Why is my female dog so picky and slow when trying to pee outside?

This is pretty much typical for marking behavior. In dogs, both female and make are territorial and it is likely that she wants to make sure that she also establishes her territory. It is natural behavior, and nothing to worry about.

Your little girl sounds a bit nervous. Some dogs that are a little more submissive in nature can be nervous urinators. Meaning that when someone approaches them or they get excited they may urinate. This often gets better as they get older and gain more confidence, but can take some work. Can you try to change how you approach her with the leash? You could try to get down on her level with the leash behind your back and ask her to come to you instead of you going to her. You can also try distracting her with a treat while you put on the leash. If it seems to be related to approaching her head you can try having her wear a harness that way you dont have to approach her head. These are all some general ideas but you really just have to find out what her trigger is and change your routine to what works best for her. Hopefully with confidence it will improve with time. The flip side would be if she is urinating in the house at other points in time, then this would be more concerning for a physical problem such as a UTI that would prompt evaluation by your family vet. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

You can try training Harley to urinate on command. When you take her for a walk bring some high-value treats. Pick a command to use. Once she starts urinating, give her the command and reward her with the high-value treats. Make sure to do this consistently every single time. Some dogs can be trained in this fashion so that when you give the command to urinate, they do. Dogs are individuals however and some will take to this and some will not. Otherwise it may not be realistic that you can expect her to potty outside right away. If she is urinating in the house, when you take her outside and she does not go after 15 minutes, carry her back to her crate and put her in the crate for 30 minutes. Then carry her back outside for another 15 minutes. You repeat this until she potties outside. Praise and reward her and then she can have freedom in the house. Most pets will catch on to this quickly.

Designate one area and use it. Take her outside to that spot and wait. You can use a spray attractant to keep her interest to one area. As soon as she begins to go, say "Go potty", "Do your business" or similar phrase. Once she goes, offer profuse praise and a small reward then take her for a short walk. Do this every time she goes out. Eventually, she will go 'on command' because she knows she will get a reward afterwards. Be consistent. Be patient.

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.

If there is a specific pattern in the behaviour then re-organising the routine may help to rebuild a new pattern. Getting her to come, sit and receive a treat somewhere else in the house and then putting on the leash as he praises her may help to bypass the behaviour until she builds up more confidence. Revisiting basic recall/sit/wait training during walks and ball play by with may help to improve her confidence also

Hello, and thanks for your question. If Bell is only doing this behavior when she goes outside to urinate, then it is likely normal marking behavior. However, if it's a change and she's asking to go outside more frequently than usual, or having accidents in the house soon after urinating outside, then that may be a symptom of a urinary tract infection and should see the vet. Hope this helps!