My newly adopted dog won't potty in deep snow. What can I do?

She may have been trained to potty inside, you can try leaving out potty pads for her to go inside. She may also not be used to having to go potty in a busy, loud, or concrete-filled environment. Give her more time. Keep treats in your pocket and take her out often. Use a command like "go potty" and repeat it when you first get outside. When she does go outside, give her treats and LOTS of praise (people should be thinking you are a wackadoo!). Eventually she will figure out that going outside is a good thing that makes you very happy.

Hi there and thank you for using PetCoach! Sounds like he is having quite fun in the snow! You can try using pee pads in the house or using a product called Fresh Patch ( www.freshpatch.com ). More frequent walks outside may also help stop this inappropriate urination and then rewarding him when he does urinate outside every time will help reinforce him going outside. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Be patient with Bear. If this is his first snowfall it is very exciting for him and he doesn't fully understand. I would recommend shoveling a small area in the grass for him. Try and rest and I hope you feel better soon. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Kiba likely doesn't want to pee outside because it's cold out. I would take him out on a leash, and walk him around until he does his business, and then bring him right back in. You may need to take him for a walk in order to get him to go potty, but you don't want him to go potty in the house.

Poor Lillian. Make every effort to get her outside to potty. Also work on making her more comfortable. It's a big change for her. Once she is comfortable in the house, you can begin trying to get her comfortable outside. It's possible something has scared her in the past and now she has developed a negative association. You may try to counteract this by creating a positive association. Begin by having a high value treat or toy. Start playing/a training session inside the house by the door way. Do this for a few days. Once Lillian seems comfortable playing by the door way, toss the toy or treat outside and allow her to retrieve it and come back inside. Do this until Lillian is comfortable. Then move outside by the doorway way. Gradually move further and further away from the door way. Then begin gradually decreasing the play time and just hanging outside with her. Try not to leave her outside unattended until she seems comfortable. I hope this helps.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is going to take several weeks to months to train her to a new substrate preference. Carry her to the same patch of grass each time and keep her on a leash. Give her 10-15 mins to go to the bathroom. You can also carry her poop and put it on the grass or put a rag you previously used to clean up her pee so she can smell her scent. When she goes verbally praise her and give her a great treat then play with her outside for 10 mins. If she does not go, then she either goes in to the crate or is leashed to an adult until you can take her out again in 15-30 mins to try again. She can not come out of the crate or be off a leash until she goes outside. All bedroom doors need to be close and she should be gated from wandering off to go somewhere in the house. Do not use negative reinforcement if she goes in the house. Train her to ring a bell to notify you she needs to go out. The key is to always know where she is and to not allow her to have the opportunity to go inside. She can be allowed to be unsupervised once there has been 3 months of no accidents in the house. As a side note I found the beagles are the hardest to train. Especially if they were rescued from a lab or hoarding situation or grew up crated. I hope this helps and I wish you all the very best!

I recommend crate training. This is usually the easiest way to housebreak a dog. The key is that she must go back in her crate if she does not potty outside. Leave her in the crate for 30 minutes at a time. Then take her back outside for another 15 minutes. If she doesn’t urinate this time, she goes back in the crate. You keep repeating this until she goes outside. Once she urinates outside, then she is free to be in the house. You should carry her each time so she cannot pee on the carpet. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.