Housetraining an Adult Dog!

I've had four clients this week who are having trouble with their recently adopted adult dogs. Not big problems like aggression or separation anxiety, but a nagging problem nonetheless. You see, all four clients are dealing with adult dogs who are not housetrained. Each of these dogs is very different: one, a Maltese, is a former show dog.  Another is a former street dog from Mexico. The third dog is a Collie who spent his first year of life living in an outdoor kennel and the last dog is a shy little Chihuahua mix from a local shelter.  While all four dogs are urinating in the house, they are doing so for different reasons.

Let's start with the former show dog.  He's an intact male and came to a home with an intact female dog and an older neutered male dog. This little guy is marking in my client's house; he urinates on doorways, furniture corners, and even the other male dog! The owner will be neutering this dog soon, but has to wait a few weeks before doing so.  His marking behavior is definitely hormonally influenced, so neutering him will help, but it won't fix the learned behavior of marking.  I suggested that she put a belly band on the dog to save her house from further marking until the dog can be neutered.  Once neutered, she will be confining him and only letting him out supervised and with a belly band on until such a time as the hormones dissipate and his desire to mark decreases.  She may have to leave a belly band on him long term anytime she can't supervise him, particularly when her female dog comes into heat.  

The street dog from Mexico and the Collie who lived outdoors in a kennel are both accustomed to toileting whenever and wherever they please.  Even though both are adult dogs, they must be taught how to live inside, just like you would with a new puppy.  These two dogs need to be confined whenever they can't be watched (both owners have set up crates in their kitchens) and tethered to their humans when they are home (leashed to the humans' belts).  Anytime the dog pulls away from the owner, they must be taken out to their bathroom area and told to "go potty!"  This way, the dog learns that moving away from the owner results in a trip to use the bathroom. When the dog can't be watched or tethered, it must be in the crate.  Both dogs will be taken outside to toilet every 45 minutes to begin with until the owners can determine how long each dog can hold it before needing to go outside after eating, playing, waking up, etc. Both dogs will receive treats and praise for toileting outdoors where they are supposed to.  Accidents in the house will be cleaned up without any punishment involved; it's not the dog's fault that they were raised outdoors!  Accident clean ups must be done with a good enzymatic cleaner and the area blocked off so it can completely dry.  Since neither dog has a clear signal that they need to toilet, we are hanging bells on the back door of both owners' homes and ringing the bell every time the dog is taken outside.  Fingers crossed that the dogs associate the bell ringing with the door opening and learn to ring it themselves to go outside!

The little Chihuahua mix not only has a little bladder (she's 4.5 lbs!), she also submissively urinates. Accidents in the house are not an uncommon issue for the toy breed dogs to begin with, and this little dog is very shy; if you move toward her too quickly, raise your voice, or if she hears a loud noise, she will drop down and urinate.  The owners need to focus on limiting where she explores unsupervised in their house, taking her out every 30 minutes for a chance to toilet, and work on building her confidence.  She needs to be trained using a soft voice and obvious rewards; punishing this dog, or getting frustrated with her behavior, will only make the problem worse. 

While adopting an adult dog is often described as "easier" than adopting a  puppy, it is still a lot of work, particularly if the dog has issues with regard to housetraining.  This can be a very frustrating issue and one that doesn't immediately go away; it takes work and diligence on the part of the new owners to establish schedules and routines and consequences that these dogs can clearly understand in order to help them learn what is expected of them.  I fully expect that each of these dogs will succeed in their new homes.  They have wonderful owners willing to do what it takes to help them become full-fledged family members.

As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.

My daughter really lucked out with Westley.  She adopted him at 9 months of age and he came to her crate trained and with the ability to ask to go outside by standing at the door. This means my daughter can allow him time alone and out of his crate. Which you can see that he uses to his full advantage as he's laying on her bed!