How do you house break an old dog?

Question

My family and I recently adopted a 3 year old dog. For some reason,even when she is let outside with our other dog to do her business,she comes back in the house and poops or pees on the rugs in our house. We have tried everything from putting her nose in it to using a rolled up newspaper and telling her bad dog,but she still hasn't gotten it. What what else can we do?

Answer 1

Remember: dogs are not born knowing they go outside, not on your rug.
Crate train and when she is not in her crate watch her every second. Dogs go thru a routine before they eliminate, some sniff, some circle... when you see that pick him up and run outside and wait. If she goes outside, praise her a ton. Not just a "good dog", throw a party, run around in circles, give her a piece of cooked hotdog.
If you take your eyes off of her and she goes and you don't see her doing it, that is your fault, do not punish her because she will not know why she is in trouble. If you catch her in the act, make a loud noise to stop her and rush her outside.
I cannot tell you how helpful a crate has been in housebreaking my puppy. He has never had an accident in his crate and when I get him out of his crate we go directly outside (I carry him) and he pees. Check out this link for crate training. http://www.perfectpaws.com/crt.html

Answer 2

That may be the reason that the dog was up for adoption in the first place! Housebreaking an older dog is nearly impossible - they have already learned that it's ok to use the house as a toilet. When they have to go, they are uncomfortable - so they go and they feel better. This is called "self-rewarding" behavior.

Try keeping the dog in a crate whenever you can't supervise her. Keep her on a leash tied to your belt, so she can't sneak off and do her business in the house. Take her outside for walk and stay out there with her, so you can praise her when she does what you want. After a year or two of that, you MIGHT be able to trust her.

Answer 3

Okay..this is a common problem. First of all, dogs have memories that last about 2 seconds. Hitting the dog or putting her nose in her urine is useless because she already forgot she did it! It's important to recognize what she does before she goes to the bathroom and catch it in time! Take her out, let her go and praise her. Get really excited and tell her "good girl!" Follow this with a treat. Accidents happen but you have to be willing to put the time in to teach her the proper things to do.

Answer 4

Ok.. your dog **Wont** learn if you keep physically abusing her. You have to train her using positive reinforcement. She doesn't understand what she did wrong because she obviously doesn't know to go outside yet. Try taking her to *one* spot in the backyard every half hour and make sure she goes to the bathroom in that spot. (Make it a corner spot or something considering she'll probably be going here a lot) and don't go inside until she goes to the bathroom.As soon as she goes to the bathroom, PRAISE her, give her a little treat each time, tell her she's a good girl. she will probably go in the house a few more times but as soon as she does say "NO" and immidietly take her out to her spot. Always stay w/ her, use a leash to begin with so she doesn't wander around. Associate her "spot" with going to the bathroom and praise her each time she does. Make sure she drinks water a lot, because then she'll have to pee, and you will eventually be able to time when she has to go to the bathroom. If she gets inside and drinks a lot of water, take her out 20 minutes later. Just be patient with her. I know it is frustrating but I'm sure this is all new to her because she lived in a shelter before..she'll be a good dog! Good luck

Answer 5

Vigilance and repetition are key. Keep watch for those "signs" that she has to go. Don't give her too much freedom right away, sometimes it even helps to leash the dog to you so you can't miss the signs. Also set up a schedule. Take her out as soon as she wakes up and every couple of hours. Once she goes, praise praise praise. Punishment doesn't really work because you just can't time it so the dog knows what's wrong - three seconds after is just too long. Good luck!

Answer 6

I once had a small dog that I got when he was 3 years old, and he would constantly pee and poo in the house. He was terrified of a crate (I believe because of abuse from his previous owners), and the vet told me he suffered from separation anxiety disorder (the poor little guy thought that every time I left the house, he would die there alone). I eventually resorted to diapers for him. I bought some diapers that fit him, cut a hole for his tail, and used suspenders to keep them on. I had to cross the suspenders not only on his back, but in the front as well, to keep him from wiggling out of them. It took a while, but he eventually learned to go outside, and I was happy because I did'nt feel it was right to punish him when I came home from work and he had an accident.

Answer 7

Can't give a better answer than Lauren's. It's never too late to crate train a dog. Shame on you however for putting her nose in it. You don't know what she might have gone through her first 3 years. She isn't a bad dog, and she doesn't have a clue as to why you are calling her bad and hitting her. Bad pet owner, bad, bad, pet owner..............smack!

Answer 8

Irish Beauty is right. But you also should make sure that she doesn't have some type of medical problem that makes her lose control. This is common in some older female dogs that have been spayed--the muscles that control the urine stream have gotten weak. Take her to the vet to make sure everything is normal.

Answer 9

Go out with your dog for awhile. Say"Let's go outside and pee-pee and get a milk bone dog biscuit!" Have the biscuit in your hand and entice her out with it. Then when she goes, praise her and say" Oh you're so GOOD! You did pee-pee outside so you get a milk bone dog bisquit!"and give it to her.
Repeat this over and over. Soon she will be going out just to get the treat.
After time, she will go outside to pee on her own, and then you still give her a biscuit and praise her after she does it.
Good luck to you!

Answer 10

Hmmmm....thats a hard one--i would say stop scolding your dog. the next time your dog goes outside and does her busniess then to rewared her with a treat and/or praise her with petting her. dogs are pretty smart animals so i think if you do that then your dog will want a treat or a pat on the back so she will go outside and do "it" instead of doing "it" inside!
hope i help!