schnauzer bathroom habits

Question
I have a 1 year old mini named Winston. He is neutered. He is very intelligent and energetic and has all the joy and sassiness of a schnauzer.

My yard is not fenced in (5 acres) and he is too headstrong for an invisible fence. This means I have to take a walk whenever he has to go to the bathroom. I am OK with that. My problem is that he holds it forever! We go to the dogpark often and he annoints every tree and bush, but, at home he still squats and only urinates morning, evening and night. Bowels movements are never in the same trip.

He is terrible on a leash in public, straining and choking himself, but, at home, he has a 26 foot leash and is rarely no more that a foot from my side. He wanders arounds sniffing and looks up at me like, what are we doing here? Even when he has been in his crate all day and I take him out when I get home from work, he does not immediately relieve himself. If my husband gets home first, he lays on his back on the lawn and stares at the driveway waiting for me.

Last night, after and hour of being bitten up by mosquitos at 10:30, I brought him in and put him in his crate. Then took him out an hour later and he went pretty promptly.

From the beginning, I have praised him and occassionally give him treats when he goes, but he still seems bewildered when I tell him to go peepee.

He is not a stupid dog, quite the reverse. Obviously, I am somehow sending the wrong message. My goal wiould be to have him relieve himself on command. What can I do? My last schnauzer went whenever he saw grass. This one never goes in the house, but must be coaxed into going.

Thank you, Susan  

Answer
I would try getting more water into him; one way is to put water into his kibble. It is not healthy for schnauzers to go so infrequently.

I think your crating him when he wouldn't potty and then taking him out an hour later is the way to approach this (without walking him around for an hour being mosquito bait). When he does potty, praise him to high heaven in an excited voice!

One thing I would absolutely do, though, is to put up a fenced area around the area where you take him out to potty. It certainly doesn't have to be a large area, but big enough that he feels comfortable enough to relieve himself there; put a gate in there so that you can get in and out of it easily. We fenced a large area for our dogs using welded wire and metal fence posts and it was fairly inexpensive considering how many feet it is. Some dogs just are not comfortable relieving themselves on lead, but will be more willing to mark where other dogs have gone.

Karen