I am so sorry to hear about your separation.

I think Scout will catch on in the bathroom department.
Sheba use to have a bashful bladder outside of
our neighborhood.
Any distraction, she would hold it in.

When we were on vacation,
I would try to find the most semi quite grass area spot and just
tell her to go potty and stand their and let her sniff.
With Sheba I would sometimes have to wait
a good 10 minutes and walk in a little circle every
time she stopped sniffing. Once she finally went I could
take her to the same spot and she would go
right away. Once Scout does finally go and her scent
is around the area you will not have such
a problem hopefully.
Distractions can be a problem.

P.S. Althought I am sure it is not healthy,
once we were on vacation Sheba held it for 12 hours.
I was a nervous wreck till she finally peed!