CANINE BEHAVIOR QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS By Kathy Diamond Davis Author and Trainer

Q: Can two 3-year old dogs who have been outside dogs only become house-trained? They will be outside when they come home to me, but I want to be able to bring them inside when the weather is bad without having accidents. Is it possible to train them to let me know when they have to go out? Also, can they still be trained for basic commands through obedience school or home training?

A: Yes, they can probably be housetrained, although there are some exceptions. And yes, mature dogs tend to do very well in obedience, as long as they are physically sound enough so that the training does not cause them any pain.

I don't train my dogs to ask me when they need to go outside. I take them outside on a schedule. They are taken outside so often that their bodies can easily adjust to waiting until the next scheduled time. I get many questions from people who don't consider their dogs housetrained until the dog will get their attention and persuade them to stop what they are doing and take the dog out, every time the dog needs to go. I think in many cases, this is expecting too much from a dog.

With adult dogs, just like with a puppy, you need to supervise 100% of the time when they are indoors, until the habit of waiting to relieve themselves until they get outside is firmly established. Since these dogs are not used to waiting, they will need time to develop bladder and bowel control. If either of them is a male that has not been neutered, marking could be a problem, and in some dogs, this can never be solved if it has gone on too long.

Supervising 100% of the time means that they are either in a "safe" area where they can't make a mistake, such as a crate or very small room with a baby-gate, or they are in the room with you and you are WATCHING them--at all times. When a dog has a housetraining accident, it's not the dog's fault, it means the person failed in the supervision.

So, housetraining any dog of any age requires diligence, commitment, patience and good-nature from the owner. No punishment--punishment can cause huge problems. If you catch a dog in the act, you just rush the dog outside, with the goal of getting it to finish there so you can praise it for doing right. No time to be mad.

When the dog goes outside during housetraining, you need to go with the dog, every time, so you can praise at the right moment. This is a lot of work, too. But in the process, you get the dogs understanding what you want, and you figure out their schedule. Because you were there, you know whether they have relieved their bowels or bladder or both, and when.

Soon, you know how many times a day they need to do each of those functions. Dogs are not all the same about these needs, and the frequency also changes with age, illness, changes in diet, and changes in schedule--your schedule as well as the dogs' schedule.

I hope this helps, and I hope things go great with the dogs.

Date Published: 9/16/2002 8:11:00 PM

    

Kathy Diamond Davis is the author of the book Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others. Should the training articles available here or elsewhere not be effective, contact your veterinarian. Veterinarians not specializing in behavior can eliminate medical causes of behavior problems. If no medical cause is found, your veterinarian can refer you to a colleague who specializes in behavior or a local behaviorist.