cats n dogs - doggy no potty

This is my first time posting so I hope that I'm doing this right. 
I'm not sure if this is a glitch or if my dog is just being a butt (I doubt that). When I ask my sim's dog to "go potty" the dog has a thought bubble with a poop and a green lightning bolt, but it doesn't go to the bathroom, and the action disappears from my sim's queue immediately after. I'm not sure if this is normal or an actual glitch? Either way I can't get the dog to go potty :^( and it spends hours w/ a red mood until it finally goes to the bathroom itself. 

I also have a (possibly related but probs not) glitch where my sims can't do certain actions - for example doing TV exercises. Their hands fly up in a T shape (hope that makes sense, it's like jesus being crucified if that clears it up) and they freeze for a second then all actions disappear from the queue. 

Anyone having these same issues? I cant seem to find anything about the dog going pewp/peypey anywhere. Thanks for your patience with me, a humble noob to the forums. <3