Hi All,

We've rehomed a greyhound who is clean in the house and very obviously only used to toileting in a field. We are desperate for her to use our garden rather that walking to a field 10mins away especially first thing in the morning and last thing at night

So far on the advice of our rescue centre we have been taking her out every hour to get her used to the garden and feel safe in it.

She won't however go to the loo here and held on ALL day yesterday. The rescue centre assured me that eventually she would need too...however her anxiousness is obviously making her take control over her toilet behaviour.

As you can see from my pic she is VERY relaxed in the house and shows no signs of stress, but this loo thing is worrying me because i'm not sure how long she would hold it before we caved and took her around the block. The longest we've gone is 1 whole day and then last night she didn't want to move from the sofa. Strange thing is she is not wimpering or indicating in anyway that she's busting at all!

On a walk this morning (I bypassed the field to she if she would go anywhere else) she eventually wee'd mid pavement and poo'd on a scrap on grass at a gated entrance to a field!

Any tips for encouraging here to feel safe / that it is OK to go in the garden would be MUCH appreciated.

We have a small front garden fenced only on two sides. She can't see but can hear small amounts of traffic and lots of brids etc. ((As a last resort we've put down one of her own poops (after a walk) our the garden and taken her out to it the next time but nothing - not fased at all!))

HELP PLEASE!

Yours,
Etty

Attached Images

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Awe she is lovely and looks very much at home. I think we don't help with our anxiousness when we want them to toilet, when Flynn had his first hip replacement I was scared stiff that he wouldn't "go" while being held in a sling but after a day he did.

I was going to suggest what you have done but as that isn't working I would take her in the front garden on a lead and walk her just outside of the gate then turn around and bring her back in the garden over and over again, if she doesn't go within ten mins bring her back in a try again in an hour or so.

You could find letting someone else take her may make a difference as they pick up on our anxieties and it is probably making her uneasy. We may think we're being all coll and calm but we can't fool these kids, body language and vibes is what dogs "do"!

I know just how it feels, it makes us want to go and we feel them bursting don't we? lol!

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