I have two of them. When I take them out to do their "business" in the rain, they just stand there looking at me like, "Is she an idiot? Can't she tell it's raining? Why'd she bring us out here? Must be a human thing. We'll just stand here and humor her until she's ready to go back to the house." Of course, the whole time we're out there I'm frantically saying (begging, actually), "Get busy! Do your business! C'mon Abby. Be a good girl. Show her, Cappy. Be a good boy." as they stare at me...almost in disgust!

Anyway, if they don't go, I don't make a big deal of it. But when we get back to the house I send them to their crates. After about 10 minutes I "ask" them if they need to "get busy" which is their cue that we're going out for a potty break. The second outing usually gets results.

My two are on a pretty regular schedule so it's rare that they don't relieve themselves when I take them out. If that's the case, I know they'll do it as soon as we get back into the house, which is why I put them in their crates for a short while...and then give it another try.

Thanks for the replies all. I had no idea that this was a such a common Cav problem!

It seems that persistence is the key then, Bella is a good girl most of the time and she will normally go if we take a walk but when it's tipping it down and I encourage her to go out onto the garden that seems to be when we get the problems.

I'll keep going and hopefully she'll realise that it's a lot easier to just run out and do it quickly than play me up - here's hoping anyway!!

Oh yes Fraggle, it's an extremely common problem :lol:

I was in my garden wearing pyjamas and wellies this morning trying desperately to get my two to do a wee.

The look of disgust that Charlie was giving me was hilarious and Maxx just trotted over to the grass, did a wee and then came back waiting for his treat (they always get one from hubs at around 5.30am and Mamma was late at 6.45am!).

Charlie tried everything he could to avoid weeing in the rain, but, out of both of them, he's the one who needed to go as Maxx can hold his in for hours, then do 20 wees all round the garden :yikes

Twenty or so minutes later, he actually went but of course now, i am the worst Mamma in the World for getting him all wet :roll:

:lol: very common problem indeed!!

Dexter though bless him loves the garden, whether its raining or not and would quite happily spend hours out there - if you know he's just been out for a wee we have to stop him going out otherwise he doesnt want to come back in!

Oscar on the other hand is a straight out, do the business and straight back in to snuggle somewhere warm again, typical cav!!

hi

charlie dosent like the rain so i have to pull him out slightly as i do not have a garden but there is some green out the front he will run to the nearest patch of grass wee and pull to come back in molly on the other hand will go out in the rain and stand and stare at everyone with her tail wagging waiting for the first person to fuss her while im waiting for her to go to toilet and getting wet :roll: ,i do sometimes find a widdle indoors but not very often

I'm so glad you asked this question. We have been having problems with our Charley, who is 7 months. Although he is still young he has been pretty good for about 2 months with housetraining, except for the bad weather... rainy or cold or windy. So in the last couple of weeks he started peeing on the floor frequently and I couldn't figure out why. I've been getting frustrated cleaning up the carpet and floor and thinking of starting the housetraining from the beginning again. He had learned to go outside the back door when we opened it. He had started indicating when he needed to go or we would schedule the time accordingly.

We just took him to the vet to check to see if he has a bladder infection or something. We didn't get the results yet. But my husband really thinks it is the weather in the last couple of weeks because Charley doesn't like to go out in the inclement weather. I think the idea of taking the dog out and then putting back him in the crate and giving another chance again is a good idea so we are going to try that. I always say "he has to go sometime." But I've been told by other dog owners that they can "hold it in" for a long time if they don't like to go outside! It sure helps to know I'm not the only one who experiences this with their dog so keep sharing your ideas and stories! Even though I didn't post the original question all your answers have helped me a lot!

Funny topic. :lol: My youngest loves to muck about and splash in all the puddles like a 3 yr. old. My tri HATES the rain or even wet dew grass. I have to practically force him down the steps to get him to go. And he will then use the driveway. If I walk him on wet grass, he practically walks on tippy toes like a ballerina!