[nagdu] When To Relieve

[Julie J.]

To me this sounds like a people issue, not a dog issue.  there's no absolute 
anything in regard of how many relieving times per day, how long to stay out 
each time, how much to walk before relieving, how long of a leash to use, 
whether to let her go on grass/cement/woodchips or whatever.  Those are all 
individual needs and preferences you have to work out for yourself, your 
situation and your dog.  To me, it looks like you've figured out what works 
for you and your problem is with the trainer telling you something that 
doesn't make sense to you.

As to what to do about it, that's entirely up to you.    Basically your 
options are: do what the trainer says, don't do what the trainer says or get 
the trainer to say something different.   There are a lot of different 
options in each of those three options.  Also you need to consider the 
consequences of each of them.  How will your trainer take it if you bring up 
the idea of changing the schedule to one that better fits your needs?  Guide 
dog trainers are people too, some are flexible, some are not, some have good 
people skills and others not so much.   If you make your guide wait for two 
hours to relieve, are you going to be cleaning a mess off the floor?  If you 
change your schedule to the dog's does that present other complications to 
your life, as in difficulties with eating/medications or getting other work 
done?

all my best to you as you sort out how to proceed,
Julie