Housetraining a three year old rescue
My main question is how long might housetraining take for an adult who's lived outside all his life? I realize that three weeks is not all that long, and I'm not expecting perfection, but I would like some tips. We're trying to be patient, but it would help, I think, to know there's an end in sight. Are there ever dogs who cannot be housetrained? So far, we're just trying to prevent accidents-- we take him out every few hours, and he does not go in his crate-- either for the four hours he's in it during the day, or the eight hours at night, so that's a good thing. However, he doesn't give us any signal (I'm thinking about trying the bell that I heard about in other threads), and there doesn't seem to be much of a pattern to his "schedule." For example, on Sunday morning, we took him out to pee, he came back in, pooped about 10 minutes later, and then pooped again 20 minutes after that. He seems to be having more problems knowing to poop outside than to pee. We take him out and say "go potty" to get him to go, and then repeat it while he's going, praise him, and then give him a treat inside. However, I'm thinking about grabbing the treat bag before we go out so we can give it to him immediately. We've caught him in the act inside a few times-- we startled him, and then took him outside to finish, then praised him. We also try to watch him constantly, but sometimes that doesn't work so well (each one thinks the other is watching, or he starts roaming the house, and it's a pain to follow). Any suggestions you all have (or thoughts on how long the process might take) would be greatly appreciated. |
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When you say you took him out to pee on Sunday morning and then 10 minutes later he pooped in the house, how long were you outside with him after he peed? 
Sometimes it takes them quite a while after they pee to go poop. You'll need to keep walking him until he's had ample time to finish his business...maybe up to 1/2 hour. Since he's not necessarily used to being on a set schedule and doing these things at the same time, it will take a while for him to understand thats why he's out there. 
Also, soon, you'll get an idea of what time of day he goes poop as well as how many times a day he usually goes. That will help you know whether or not this is *just* a pee break or if you need to wait on the pooh.
Yes, it does take some time. I had a foster girl who had lived outside her whole life and was about 3 years old when we rescued her. She took almost six months to train. I've had a boy who trained in a week. So, it really just depends on the dog. Dont' worry. It gets better. |
| I don't have suggestions specific to housetraining an adult, but I do have a couple suggestions....
Absolutely yes, you should bring the treat outside with you and praise enthusiastically, giving a treat IMMEDIATELY after Harley goes potty outside. This will ensure that he is associating the treat with going potty outside. Right now he is probably associating the treat with coming back inside. "Can't wait to go back inside - then I get a treat!" To encourage him to give you a signal, you could try putting up a bell on the door. Ring it (or take his paw to make him ring it) before every time you go outside. Hopefully he will pick up on the idea that the bell is a signal he can use to tell you he needs to go potty. One way you could prevent poopie accidents in the house such as what you described is to take him for a 5-10 minute walk - or longer. First take him outside for his pee break, praise like crazy and treat, then take him for a walk. The walk becomes another reward for peeing outside, and I find that a 5-10 minute walk encourages our dog to poop. He won't poop if we just take him outside specifically for potty, but a short walk works wonders to get the bowels moving. Make sure you have lots of treats with you for the walk too so you can praise like crazy and give him a treat for pooping outside. It may be difficult to housetrain an adult (I don't know), but you do have the added bonus that unlike a puppy, Harley is physically able to control his bowels/bladder - unless of course he has an underlying medical issue. |
| So far you have gotten great advice...the other thing I would suggest is that one of you HAS to be responsible for watching the dog...in this house that is me.....and if I can't, I specifically say to whoever else is home...I am going to do xxx please watch the dogs... and when I am back I say I am back, I will watch the dogs.
Do not let Harley fail. And if you can't watch him like a hawk then he has to be crated...You already said he wont mess in his crate. It is not mean to place him in the crate for the times he is not supervised. I got my rescue when she was a year old. This is what I did and it took about a week for her to 'get it' that we don't potty in the house. |
| Thanks for the suggestions-- we've been waiting outside for about five minutes to see if he needs to poop, but I think the walk may really be a good idea. We just did a food switchover last week, so his system may be weird from that still. Before that he pooped morning and night for the most part, so it was easier. With the new food he seems to be going longer between BMs. I'll tell my husband about the walk, and we'll give it a try. I'll also do the bell thing and start taking the treats outside.
Thanks for the encouragement. Sounds like it could be a while before he gets it. |
| Yea!!! Just wanted to post that I think it's finally clicking with Harley-- he's gone a week and a half with no accidents, but even better than that, he's started to tell us when he need out (he runs back and forth from us to the door and even whined a little once). Also, he's started to do #1 and #2 outside at the SAME time!! (That was an issue before, he'd pee outside and then come in and poo).
Anyhow, it seems to have just clicked all of a sudden. Hopefully this isn't false progress, but he seems to still be doing well with it. (fingers crossed) |
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