# House training an Adult Dog!



## Alcemistnv

So I'm having some slight issues with my dog, Coconut. He's going to be 7 years old, and is still not completely house trained. If I had to use a percentage, I'd say probably 60%. 

This has been a persistent problem since day 1, when we got him. When we got him at 6 months old, he already had a previous owner who crated him nearly all day. He was crated trained to a point, and then there was a good year or two where he wasnt. He's back to being crate trained now.

The good:
He knows where he is supposed to go. We have an invisible fence in which he knows his boundaries and he'll stay there to do his business. He's also crate trained so he has his cozy area to sleep in. He's intelligent and I have taught him multiple obedience tricks.

The bad:
He does his business in the house. A lot. Like at least once everyday. And this could be immediately after being put outside too. He's even gotten into the bad habit of peeing in his crate, on his bed. We had to get a cat bed because it can be washed often. He's peed and pooed nearly everywhere in the house, from the carpeted living room to the stairs, the bathtub, the bedrooms, the foyer, bathrooms, etc. 

Startling him doesn't stop him, neither does trying to move/lift him. He's been banned from being in rooms because of this. 

What we've done:
We've tried bell training to no avail. He doesn't understand it at all, and we tried for a good span of time. Putting him out every hour didn't help either, and neither did rewarding him for doing his business outside. We don't use newspaper or WeeWee pads because we KNOW it will reinforce the idea of going to the bathroom inside.


So yes, I do need lots of help because if this continues, Coconut isn't the one who is getting punished, it's me. I don't want to say what hs been told to me in terms of Coconut not being house trained, but it's really bothering me because I know Coconut is intelligent, but he for some reason won't stop with this behavior.

So if anyone could help me, it would seriously be appreciated. Thank you!


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## Malt Shoppe

Well, Al, I'm going to be very blunt.....have you noticed the size of your little toy dog? Take a good look and beware that his size isn't meant to be controlled by an electric invisible fence; that is usually relegated to controlling BIG dogs who can handle this intense pain a little better than a tiny toy dog. They shouldn't even have to put up with it but....that's another story...

I'd bet he's scared to death to go outside because of that fence that causes him a great deal of pain. Get rid of the fence and start walking him on a leash/halter and allow his to peacefully do his business without pain. He's not feeling any pain inside - so he's smart enough to know that's where it doesn't hurt him! Enclose him in a larger area when left alone in the house, NOT a crate, that's simply not enough room for the poor little guy, and be expected to hold his need to go for a long period of time. Be fair to the little dog!

I adopted a little untrained female Maltese at the age of 7.5 yrs old who thought the area rug was a BIG pp pad. It took one week and some cheerios to teach her to go outside as well as on a pp pad, not the rug. So, age has nothing to do with it.

Please try to think like your dog thinks.....and be fair to him.


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## Alcemistnv

He actually has never been zapped with the fence, nor have we ever hurt him with it. The problem has persisted since before we had the fence, and half the time he doesn't even wear the collar, so I don't believe the fence is the issue. 

During the summer we walk the dogs every day, since we use the yard for our own personal reasons, and yet we find him still doing his business inside the house. So I'm still at a loss for the reason :/


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## Kathleen

Hi Al - you must be very frustrated. We have had some challenges here as well.
A couple of thoughts in case they help.
Sometimes there can be a medical cause. Have you spoken with your vet about it, just to rule out any medical problems?
Everything I have read about house training an adult dog says basically to go back to square one, as if they are a puppy. That is what we have done with the adult dogs we have adopted. I think that you have to get him out of the habit of going in the house, and it seems that the best way to do that is to confine him to a small space where you can watch him and take him out regularly. We use an Iris xpen, which is about 3 foot square and easy to move between rooms.
I think praise and treats are also very important - you can't overdo it. Try to find a high value treat, something he really loves not just his usual cookie and save it only for when he goes outside.
There is a good book, not long and not expensive, something like How to Housebreak your Dog in 7 Days that I found helpful. 
Good luck!


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## wkomorow

Not trying to be mean, but electric shocks (even one) is incredibly cruel. Not only is it dangerous, but the poor dog can easily be attacked by other animals. Two things come to mind. Coconut may be doing it to get attention. Negative attention is still attention. Are you playing intensely enough with him. I agree if you are going to have him go outside, a long walk on a harness will help - it will allow you to bond more with him. Second it is possible that coconut has a medical condition - has he been to a vet. 

Many here do use peepads. New York can be really cold for a small dog in the winter.

Good luck.


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## kilodzul

Do you clean the places in which he pees with some odor eliminator that specifically removes the smell of urine? For most dogs smell of urine means "i should pee here", especially if you have dog that marks. If this goes on for such a long time, and on carpets, the odor can be hard to eliminate.
I live in apartment with my dog, and ever since I washed all surfaces with pet stain remover, she didn't have even one accident inside. So maybe that would help you too. I also used solely positive reinforcement and gave her yummy treats so she wanted to do her buissness outside.


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## pippersmom

Do you go outside with him when he goes out? Go out with him and teach him to pee on command. Keep him on a leash so he doesn't get distracted by wandering around too much instead of doing his business. When we first got Pipper as a puppy we would tell him to "go pee" and when he did what we wanted he got treats immediately. I kept them in my pocket. I would make a fool out of myself by praising him and clapping and jumping up and down just so he could see how happy I was. He is trained to go outdoors only, we don't use pee pads and we live in Canada with very cold snowy winters. He knows to go real quick if it's cold out.


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## jbh06751

I can sympathize with you. I have a 5 year old Silky rescue who isn't completely house trained and has recently begun peeing and pooing at random places. Not every day but enough to be irritating. Part of it is dominance and marking. Females will mark too if they think they are in charge.
So, I'm going back to square one with her. She is crated at night and tethered within my sight during the day unless she has just gone and then she gets free play time. If I don't tether her she can sneak away to do the deed which will reinforce the bad behavior. I've also started intensive obedience training to get her to tone down on the bossiness with our old Beagle and see us as her leader. She had 5 years to develop bad habits and it will take some time to train her out of them. She get along well with Max my Maltese but he is pee pad trained which complicates her training. She will occasionally use the pee pad too but I don't encourage that for her. She stays dry in the crate at night so that's a huge plus. With a stubborn older dog I don't think there are many shortcuts.


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## missalita

Training them to go on command is very helpful. Once you have it on command, it is easier to train them not to do something. Just say 'go potty', or whatever term you want to use, every time you know he's hunting a spot. It won't take him long to associate the word with the act. And good treats immediately afterwards, as others have said.

As to going in the house, you have to limit his access. If he pees in the bathroom, then don't let him in the bathroom. If he pees in the bedroom, don't let him in the bedroom. You get the idea.

One thing I've found helpful is to tether the dog to you. That way you can get to them quickly when they start to go. Never yell or spank them. That'll only make them hide it from you more.

They key is to not let him make mistakes. One 'accident' can undo days or even weeks of training.

And you may want to rethink the whole wee wee pad thing. Sometimes you just need to take the path of least resistance, for everyone's sanity.


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