house breaking a westie

Question
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Followup To
Question - no he is not a pup,he is 4 or 5 years old. can you help?
Hi,I walk my male Westie for 45 minutes and he waits to get in the house to poop on the floor.(i dont know if this is pertinent but i walk him with my female Westie).Can you help me with this frustrating problem?Thank you.
Answer -
Hi Steven-
It sounds to me like your male needs time to relieve himself without walking around.  You don't say how old he is...I'm going to assume he's still a pup.  The biggest step in getting a dog to go is consistency.  You need to take him to the same area to do his duty.  Tell him the same command you use and stand there and wait rather than walk him.  This way he'll learn that this is his particular area that he needs to go to for his bathroom needs.  If it's possible, take the male out alone so that he doesn't have any distractions.  If you need any more help, don't hesitate to contact me again.

Thank you-
Patty Lemke
www.country-sidebreeders.com


Answer
It sounds like your male has a dominance issue.  Has he always done this?  I would try taking him out without the female and see what happens.  Also, how long have you had each of them and how old were they when you got them...what else (if anything) has changed in his life lately...and yours: more hours at work/school, different job, relocated, etc.  If you'd like, you can email me personally at countryside@itol.com and we can get into this a bit more.
Thank you-
Patty Lemke
www.country-sidebreeders.com