Gigi's quite willing to lie around most of the time, but when she has to potty, if I go out WITH her and make her take the stairs slowly, and then stand there to keep her from leaping around, she won't GO potty. She stands there waiting for me to tell her what to do. The only way she'll actually go is if I come back in and leave her to it. But then I can't make sure she doesn't jump around. Even getting a little excited, like when she thinks I'm getting her a biscuit, brings on a coughing fit. ACK. Suggestions?

I have no idea....sorry!!

MAybe try to take a treat out with you staying the extra time. or possibly getting the potty pads for inside I know when we first thought that heartworm treatment would work for my gs mix we were told no walking around potty pads were suggested and to put im in a play[pen and kept quiet for 6 weeks after treatment was done that was years ago and it was decided he was too far gone for the treatment but it thought i would suggest it

They said she could climb the stairs if she walked and didn't gallumph up and down them and that she could go outside as long as she didn't jump around. I don't know if she'd use potty pads and she's a Lab, so potties are HUGE.

well this was 15 years ago lol and I am sure more research has been done so that there is more leniancy maybe taking her for a walk out of familiar territory would work?

She can't go for walks, the vet said. I tried just putting her on the lead and letting her wander around out there on her own and she did go potty and then came right back. I don't think she feels very lively right now anyway, so maybe that's the solution. I'll worry about keeping her calm after she starts feeling better and more energetic. We have a long lead attached to the deck since we don't have a fenced-in yard, and we just hook the dogs to that and let them out.

Heartworms have always been a fear of mine for exactly this reason. poor gigi. And poor you for having to be the one to force her not to have any fun
do vets ever prescribe low-dose sedatives to be given throughout the time the dog has to be kept low-key?

I hadn't thought of downers , but they might give me some for her if it becomes necessary. She's pretty much a couch potato anyway, it's just that when she does have a Lab Attack, it's Galloping Gallumph and bouncing off the walls and lolling tongue and flapping ears all the way. She used to race round and round the house, knocking stuff over and careening into George (she actually knocked him a-winding a few times), but she grew out of THAT, thank goodness. Now she just has the occasional flashback for a few minutes. It's those that I want to avoid until this is over. We have some catty-cornered backyard neighbors with obnoxious dogs who bark at ours when they come outside, and while George will woof at them a couple of times and forget they're there, Gigi prefers to bark and bark and bark and bark and bark back, and run back and forth at the end of the lead while doing so. We have really big yards in this neighborhood, and those dogs are on the other side of our next-door neighbor and behind besides, so that's quite a distance to bark back and forth.

shes a lab so she can EASILY be trained to go on comand.
start it off with a leash , walk her SLOWLY around the yard give her the comand "go potty" ( or whatever simple comand you want)
she will start to associate that comand with the action, very soon you can tell her to go potty and she will ,
both my labs have the comand , they will stop squat and do thier business (as long as they need to go of course) and will ignore everything else in and around thier yard.

you MUST stay calm and sedate but firm while you do this or she may get exicted and jump around when she sees the lease.

i would not use a potty pad on a fully grown lab, thats just asking for a flood!! also she will learn its ok to go inside and you will have to retrain her when shes done with treatment.

the comand will take a lab 3 days to MAX 3 weeks to learn (mine got it in days but they were much younger, and had no prior knoledge of potty training...)