Wet grass

[sdasilva27]

Sorry to be asking so many questions lately but I have another one.

So here are things McKenzie will do:
1) Hold going potty for 36 hours rather than step on the wet grass
2) If I try to urge her onto the grass with a treat or by just trying to continue to walk so far that she'd have no choice but to follow me and step on it, she'll sit on the wet cement and turn her head up and to the opposite side to look away from me
3) After waiting the 36 hours, I was trying to get her onto the wet grass to go and it just so happened that it was either stepping on the wet grass or stepping into a 4inch puddle to get back to the cement, of course, she chose to step into the 4in puddle
4) After going through the puddle, she still refused to go onto the grass but I knew she really had to go since she had eaten 3 meals without going potty by now and I could see her butt muscles constricting. She would start to squat to go and then would be like no shoot can't go so she'd tighten her muscles up and get back up.
5) Finally, it's been an additional half hour, she finally couldn't hold it any longer and ended up going in the middle of the street


I've been trying to teach her a potty command so that when I'm in a rush or there's bad weather, I can tell her to go quickly but she doesn't seem to be catching onto it or just doesn't care.


How can I get her onto the grass to actually go? I've tried treats, luring her to come to me, going to high ground where the grass is shorter, nothing seems to work. I hate to see her holding it that long but I don't know what else to do. I've been spending well over 30 minutes for the past few days trying to get her to go (not easy in the morning with work!) And it's not even the Florida rainy season right now!!! I can only imagine what she'll do if we can't "fix" this by then!

[CoraP.]

Molly is the same way. She HATES the wet grass. We have a stone sidewalk out back where her tie - out is and I have to lead her off the stone and sometimes pull her off to make her get on the grass. When we work all day, I can't have her holding it all night AND all day! She has gotten a little better in the last few months because she knows if I come out the door, I am going to make her go on the grass, so she'll finally go herself. Now I stand out there and keep saying"go potty" or "go to the bathroom" and she finally goes.

[jacqui]

Welcome to the world of having a Chowgirl typical of Chows.
both my Chowgirls have been very difficult with wet grass but Chyna is the absolute worst.
the problem is if they don't at least pee they can get Urinary Tract Infections,and Chyna is prone to them anyway.so what I do is walk her to her favorite spots around the block and she always goes at least twice.if I go in the yard with her she will NOT pee at all even though I know she has to go.
and she will never go in the house ever.she will hold it for days.
so try walking with Mckenzie around the neighborhood and see if she'll at least do something
best of luck

[WildThings]

Do you have a park or a large grassy area you could walk her in? My family has a park across the street from our house. Days when it rains, if the dogs are refusing to go in the wet grass we go over there. They really don't have a choice but to walk in the wet grass and there are usually enough new smells to take their mind off the rain and wet grass. My collie has decide over the last year that going in grass regardless of the moisture level is not acceptable (actually, it's the dementia), so she goes on the driveway all the time. Of course, when she goes on the driveway, the chow girls have to also .

As for training her to go on command for times when you are rushed...if you actually get her to, congratulations. I swear Fiona knows when I am short on time or rushed and takes extra long on purpose.

[sdasilva27]

Maybe I was just too spoiled with Baloo. He peed on cue, would shake the excess water off him on cue, etc.

It just kills me that I can't even pull her onto the grass to force her into slowly getting used to it. We have tons of land two lots over from us but nothing is fenced in so she's always on the leash. The thing is that most of the grass doesn't get cut, only the 3 feet to each side of the sidewalk so I only let her go that far so she doesn't come back out full of ticks. I've been trying to walk her more when she won't go, trying to loosen up the bowels so she's forced to go, that's working a teeny bit but it takes a good 20 minutes which I just don't have in the morning. I guess on rainy days, I'll have to get up earlier or something. I didn't know girls could get a tract infection just by not peeing for a day. What are the symptoms of one? I also noticed that she hardly drinks any water, even when she's panting. Her water bowl is a 2 cup bowl and she drinks maybe an inch of water per day, normally less. That kind of concerns me. She goes for her check up tomorrow at the vet to make sure the URI either went away or for further testing if her breathing is still a bit off (we want to rule out damage due to the light positive heartworm). I'll ask him about the peeing/possible dehydration. I know she'll drink when she's thirsty but it seems like she's never thirsty!

[CoraP.]

Molly had a urinary tract infection when she came to us. She had to pee every 15 minutes or so and was going in the house a LOT! We were disappointed because the rescue said she was housebroken. Finally I realized something just wasn't right ...her pee smelled awful, too. When I took her to the vet, they said it was quite a nasty infection. It cleared up with antibiotics. That's why I want her to go in the morning, so she's not holding it so long. When I saw how much she hated going on wet grass, I understood why she had had a UTI!

[Laura]

No clue on the wet grass thing but the water intake concerns me. My two drink alot of water. I would definitely ask about that.

[sdasilva27]

Yeah, we're going later today to the vet. I have a list of things to ask him about. We really love her and she's doing so well there are just these things that seem so odd to me. The vet is going to think I have munchhousings or something, lol. I doubt she has a UTI because she just finished her antibiotics for the URI. I don't like the not drinking thing either, I usually have to urge her to drink. Again this morning there was dew on the ground so she wouldn't potty. I was outside with her for 25 minutes. I walked her, we jogged a little to try to get the bowels moving, etc. and she would only even sniff a few times. The first time she sniffed, she walked onto the grass and it wasn't the perfect spot but she learned the grass was wet so she wouldn't go back on. She again sat on the cement when I tried to call her onto the grass. I don't want her holding her pee everyday for up to 24 hours, it's just not good but we both work and I don't know what else to try, I'm going to ask the vet and trainer if either has any suggestions because my fiance was to leave the house by 5:30 and I have to leave by 6:30. The ground is usually never dry by then. She was fine with the morning dew the first 10 days or so that we had her. She's either a major goofball or now that she gets to live in the house and not an outdoor kennel, she's getting all miss priss on me. That's another thing I don't get, she was in an outdoor kennel for 6 months, you'd think the water didn't bother her.

[jacqui]

just to clarify----
I am not saying Mckenzie has a UTI now but not peeing every morning and holding it could cause UTI.
Chows are very stubborn about wet grass and wet ground.all my Chowboys have been fine its just the girls that give me a problem.
good luck at the vet

[sdasilva27]

just to clarify----
I am not saying Mckenzie has a UTI now but not peeing every morning and holding it could cause UTI.
Chows are very stubborn about wet grass and wet ground.all my Chowboys have been fine its just the girls that give me a problem.
good luck at the vet

Oh yeah, I knew you weren't saying she has one now. I don't like the possibility of it though since she's been doing this for over a week now. Luckily this time she just finished antibiotics but who knows if one could start developing soon.

[CoraP.]

Someone on another forum said they used a "pee stick" for housebreaking and it worked quite well. It has a scent on it to give them the idea of going outside. Maybe that would help??!

[sdasilva27]

She's already housetrained, she just holds going potty for up to 2 days when the grass is wet. The vet said as long as she pees once a day and poos at least every 2 days, it's okay.

The antibiotics worked for the URI but the eye drops didn't help at all and the little clump of eye goo that I thought was stuck in her eye, turned out to be some eyelashes gunked up that rolled in. So she has a 2 mm piece of her eyelid that's entropion. I'll discuss more on the health thread.

[Jeff&Peks]

I think it was said but have you thought about bringing her to a park, with all the scents she will be peeing and pooping all over the place. Pekoe dosn't like grass period let alone wet grass, she thinks grass is just one big toilet, once your done time to head back to concrete, grass is of no use. Another reason she may not be going is Chows don't really like going to the bathroom in thier own home/yard Pekoe has never pooped in the yard and waits untill the sprinklers come on to pee in it, I guess she thinks the sprinklers will wash it away.

[sdasilva27]

She doesn't go in her own yard. We have a cul-de-sac at the end of the street. It has a paved sidewalk and about 3 feet of grass on one side of the sidewalk and a bit more on the other side. So I walk her down there all the time to potty and at the beginning of every walk. There are about 10 dogs that live on the street and all potty over there. But even with all the other scents she absolutely refuses. She also won't go at the training center because all the other dogs go on the chunk of grass there too.

I'm starting to think that she's kind of opposite, like she likes to potty on grass that other dogs haven't touched because I've never seen her potty in the same spot twice and if I can visibly see another dog's potty (since I can't smell like she can), she won't go within a few feet of it. She really only seems to be this picky in the morning though. In the afternoon and night, she potties in the cul-de-sac area with no problems. It still does take a good 15 minutes or so of walking her before she'll go though.

I took her out twice this morning, before and after she ate for 15 minutes each time. She again, wouldn't even sniff or touch the grass. The vet says it's okay if she doesn't potty in the morning since she doesn't drink much and just to let her decide how much she needs to drink and potty. He said dogs know how to regulate themselves. She was going potty around noon every day at the shelter because that's about when they walked her. She was put on our schedule right away when we brought her home and she was doing well on it for the first 10-14 days so I think it's a little weird that she's reverting back to the shelter schedule? Her poo was also very watery when she first came home, we've fixed that with her food but the only other thing I can think of is that that's why she was on our schedule well because she was having a hard time holding it and now that her bowel movements are more solid, it's easier for her to hold until her normal afternoon time?

I'm just going to keep trying to work with her. I'm going to try to find another spot where all the dogs don't go to test that theory. Either that or just keep working with her and giving her time for her body to adjust more.

[panshay]

oh that sounds so familiar to me. pan tao hates to go for a whee at night when ists raining or just wet outside. he refuses to go out and stops at the top of the stairs.
sometimes i can lure him to just go round the corner, no normal night walk required, and he relieves himself completly at the hedge nearby, as quickly as possible of course. but sometimes, no way.. he won't go, well then we go back inside and he holds it til the next morning. no probs at night. usually the following morning he goes as normal.

its a funny (but also tireing thing) with chow potty habits..well

[sdasilva27]

Yay for McKenzie!

I started paying attention to every movement while she was outside in the morning and got the idea that she thought that I didn't want her to step on the grass. She doesn't like being at all dirty so she figured that I wouldn't either? So I started stomping around on the wet grass for the next few mornings to show her "see I do it, you can too" kind of thing. So after 3 days of this, she finally came onto the wet grass with me yesterday morning. For about 2 minutes, just long enough to sniff and somehow got the idea to eat a piece of wet grass? She always has water in her bowl, maybe she thinks it's a delicacy? Then she jumped back to the cement but I figured progress was being made so I praised her and we continued our walk.

Now this morning, she waited for me to step into the grass first, after I did, all I had to do was say "come here" today and she came right on. She sniffed for a few minutes, ate a few pieces of grass, then sniffed some more and actually pottied!!! I was so proud of her that I praised her and pet her chest (she LOVES that), and then started clapping for her. When I started clapping, she started hopping around motioning back to the house. So I was like hmm maybe she feels so much better after the antibiotics and everything, maybe she wants to run because yesterday my fiance was walking her when I got home and as soon as she saw me, she started hopping and trying to run to me. So we ran all the way back home. She panted a little bit but only for about 10 seconds back in the house. She was so excited and I was so proud of her.

Thank you all for your advice, reading, etc. I just hope that we can make this a habit now!

[CoraP.]

Good for McKenzie! I guess sometimes they just need our reassurance that it's o.k. What a good girl she is!

[Scarlets Mom]

I just found this topic, I had been thinking my Scarlet was Being "delicate" because she too wil not walk in wet grass, let alone pee. Good to know we are not alone,lol

[sdasilva27]

Haha, nope, you're not alone.

Luckily, McKenzie no longer acts dainty about wet grass. Now she doesn't even think twice about it. So much so that I have to wipe her paws and her stomach and her chest when we get back into the house to dry her up!