Help, new potty habit - the driveway?!

[ShaggyRudy]

Hi all - It's been a while.
So, our 2-year-old dog has started something completely new and I can't figure out why. Instead of darting out onto the usual spots in our lawn to relieve himself, he heads straight for either the middle of our driveway, or directly in front of our garage door. He first usually starts out like he doesn't even want to go, or can't figure out where to go. It takes forever, then he finally just let's it go on the pavement. We're out there at 3:00am hosing off the pavement or shoveling off poop!! Any idea why he would just sudenly start to do this?? Our yard is huge, so it's not like he's "run out of fresh spots" or anything. It's getting very frustrating because since he's now going on such a smooth surface, it runs all over his paws and back legs! I even walk down onto the grass with him and praise him like crazy when he starts to sniff around in the grass, but it just doesn't work.
Any suggestions?!

Thanks again!

[Prin]

Maybe he misses the compact snow? Or maybe it's time to mow the lawn?

Poor doggies can't get it right- yours goes on the driveway instead of grass, another one's dog goes on the grass and burns it all up so it turns yellow... They just can't win.

[ShaggyRudy]

I know! I just have to laugh at this point.
I doubt he misses the snow, though - I'm actually writing from Atlanta, Georgia
So, he hasn't seen too much snow.

We're thinking maybe something in the yard scared him at one point?
Who knows!

[Prin]

Maybe some ants crawled or some other insect on his paws right in the middle, when he couldn't move, and he got the heebeejeebees or something.

oo maybe... Are there a lot of wasps where you are? There are some solitary wasps that nest in the ground- maybe he stepped on one a while ago and spooked?

[joeysmama]

Maybe the grass is too high or too dry? Lately Cooper will sniff around, squat and THEN change his mind. He starts to squat and then stands back up and goes to another spot. He sometimes has two trial squats before he settles on a spot. But he's a short legged guy and I think that the grass is just in need of cutting or something. Long enough to poke his tummy but not long enough to be soft. You know?

What thread has the pee pee post suggestion?? I think it's the same one about burning up the grass. That might be helpful.

[Writing4Fun]

Originally Posted by ShaggyRudy

We're thinking maybe something in the yard scared him at one point? Who knows!

That is extremely likely, and really, he's the only one who'll know for certain. The only suggestion I have is to take him out on his leash, keeping it calm and 'no big deal' while he sniffs around. Maybe give the command 'Go pee' or 'Be quick' and praising lightly when he finally does. The idea is to make him feel like this is normal, every day stuff, nothing to be freaked out about. Does he go on the grass at all anymore (to play, for example)? Good luck!

[rainbow]

I would re-start Potty Training 101.

[MyBirdIsEvil]

He probably just doesn't like going on the grass.
You'll have to put him on a leash and start making him go on the grass because now he just figures it's much nicer and more comfortable to go on the smooth dry pavement than the rough grass.
He probably has chiggers jumping on him too, considering where you live. There's TONS of them here. They keep jumping on me and biting every time I walk out into my grass, and I don't even have a big yard.
If you don't want to stand out there with him forever (which you shouldn't have to anyway), take him out for a few minutes and if he doesn't go bring him back inside and crate him. Keep doing this until he goes on the grass and after he goes praise him a lot and give him a bit of free time.

[ShaggyRudy]

Well, we really don't have chiggers here. In the south, it's more in Texas and neighboring areas. Wasps are more likely, but I'm not too sure I've seen many around our yard. Oh well. I think I might try the leash suggestion this week and see what happens.

But for now, pup is VERY happy and content this morning after getting his dog biscuit at Starbuck's

[jesse's mommy]

Are you sure there are no chiggers there? We had to clean out my honey's grandmothers house in Gainesville, GA (outisde of Atlanta on Lake Linear, sp?) when she passed away (she was in a nursing home for a long time so the house was pretty much abandoned). Anyway, since the grass was grown up and nasty, I got bit like crazy by chiggers. Everyone that was there identified what they were and the cops (we had to call them because someone broke into the abandoned house) gave me stuff to put on my legs.

[MyBirdIsEvil]

There are definately chiggers in GA. I've been to Atlanta in the spring and I got a bunch on me standing in the grass in front of the hotel.
I've also been to Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida, and there's chiggers there, so the south is not free of chiggers, lol.
They mostly live in tall grass though, so maybe you just don't have many in your yard.

[ShaggyRudy]

Well, I didn't say that the south was free of chiggers, but I've never been bitten by them or seen them in our area. However, my husband just informed me that they do exist in Georgia. I had no clue.

Anyway - I've actually never been bitten by anything aside from mosquitos in our yard where our pup plays.
It's also mowed frequently this time of year.

[tenderfoot]

I think something made him very nervous in the grass - maybe just a simple garden snake.

Start taking him out on the leash - only on the edges of the area you want him to potty in. You are desensitizing him to the grass. Help him feel safe and retrain him to the areas you want him to potty in.