I have a 10 month old male shih tzu. He is doing well with knowing when to tell us when he has to potty outside and pees on everything he can. The problem is that he will not poop outside unless we go on a walk or have lots of run time. He seems to be stimulated by the exercise and will sometimes stop in mid stride to go! He will not poop when I take him out on the leash and I know he needs to go because the signs are there. I have tried crating him for a few minutes and trying again but no luck. I try to take him out 30 minutes after feeding but he still doesn't go. I have always watched him closely as he has grown up and have only caught him in the act 3 times. He got a mild scolding when he was doing it and was taken out immediately.

How can I get him to go when I take him out? What am I doing wrong?

I always stress exercise. Still, you don't always have a half hour to walk the dog. You are praising him extravagantly when he does have his bowel movement? The other thing is not to cut the walk too short after it. If he learns a bowel movement ends the walk, guess what? So walk some more, 5 minutes may exceed his attention span.

I take him a 15 minute walk in the morning and he does his business early into the walk every time so the walks aren't cut short. I praise him a lot when he goes in the right spot. Like today, we were playing with him and out of the blue in mid stride he stops to start to poop in the house! I hurried and took him outside. When he finished I praised him lots and gave him treats.

I've heard that Shih Tzus are stubborn and can be difficult to potty train. The key is consistency and patience I guess.

Thanks

I hear a lot of this breed or that breed is hard to train. I read this method, and that method. Much of the advice I read differs from what I have been successful with. See https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/i...tml#post251809 I suspect many of these hard to housebreak puppies, the owners didn't start the way I do. I do have to admit, that I start with puppies that have much better than average care.

Thanks again for the info. I have done ALL of that. He's is SO close to finally understanding it I think. We have not been neglectful to him and have done various training techniques.

I'll just keep pressing on and I'm sure he'll get it.