Housebreaking an Adopted Dog

April 13, 2008 6:15 AM

Does house training a young dog work the same as house training a puppy?

I am considering adopting a young dog, about 10 months, through a local rescue organization. He was found as a stray about a month ago, and has been living in an adapted barn stall with five other rescues, while awaiting his new home. He is not house trained yet. (And if you're curious- he's an unestablished mutt- probably has some lhasa apso in there, maybe poodle, doesn't shed!)

This will be my first dog. Although I love dogs and have spent a lot of time taking care of other people's dogs, this will be the first time I've actually TRAINED a dog, so I'm trying to do a little research, read up and prepare myself. I think I'll be a good trainer- consistent, patient, dedicated- and let's face it... I'd like to get the housebroken status established sooner rather than later.

I realize that 10 months old is still a puppy, but he's also lived a pretty foot-loose and fancy free life up to this point, so I'm not sure if house training him would work the same as a baby puppy or no? Basically, everything I'm finding describes training a young puppy and imprinting habits in those early developmental stages, and so I am just curious if I should expect anything different?

Pretty much everything I am finding points towards crate training. The foster mom tells me he HATES the crate, but I am still willing to try that or, at minimum, keep him gated in my laundry room (about 50 square feet). So that's my starter plan.

Any other comments or advice would be much appreciated.

posted by Sabine3283 to pets & animals (11 comments total)

10 months is plenty trainable. A dog's behavior can be changed at any age, the only difference is it takes longer for them to learn depending on how old they are. If you have patience, you'll be fine.

Can you take your dog to work with you? That will accelerate the housebreaking process a lot. If not, are you in a situation where you can come home often?

As for the crate, it's a matter of how much you trust the foster mom's judgement. Some dogs don't take to the crate as well as others, but with proper conditioning over time, I have a hard time believing that any dog just won't grow attached to it.
posted by AaRdVarK at 6:28 AM on April 13, 2008

Also, let me add, a dog's training is very, very situation specific. They are not good at generalizing. This'll work in your favor, because when you move him to his new environment, it'll be much easier to break any bad habits he's developed compared to if you'd had him all along.
posted by AaRdVarK at 6:30 AM on April 13, 2008

Good for you!! Congratulations!!

Not sure about your specific dog, but I can offer this anecdote: We recently adopted a dog from our local rescue league. In the shelter "cubbies" there are hard floors, and our little guy had become accustomed to going to the bathroom on the hard surface. Fast forward to our apartment, where we have cement floors. Uh-oh!

It took us a little extra time to get him used to the idea of using the bathroom on the grass. Even now, if left to his own devices, he'll go on the patio or sidewalk outside instead of walking into the grass. But he's going outside, not inside anymore, which is a win.

And we got this one when he was about 5 years old (the shelter's estimate) and even though this lesson took a few weeks to learn, he's got it down cold now. Ten months? You're in good shape. Enjoy!

Oh ... and about the crate ... see what kind the foster mom was using (wire or plastic), and try the other kind. Maybe a change of location and a change of crate will be different enough that he'll give it a chance.
posted by mccxxiii at 7:36 AM on April 13, 2008

Teaching an old dog new tricks is child's play - ask anyone who fosters rescue dogs.
Unless this dog has a serious problem, you won't have much trouble. You can probably find local rescue volunteers in your area who have done this a half-dozen times or more. Also, the people who are giving you the dog will (should!) do all they can to help you make a success of this.

The strategy is the same as with a puppy. Use a routine, a crate, and your powers of observation to get the critter out when he's ready to go, praise like crazy when he does what a dog's gotta do.

What to watch out for: a dog who seems to have learned will may go into another part of the house to have a pee. This seems sneaky, but I don't think it's worthwhile to label it that way. Don't get upset. Just be aware of where the dog is and help him learn the right thing.

It is very unusual for a dog to be averse to a crate. If this 10-month old seems to know what a crate is and not like it, start on counter conditioning pronto, and use a baby gate in the bathroom or kitchen until he loves his crate.

Good luck with the pup! My fosters have caught on quick, young and old.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 8:13 AM on April 13, 2008

You'll probably find that once he is away from the peer pressure of his pals in the barn to go where ever they please, it will be easier for you to teach him manners. You will be fine! (And a big atta-girl for adopting from a rescue!)
posted by SuperSquirrel at 8:18 AM on April 13, 2008

My dog was a year and a half old when I got her and had to train her pretty much from scratch. She didn't even know how to walk on a leash. What helped me was that I also enrolled her in training classes on top of the stuff I was trying to teach her on my own. My trainer was insanely helpful, especially during the first three months when I'd hit roadblocks or my dog and I would have a power struggle or I'd get frustrated and wonder why I ever got a dog in the first place. Until your dog is totally trained, you are GOING to have power struggles and setbacks, that's just the way it is. My trainer really helped to put things into perspective and gave me great insights along the way. Biggest thing is to not give up and be really consistent. Now I make my dog work for every treat, and she likes it that way. And she's easy as pie to live with, just the best dog ever.

Keep in mind that every dog has their own personality and unique challenges too. What will work great one day might not work for the long term. It's like training a kid, you may have to be creative sometimes and change your lesson plan around on the fly. But don't give up. Once the dog gets it, it's so worth every second of effort. A well-trained dog is SUCH a better companion.

Also, remember that a tired dog is a good dog. The more exercise your dog gets, the easier it will be to train and get good behavior out of.
posted by miss lynnster at 8:36 AM on April 13, 2008

I had more luck house breaking a rescue dog that was about a year old than I have with my new puppy. It could have something to do with the breed. My puppy is about 4 months old now and she still does not get it! I'm getting very frustrated at the pup which is a Red Heeler. My other dog is a Collie mix and she is a brilliant dog.
posted by nickerbocker at 9:09 AM on April 13, 2008

Yep, approach this as if the dog were a baby puppy - use the same level of patience as you would if this was an 8 week old. A 10 month old IS still a puppy! While a dog of this age has greater bowel and bladder capacity and control, do not allow this to affect your housetraining methods - this dog may never have had to learn to delay urination or defecation, its natural disinclination to mess where it sleeps may have been over-ridden (as happens with dogs who are crated for too long), etc. etc. The more slowly you take this, and the more patience you can muster, the better your end result will be. Take the dog out every hour or two, keep the dog confined when you are not there/able to supervise, and leashed to you when you are there (also good for bonding), praise like mad for appropriate urination/defecation, ignore inappropriate (unless you catch the dog in the act, then interrupt with a vocal noise like 'AH AH!', bundle the dog outside, and praise). Breed is less the issue than individual dogs, and remember that if you lose patience, go do something else, creating anxiety around this issue will make it harder for you and the dog. Good luck!
posted by biscotti at 9:21 AM on April 13, 2008

N-thing all the other comments here - a 10-month-old puppy will be no trouble to housetrain at all. The important thing is NOT to even tell the dog off if it went when you were not there. It's gone and forgotten, as far as they are concerned - you'll just traumatize the dog if you punish it for "no reason." Leave it somewhere with moppable floors and only tell it off if you catch it in the act -- don't hit the dog and never rub its nose in it (trauma again). Just get its attention, say NO in a firm voice and put it outside where it can finish off. When the dog does go to the toilet outside, praise it (with an enthusiastic "Good Boy" and a little fuss). I trained my first dog to go on command by saying "Go Potty" (to fit with my neighbors' sensibilities), followed by a "Good Girl" and a fuss, whenever she did it in the garden or on her walk. Now if I use the expression, she knows what I mean immediately. (BTW- always take pickup bags with you - they don't tend to give you much warning!).

You can deal with the crate aversion fairly easily. Both of my (rescue) dogs were scared of the crate at first. Could be something to do with being rounded up by a scary animal control stranger and put straight into a crate. The younger one was so funny - did the paws out, hold onto the side of the crate thing, like "you're not getting me into one of those!" The way to break a crate aversion is to only give them treats if they get into the crate. First off, you'll have to put them in the crate, then give them the treat. After a few days, they get the idea. Last thing at night, now, my border collie dashes for the crate when I turn off the hifi - she thinks that this will speed up the bedtime treat!
posted by sgmax at 4:35 PM on April 13, 2008

probably has some lhasa apso in there

You will probably have more training issues around the dog being a lhasa apso than around age. Lhasa apsos I have known have had a tendency to get overexcited easily and, well, lets just say that you will really want to be sure to train against jumping on guests to your home.
posted by yohko at 5:17 PM on April 13, 2008

Just get its attention, say NO in a firm voice and put it outside where it can finish off.

While I agree with the rest of this post, when housetraining a dog, it is much preferable to go outside WITH the dog, so that you can be right there to praise when the dog does its business. It's fine to just let them out once they get the whole idea of housetraining, but when you're still working on instilling the idea, go out with them (on a leash if you want to teach them to use a specific area of the yard), when they start urinating or defecating, praise in soft soothing tones (so as not to interrupt), "goood Fluffy, goood go pee" (or whatever term you want to use, but pick one and keep it the same), and then when they're done, praise effusively. If you just let them out and then praise when they come in (or shout praise from the door), it is much harder for them to make the association between relieving themselves outside and everything else that can intervene (you have about 5 seconds between a behaviour and your reaction to it to forge an association, and anything that happens between the behaviour and your reaction reduces that association - so if you praise when the dog comes back to the door, you're praising the dog for coming in, not for pooping in the yard - which is also why punishing a dog for running away isn't punishing the dog for running away, it's punishing the dog for being caught or coming back).

I also don't generally agree with using the word "no" - it's much easier to teach a dog what TO do than what not to do, and the word "no" can affect how the human interacts with the dog ("I TOLD him no, why is he still doing foo?"), using a sound like "ah ah" achieves the same effect (interrupting the behaviour) without the added baggage of using a word with meaning to the human (but not the dog). Don't underestimate the effect your choice of training method and language has on YOU, which then affects the dog. As with all other training: make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard (a dog can't mess in the house if it has an empty bladder/bowel, a dog can't sneak off and mess/eat your shoes/whatever if you are supervising it, etc.). It's much easier to just fully reinforce the behaviour you DO want, so that it becomes habit and what the dog wants to do, than trying to teach what you do NOT want. Fairness, patience and consistency are all that's required.
posted by biscotti at 7:04 AM on April 14, 2008