Our dog is housebroken but we are having problems getting her to go where we want in the yard. Any suggestions?

Hi,

I so hope you can help me. I am at my wits end and I have not been able to find any similar questions about this problem. We have a three year old golden retriever. She is housebroken and goes during walks and in the fenced in area of our yard. About a year ago, we got rid of the grass and replaced it with gravel. At first our dog was a little hesitant to urinate on the gravel but then she got the hang of it and did it all the time. We recently covered most of the gravel with pieces of flagstone. Although she has urinated a few times on the stone since the work was done, now she will almost never urinate in the yard. The few times she did go out there we have lavished her with praise and given her treats. Although we take her out using the same schedule that she was on before, she just will not go. We have tried taking her out on a hourly basis without success. We have tried letting her go out by herself, going out with her and walking her on a leash in the yard. She will look at us indicating that she has to go out but when we take her out, she will not urinate in the yard. As soon as we take her out of the stone area, she will go. We got a puppy housebreaking aid and put some on the flag stone in the area where she used to go but now she seems to avoid that area. We even collected some of her urine and put it in the yard but she still will not go out there. She will defecate out there although she seems reluctant to do so. We can not think of anything else to try except just keep waiting until she can't hold it any longer. But besides seeming like that would be abusing her, we are afraid that it would give her a urinary tract infection or make her ill. Any suggestions that you have would be gratefully appreciated!

Thank you in advance!
Marie