How to potty train a rescue dog who won't go outside or use pads?

Question

Our new 6 pound 2 year old rescue dog has never been potty trained. She was locked in a garage. She does not know what grass is. I’ve been taking her on walks with our other dog however, she doesn’t get it when she sees the our older dog. The other dog uses potty pads at night and in bad weather but the new rescue doesn’t even gravitate to that either. She just goes when she has to where ever she happens to be standing. She seems to be traumatized by the mention potty. Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | spayed

Dr. Heidi DVM, CVA, CCRT, CVTP, CVSMT, CVCH · Accepted Answer

It sounds like you are going to have to be very patient with Pookie. I have attached a handout below on house training a rescue dog. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1118 Keeping Pookie in a crate or otherwise confined in the house will be very important right now because otherwise she will think it is fine to go all over the house. Most dogs do not want to go in their crate, so hopefully that will help teach her to hold it until she is taken out. Remember that the word potty doesn't mean anything to Pookie at this point, so she is likely just confused when you use the word repeatedly. Since Pookie does not seem to know to go outside, you will likely need to spend a lot of time outside walking around until she just happens to go outside. You will then want to reward that behavior (using treats or verbal praise) to try to encourage it again. It will likely be a very slow process at first, so be patient and treat her as if she were a puppy who doesn't understand anything. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

How to potty train a rescue dog who won't go outside or use pads?

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