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I've never trained a dog before but we are thinking of getting a dog from the pound. Some of them are not housebroken for a variety of reasons. Is it really difficult to train an older dog? What is the best way to do it?
A dog in a shelter may never have been housebroken because it wasn't kept in the house, or may have been partially housebroken when its owners gave up on it, or may have been fully housebroken at one time, but "forgotten" during its time living in a kennel. This along with the trainability of the individual dog can affect how difficult it is. A dog that they say is not housebroken may even turn out to be fine once it gets into a normal environment. One of my dogs had been in the shelter for 5 months, and tied in a yard for an unknown time before that, and was not at all housebroken when we got her. If you said "Do you want to go outside", she went straight to the kitchen door (not the right door in our house, but it is in many people's houses) so I guess she'd had a normal indoor life at one time. It took 2 months, but she's completely trustworthy today. You may want to tether your dog to you with a leash at first, definitely use a crate, and follow this, the bible of housebreaking.
It is most likely to be easier than with a puppy since an adult can hold it for longer period of time - over night, unlike a pup or an infant.
Read the link that S2C posted and you should have all you need to know.
Thank you for choosing to adopt a pound dog and give it a second chance at a first class life.
Lots of good general training books out there from such people as Karen Pryor, Pat Miller, Patricia McConnell, Victoria Stillwell and Ian Dunbar. See what your library has.
Patience is key with any training and dogs are pretty smart when it comes to learning desired behavior - they aim to please.
Sure. Lots of regularity in timing, lots of verbal praise when you take her/him out. As another poster said, like a puppy only they hold it longer. Good on ya for adopting!
Be aware that certain breeds are much more difficult than others ... as well as certain dogs may be difficult to train due to their upbringing. Some dogs will be easy, some dogs will never respond well to good training and supervision.
Do your research on the breeds of dogs that best suit your environment and use, and adopt one of those ....
Good for you for and thanks for thinking of adopting an older dog from the pound. We did just that. Darcy had been in so many shelters and we had difficulty housebreaking her. What worked for us was doggy daycare. We did this because we couldn't trust her to be home alone and not go to the bathroom all over the house. We still don't leave her alone for a long period of time, but one day our daycare provider forgot to pick her up (I also forgot to call and make sure) and there were no accidents in the house. She must have really learned from the other dogs at daycare even though we tried.
Good for you for and thanks for thinking of adopting an older dog from the pound. We did just that. Darcy had been in so many shelters and we had difficulty housebreaking her. What worked for us was doggy daycare. We did this because we couldn't trust her to be home alone and not go to the bathroom all over the house. We still don't leave her alone for a long period of time, but one day our daycare provider forgot to pick her up (I also forgot to call and make sure) and there were no accidents in the house. She must have really learned from the other dogs at daycare even though we tried.
Rip was over one year old and I think he learned from our older labs.
I've had several rescues in my life who had no idea of housetraining when I got them. But just taking them out, waiting for them to go, and giving a little treat worked fine. It's really easier to explain things to an adult rather than a child. It often only takes a few days. Just be sure that at the beginning to get them out frequently and then wait for them to go. They need to learn that going out means more than just playing and sniffing.
I have a show dog rescue who had virtually no contact with either humans or other dogs. But he was housetrained in a few days. Sometimes he still stands in one spot even though I've had him for nine years. But when I say "Go ahead." he trots to his favorite spots. He had obviously never been on a walk either. But again, in a few days, he learned how to walk and loved it.
If there are other dogs in the household, the new dog might learn easily by smell. At one point, I had five border collie/cattle dog mixes, all lined up like guys in a public bathroom, all wanting to use the same spot.
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