HOUSETRAINING AN ADULT DOG

Happily, housetraining your new adult dog can be quite simple! If, after following the steps outlined below for more than a month, your dog is not nearly or completely housetrained, and our Unclean Only At Night, Territorial Marking and Submissive Urination articles do not apply, please consult a professional trainer for assistance. Other reasons why your dog goes to the toilet in the house may include: stress and tension in the household, anxiety (for example, about being left alone or changes in routine), illness and submissive urination. Before beginning any training program, a clean bill of health from your dog's veterinarian is advised.

1. CLEAN
Thoroughly clean all areas your dog has previously soiled in your house by using biological washing powder solution or a specially formulated enzyme product to remove all traces of the smell. If possible, keep your dog away from these areas until the training is complete.

2. SUPERVISE
Keep your dog under constant supervision while inside - if you must take your eyes away even for a second (or longer) confine your dog either in a crate (see crate training article), in a room with a hard-surfaced floor where accidents may be easily cleaned up, or outside in a secure area.

3. PICK A SPOT
It is easiest for a dog to understand going in one spot is what you want, rather than just outside. Pick a "potty" spot, be it in your yard, a grassy area out front, or a corner of your patio.  Most dogs prefer porous surfaces (dirt/grass/gravel/carpet/newspaper) if you have a bit of what the dog has gone on before, you can place it where you want the dog to go.

3. MAKE A ROUTINE
Get your dog and yourself on a strict schedule of sleeping, feeding and play/exercise, and the dog will start to go to the bathroom on a schedule.  And you can make sure he's at the right spot when the time comes!  A typical schedule would include first thing when you wake up, after breakfast, then at set intervals.  2 hours apart is great. Longer times will work, it will just take longer for your dog to learn to physically be able to not go for longer periods.

Take your dog to his potty spot at the times you've set and wait (on a leash is often best).  Be patient and wait for at least 5 minutes. If he starts to relieve himself, praise quietly until he is finished, then praise him very enthusiastically and reward him with a game or food treat. If he doesn't go, its back to supervision until the next set time. Continue with the routine, and once he's going when you take him out,  gradually increase the time between visits to the potty spot.  When you're down to three times a day and no more accidents inside (anywhere from two to six weeks), you've housetrained your dog.

4. LEARN THE COMMAND
"Get Busy" or “Go Potty” or any set phrase can really help to get your dog to understand when and where to go the bathroom.  Use it just like you use any verbal command – like “Sit,” you say it before you want your dog to do it, and then if he does, give him lots of praise and treats.  It won't work to say it too many times in a row (two or three is enough), and should be said in a happy tone of voice, never as a punishment.  Also, if you catch your dog in the act of “getting busy” in the correct spot, you can say “get busy!! Good dog! Get busy!  Good good!!” so they associate that phrase with what they are doing.

5. PUNISHMENT?
Yelling, making a loud noise with pennies in a can, swatting your dog or your hand with a newspaper, pushing your dogs nose in its mess... aside from being inhumane, they often have the effect of making the dog afraid of you or afraid of going in front of you, and housebreaking will take even longer, or may never happen. This usually what has happened to dogs that go in the house only when left alone, or in a back room when you aren't watching. Positive reinforcement is the fastest, easiest way to train. Punishment is the slowest and least pleasant way to get a dog to do what you want, and usually doesn't work at all.

The worst is punishing your dog for ‘accidents’ that you discover after the fact. Dogs cannot make a connection with punishment for something they did in the past. Some owners will say, “Oh, but he knows he has done wrong because if I show him the mess he looks guilty.” The dog has simply learned that if humans are present and there is a mess on the floor, he is likely to be told off or punished. He has not learned not to make the mess in the first place.

If you see your dog about to or in the middle of relieving himself indoors, you can say  ‘NO’ firmly, but not raising your voice or yelling. Then take him immediately to your chosen place outside and reward him - praise, treats or play, which ever he most enjoys. Although he has done nothing to be praised for, it is essential that he associate going to that place with reward. If you have caught him in time he will still need to go. If he does go, praise and rewards!
 

 If you have any questions regarding this program, feel free to send an email to penny@phsspca.org.

Here is some more help for housetraining an adult dog :

• Housetraining (a wonderfully simple half page - it's an Adobe Acrobat file so if you don't already have an Acrobat Reader, click on this  to download it for free)
• Denver Dumb Friend's League Crate Training article
• Re-housetraining an Adult Dog
• Q&A (see third part)
• Q&A (see second part)

If you find this program helpful, please make a donation to the Pasadena Humane Society. You can donate online or mail a check made out to PHS to:

BEST Training
Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA
361 S. Raymond Ave
Pasadena, CA 91105