Curious Problem - Page 1

Hello everyone,

I'm a longtime lurker here, never had a chance to post, but love the board - so much useful information. Thank you all for that.

Anyway... I have a curious little problem with my 5-month old Dux della Valcuvia grandson that I thought I might ask professionals to address.

We live in NJ and just had a first big snowstorm of the season here. I couldn't wait to see how the pup's first snow experience would go, and he, of course, loved it. Lots of playing and catching snowballs, it's wonderful.... BUT doesn't do his business in the snow. At all. Now I have to say that he's a house dog and has already been housebroken. Now we're back where we started. I tried clearing up an area for him to go, tried crating him till he couldn't hold off any longer, tried walking him till we both were blue, tried walking together with a neighbour's dog, so the sight and smell could prompt him.... NOTHING. He cries and shakes then runs back home and does his business in the house.

I've never had this problem with my other dogs (and over the years I've had many) and we're getting more snow tomorrow, so as you can imagine, I'm not too thrilled about white Christmas anymore. So, aside from packing up and moving to tropical climates any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, my fellow dog lovers, and have a great holiday season!

If you could shovel away some snow in a spot in your front or backyard, it might help speed things up.  Our dogs have a specified area where they do their business.  When it snows, we usually shovel the area out so that it's level and "dry" as possible; that way a lot of the snow won't turn to slush.  Some of ours won't want to go if it's really wet and mushy out and they're not too keen on all the freezing rain we've been getting as there's no traction, but the longer your dog is out and about in the snow, it will probably get more accustomed to it and things will get back to normal. 

you need to walk your dog on the leash until he does his business.  what do you do to him when he does his business inside?  how you react to it is the key to solving your problem.  

I live in Minnesota and have had this problem with several pups.  Easy (but cold) solution - clear the potty area of snow as best you can and DRESS WARMER.  You just have the wait the pup out.  At 5 months he can take more cold than you think.  The second he finally goes, huge praise and immediately run for the house.  They figure out quick the only way to get back to the warm house is do their business.   I have several adult dogs that if they don't have to go and I take them out, they will actually squat just to show me they don't have to go (they are also conditioned to do their business on command which helps greatly).   Good luck!!