How do you house break a dog who has not been for 4 years.?

Question

I have a friend who has two 4 year old dogs. They are the small ones with flat faces. The female is perfectly house trained. The other does his thing all over the house. This is in spite of scoldings and cajolings. He is 4 years old. Is there any hope? They are contemplating giving him away.

Answer 1

Male dogs will spray when not fixed. They love to spread their scent. If he is not fixed this might work, however I had to get rid of a really sweet dog because we couldn't break him of the habit after a year of trying. After 4 years it might me too late.

Answer 2

Is he fixed? Neutering him might help. They'll also need to remove both dogs from the house and give it a professional cleaning- dogs will always mark where they can smell their own urine and feces, and if they can't get the smell out, it won't stop. After the cleaning, they'll need to use strict crate training- there are many books and websites detailing the method, but basically it starts by putting the dog in a crate and taking him straight out to the bathroom every hour. After the bathroom break, back in the crate. They can be let out to eat and drink at scheduled mealtimes only, but he should not be allowed to wander the house unsupervised at all. Once he masters the 1 hour mark, leave him in the crate for 2 hours between potty breaks, then 3, 4, etc. Once he can go at least 4-6 hours without having an accident, he can be allowed out of the crate, but only in a small contained area like a kitchen or living room. He should still be fed regular meals only (this regulates the digestive tract, usually a dog that eats twice a day will only have to poop twice a day, which makes training easier). He should also be let out immediately after eating and left out until he poops.

It will probably take over a year to retrain him, and it's possible he still won't catch on. But if she tries everything listed above, it will give him the best chance to succeed. I also reccommend she buys baby gates and keeps both dogs contained in one area of the house even after training is done- small dogs should never run around where they can't be seen by people; they can not only have accidents, they can get into things that could be dangerous. Give them a few rooms on the main level where people spend the most time, and gate that area off. They don't need the run of the house.

Also, praise is good, scolding is bad. If you scold a dog for having an accident, it teaches him that it's bad to poop, NOT that it's bad to poop in the house. It's a dog, not a person. All yelling will do is make him run into another room to poop so nobody can catch him and yell at him. Praise him for going outside, ignore messes inside and clean them up at once.

Answer 3

I have 25 years experience owning and training dogs. Although I don't know the specifics of the situation, I offer the following general information which should be helpful.
-First, he should be examined by a veterinarian to eliminate the possibility of illness or parasites. If his health is okay, then it is a behavioral problem, and the following guidelines should help.
-Stop the scoldings and punishments, unless he is caught in the act. Then firmly tell him ONCE: "No, bad dog," and take immediately him outside. While outside, tell him "do your business" or something similar. When he does his thing, praise him: "Good boy, you did your business!"
-How often does he do his thing in the house? If its every couple of hours, take him outside every 90 minutes and encourage him to do his thing as above, and praise him when he does. My point being, get him outside BEFORE he has an accident and give him an opportunity to be a good boy. Prevention is better than reaction. Prevention is positive and encouraging, and when used with praise, a dog will learn very quickly.
-If he is doing his thing while left home alone without human supervision, then he must be crate trained. Unfortunately this topic cannot be explained briefly in this forum.
Good luck and encourage your friend to be positive, encouraging and to praise the little guy when he does good.

Answer 4

I have a 8 year old Husky we got just 5 months ago. He too had never been inside. What we did was we walked him before bringing him inside. Gave him only the kitchen an living room to explore. He is not nurtured due to our female husky both pure bred. Anyway we watched him closely but every 30 min whether he wanted to or not we took him out to pee. Then an hour then 3 then 6 then he knew to go when we took him. After 4 days he could be left alone in the house no crate, no peeing or pooping. up to 6-8 hours at a time, No chewing. All due to the way we introduced him to the house, and the way we taught him to pee outdoors. Plus you must walk your dog at least 30 min before you ever leave them alone. Tires them out and they are all peed out. Keeps them from doing undesirable behavior.

ALL dogs live in the "now" it is human sympathy that encourages bad behavior from the start you have to be the pack leader. Be sure you don't scold, and praise when your outdoor. But no high pitched "ooooohhhh babyyyy you did so good!" that tone will make your dog excited and uncertain of what is happening. but most people do this kind of baby talk to their dogs.

Answer 5

They could start by treating him like an 8 week old puppy you are trying to housebreak. By that I mean, put his leash on him and attach it to the waist of whomever is in charge of him. The dog needs to be supervised 100% of the time, the second that he starts sniffing around like hes going to pee, get him outside. Throw a party when he does eliminate outdoors. He shouldnt have the opportunity to pee inside if hes got a constant shadow standing watch over his bathroom habits. When he cannot be supervised, he should be in a crate large enough for him to stand up, turn around, and lie down in. Generally dogs will not soil their crates if the space is small enough that they cant go to the bathroom on one side and escape it on the other. Also, if he isnt neutered yet, that is a must. Scolding the dog and punishing him is not going to accomplish anything. If anyone gets scolded now, it should be the dogs owner for not paying enough attention to the signs the dog is giving that hes going to go to the bathroom. Ive worked with unhousebroken adult dogs from a shelters for several years, and this method works pretty well for me. Good luck to your friend, I hope they dont have to get rid of him, because his problem would just become someone elses to deal with, and thats not fair to the dog or the future owner. Who knows how someone else will treat him for his mistakes?

Answer 6

First of all, are they watching him constantly? Sometimes dogs gravitate to the door, and if they do not see him and let him out right away he may not wait around for them. Also, it is a male dog and if he was not fixed early in life, this behavior of peeing or lifting his legs on things is simply marking his territory. If they see him start to pee, they need to take him out right away. Not wait until he is done peeing. As gross as it sounds, this does help them connect peeing with outside. You have to be sure you scold or correct the dog when the behavior happens, because dogs do not remember pooping on the bedroom floor an hour ago. They remember the most recent thing they did, and if that was getting a drink of water, and you scold them, then they assume you are scolding them for drinking. Kennel training would help IMMENSLEY also. Dogs are clean animals and will not normally urinate in the area where they sleep. You can also try to the bel;l; method. I had a foster who would NOT give me 2 seconds to put my coat on. So, we put a bell by the door, and he learned to nudge it to make it ring and we would let him out. Everytime you take the dog out, ring the bell so the yassociate the bell with going outside. Also, if the dog does go potty outside, give them a treat in the yard right away after they do it. This rewards them for going outside. I hope some of these things help you. http://www.chowwelfare.com/cciw/housebk.htm This is a link to help with housebreaking. Contact me with any questions. I have been down this road numerous times, all successful!

Answer 7

if he is not fixed get that done it may help some.. tell them to scrub the floors with vinegar and water 50/50 mix(house will smelllike a big pickle buts better then piss) scolding doesn't work on dogs.he needs to be caught doing it. and stopped. i grap by scruff of neck and give a frim shake....(i don't mean hurting the dog) just a shake back and forth. with a OUT and put the dog out untill he does his 'deed'..and when a ton of prasie patts treats what ever works for the dog...when they are not home tell themto get a crate. dogs don't like to mess in their beds. do they walk the dogs? that will help. ofcourse there is hope...

Answer 8

Housetraining Small Dogs:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1684&S=1&SourceID=47

Housetraining the Adult Dog Who Has Bad Habits:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1687&S=1&SourceID=47

Answer 9

Is he neutered? That might be one problem. If he is, try crate training to keep him from urinating around the house. Once he figures out that outside is where he should go, your friend can take away the crate if they want. Since he is 4, it may take a bit of time, but he'll get it eventually. Good luck!

Answer 10

I have never housebroken a dog that old before, but you should still be able to. My suggestion is to take him outside every 30min and 15min after he eats, so he gets used to going outside. Then every time he does something outside, give him a treat immediately afterwords, this will let him know that he did something right. I hope this works. Good Luck!