Inside Out

Hope has the doggie door thing down. She doesn't hesitate to go out the door if she's asked to. It doesn't take much. Tonight all I had to do was walk to the door with her following me, step out of her way and say, "Out." She popped on out the door. A couple of minutes later, she popped back in. I don't think she left the back porch.

We just came back in from another attempt to get the girl to pee outside. This time when I got her to go out, her feet hit the porch just long enough for her to turn around and get her nose through the doggie door flap. I went outside and stood in front of the door. She nosed around in the grass briefly, then sat down and looked up at me. I waited. She looked around for a bit before sniffing about the yard and finding a spot very near the porch to poop. She returned to sit at my feet and, with snout lifted and nose twitching, she read the breeze. I gave up. Came back inside. She followed me through her door.

The goal is to get her to go outside to relieve herself on her own. As it stands now, she willing goes out when we suggest it, but it's never her idea, When she's left alone for too long, unfortunate consequences follow.

If only she would go from the inside to the outside as eagerly as she does the reverse.