How to Potty Train A Dog (Not A Puppy)

Introduction

Often times house-training, or the lack of it, is a deal-breaker when dealing with dogs. No one wants to spend much time cleaning up dog messes, and although we are willing to do it for a few weeks or even months when teaching puppies, most of us are not as patient when it comes to adult dogs. Unfortunately, adult dogs that are not housebroken can be very resistant to change. While it isn't true that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, it is true that it is harder to teach an old dog new tricks, and that includes the trick of going potty outside. I hope that the following instructions will help you with the not all that fun job of potty training your adult dog.

Instructions

Difficulty: Medium hard

Steps

Step 1: Get a clean bill of health for the dog. Before you begin your potty training program, you should consult with your veterinarian to make sure that the dog does not have some physical condition that is causing incontinence. Dogs with irritable bowel syndrome are notoriously accident-prone but there is nearly nothing that they can do to hold it. In cases of irritable bowel syndrome, the accidents aren't a behavioral issue; they are a result of illness. Discuss the problem with your vet and get her take on the situation. There are plenty of ailments that may result in incontinence, for example, diabetes, prostate problems and urinary infections. If your dog is house broken and starts having frequent accidents, you can be almost certain that the accidents have a physical cause.

Step 2: Eliminate the odors from past accidents. One big clue that tells your dog where they can go is where they have gone before. When we were training our lab puppies, they abused the carpet in the hallway. Long after they were trained, they would still go to the same place if they were sick or left in the house for too long. It wasn't until we replaced the carpet that we were able to recondition them to go on the tile floor if they couldn't hold it. Eliminating old scents from carpeting is difficult. Short of replacing the carpet and the mat under the carpet, you can try to use a carpet-cleaning product with enzymes in it. You can also hire a professional carpet cleaner to try to remove old smells.

Step 3: Pick a place that you want your dog to go and reinforce that. If you want the dog to go in the back yard you should make sure that they have supervised access to that area at least once an hour while you are home (and awake). Take the dog to the predetermined spot and praise the dog if he eliminates in that area. You can use verbal praise, but treats work better and will really get the attention of your dog. Do not leave the dog unattended for long because you want to be able to catch him in the act when he starts to have an accident.

Step 4: When accidents happen. Hopefully, you will be able to catch the dog in the act and pull her outside to the appropriate spot. It is important that you react immediately when you catch the dog having an "accident". Remain calm and don't punish the dog, just get them as quickly as possible to the appropriate place. Clean wet spots up immediately. If the spot is still wet, vinegar is a great way to clean it. It will eliminate the smell and replace it with a smell that is particularly unpleasant to your dog. This should reduce the chance of your dog using that place again.

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