My adopted dog won't go outside to potty. How to train her in NYC?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Female | spayed | 2 years old | 46 lbs
Just adopted a two year old dog. She will not go to the bathroom outside and ends up having a single accident inside. I do live in NYC and she come from one of the effective areas of hurricane Florence. How can I help her go outside and more than once a day?
2 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on September 25th, 2018
She may have been trained to potty inside, you can try leaving out potty pads for her to go inside. She may also not be used to having to go potty in a busy, loud, or concrete-filled environment. Give her more time. Keep treats in your pocket and take her out often. Use a command like "go potty" and repeat it when you first get outside. When she does go outside, give her treats and LOTS of praise (people should be thinking you are a wackadoo!). Eventually she will figure out that going outside is a good thing that makes you very happy.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
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Published on May 26th, 2017
Punishing your dog or grabbing and hurting her when she's had an accident is NOT the right thing to do and will actually cause her to just be more fearful of you and lengthen the time it takes for her to get comfortable and in a routine. Even if she is an adult dog, she may not be entirely potty trained, so reverting to a puppy style of potty training is best to get her used to going outside. This may include restricting her access around the house unless supervised, and taking her out hourly as needed until she does go poop outside. Dogs generally have to go potty about 15 minutes after eating, drinking, playing or waking up so you can time this to your advantage to be more successful. If Charley isn't used to going potty outside or on a leash, you may need to spend a good 20-30 minutes outside before she goes as she may not know what is expected of her. When she DOES go outside, give her a favorite treat and praise her as if she's just saved the world- she'll start to understand that's what is wanted. If she is going potty in the crate, it may be that the crate is too large. The crate should be large enough to comfortably turn around and lay down, but not so large that Charley can go potty in one corner and then lay in the other. If she's having accidents outside the kennel, then using an enzymatic cleaner to remove any remaining particles can help discourage her from going there again.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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