I have 2 dogs that are 3 years old. We adopted them six months ago and they will not go to the bathroom when I am watching them. What can I do?

I have spent a very large amount of time searching for answers to this particular issue, and so far I have not found the answers I have needed. I am hoping you can help me.

I have 2 dogs that are approximately 3 years old. We adopted them about 6 months ago, and as far as we know, they have always been together, and it seems like they have very similar issues. They are fearful dogs, but once we started crating them and keeping them on a leash otherwise, they have started to become a little bit more secure, and have even started greeting us with a bit of enthusiasm.

Their particular potty issue is that MOST of the time, they absolutely will not go potty in front of me. This means that it is impossible for me to reward them at the time they do go, and I also can't teach them a cue word so they can go on command. On the other hand, if they feel the need to go while on a walk, obviously, they will go on leash right next to me, though it's never at a time or place that I have chosen. They just go at the moment they decide to go. This never really had a major impact on whether or not they also pottied in the yard. As long as I wasn't too close to them, or obviously watching them, they would go potty in the yard when they needed to.

Last week, due to me having troubles with pregnancy joint/nerve pain, I hired someone to help me walk the dogs a few days a week. I gave her VERY specific instructions, which she obviously did not follow. After only 2 walks with this girl, both dogs are now "waiting" for their walk, to go potty. And during a walk with them now, they want to stop whenever they feel like sniffing or marking, and they try to go in their own direction. Even though it frustrates me that I already have to "retrain" the dogs, I know that I can retrain them easily to WALK on a walk, as I was the one that trained them in the first place. But how do I deal with them "waiting" to go potty till they get a walk? I think it would be easier if I had been able to train them to potty on command before this incident, but how can I do that if I can't even be near the dogs or watching them in order to link the potty with the command and reward?

I previously tried walking them around the yard where I want them to go, to try to stimulate their urge to go, and to keep them from just laying down, which they also do, when it's potty time. It has never worked. They won't go while on the leash, and if I take them off the leash, they will just lay down. You could say, well maybe they don't really need to go, but if it's been all night or longer, they really ought to need to go pretty desperately. And if I were to take them out for a walk, they would want to go potty rather quickly!

I need them to start going potty in the yard again, not only for their own health and comfort, but I also don't want the dogs to "require" me to take them on a walk just to get them to go potty. I would like to train them, not the other way around. Practically speaking, I cannot possibly take them on a walk every time they ought to need to go potty.

I did think of perhaps feeding them more often throughout the day, to try to trigger their need to go, but this is not always possible either, and I would like to maintain as steady of a routine as possible.

Anyway, I hope you can help me with this particular problem. How to get a dog to go potty when they just won't go is not an easy topic to find information on. Most people have the opposite problem, it seems. I'm glad I don't have to clean up messes (not yet anyway), but I would sure like to see them go potty more often than when they are desperate, or only after meals, or only on a walk. I would be most grateful for any help or references you can give me.

Thank you for your time!
Laurie