Hi,
We have had our dog now for 3weeks.he went into rescue as a stray. Possible thoughts are that he was left behind by travellors but that isnt confirmed.he is semi house trained, however, we are treating him like a pup and taking him into the garden every 2 hours to wee, or when he shows an interest in finding a spot inside. He gets praised and rewarded and so far this is working well. He has been a few times inside when we were not there and yesterday he went in the hallway by the door when we were upstairs so entirely our fault for not being around to witness his behaviour change to signal the need to wee. However, on walks he absolutely will not wee but he will poo. Its not the worst thing in the world but is a bit of a pain to go on a lovely walk then have to bring him home and put in the garden to wee. I am wondering that perhaps he doesnt understand that one of the purposes of a walk is to have a wee and I'm not sure how, or even if, I can teach him that.
When both dogs go into the garden I say 'go for wee wees'.from a pup this has worked with fred and is now working with star.we were spending up to 15 minutes to get him to understand what he was there to do, now its just a few minutes. I have also started using the 'wee wee' word every time we are out on a walk when fred goes to see if it triggers anything in star and associates a link
Really looking forward to your responces. X

I am wondering that perhaps he doesnt understand that one of the purposes of a walk is to have a wee

I actually think that the purpose of a walk is to give exsercise. In the perfect world all dogs would toilet at home and then there would be no dog dirt where it shouldnt be. or pees at lamp posts, doorways car wheels ect. I have no problem with my dogs using the garden as a toilet, i just lift or disinfect as needed.  If they want to toilet on their walks fine, but that isnt the purpose of their walk. often when we come back our walk i allow them to go outside to see if they want to pee and more often than not they do.

However re the toileting, it is still early days. even pups will often go for a walk then toilet i their own garden when they come home. just give your dog time. perhaps he will toilet where another dog has just toileted?  so if you see a dog pee take your dog over to this and let him have a sniff. In the house you are right to treat as a puppy and go back to basics, out to toilet after feed/sleep/ play/training, you will work out how long he can go in between. just give him time. good luck and enjoy him.

You have only had him for 3 weeks so he is still getting his feet under the table (so to speak). Your home is becoming a safe area for him to wee so that is where he will do it. Out on a walk he is possibly still unsure of his surroundings so will not really want to put his scent out there unless he really has to. Males tend to wee more to let other dogs 'read' all about them. So until he is 100% secure in his surroundings I wouldn't worry too much. In a few months time you will be back on here telling us he has cracked it and you were wondering what all the bother was ;-)

"I actually think that the purpose of a walk is to give exsercise". Completely agree. Another reason may be, if he is still on a lead during walks, that he is 'embarrased' to go as you're still holding the reins lol, though you do say that he will poo, so maybe not. Does he cock his leg or squat like a puppy? If the latter, he may just be a bit immature/shy  at the moment and it will change given time.

Weeing on walks is often a confidence issue.  I wouldn't worry over much about it and just give him time :)

Boys like to mark too so some will wee at home, out on a walk and then back to revisit their own garden again!  Most boys I know will never just wee once...

I had a dog that would never wee on a walk.
I took her up to my brothers one day, 4 hour round trip and we were up there for 5 hours, took her for walks, left her in their garden, did all sorts, and she never did wee until we got back home over 9 hours later!!!
It did worry me when I took her down to cornwall camping for 12 days. But she did wee when there, so I wouldnt worry!!
Lea :)

> I actually think that the purpose of a walk is to give exsercise. In the perfect world all dogs would toilet at home and then there would be no dog dirt where it shouldnt be. or pees at lamp posts, doorways car wheels ect.

Totally agree, if only mine would only go at home, or on command when away from home in designated area, then I would not be carrying bags of poo on one hand when walking the 6 dogs.

I think I didnt explain myself properly. I'm not saying the sole purpose of a walk is to toilet but I thought it was unusual to walk him and him not wee. I have taken him to my parents house as they have some nice walks nearby by he wouldnt wee on the walk or in their garden so when I popped in for a cippa afterwards i was petrified he would wee in their house :(
He is still squatting to wee and is definitely more on the submissive side so perhaps it is a confidence issue. He has had a good sniff of lamposts and places that have recently been wee'd on but shown no interest in marking with his scent. Now I'm reassured its normal behaviour I will be happy to just give him time. Thanks all :)

Totally agree, if only mine would only go at home, or on command when away from home in designated area, then I would not be carrying bags of poo on one hand when walking the 6 dogs.

Oh Brainless i did laugh visulising you with your poo bags. having walk lots of dogs in the past i appreciate how many bags one ends up carrying! lol