House Training Older Dog: The Rescue Dog
Fred and Barbra Thompson just adopted a 5-month-old black Lab Retriever puppy from the local rescue pound. The animal shelter informed Fred and Barbra that the dog was already housetrained. But the two quickly learned something else. UGH! They would need to learn how to housetrain dog and soon!
?When we drove up to our house, Barbra took the dog directly to the backyard to relieve herself,? Fred says, ?She sniffed around, urinated a little and then wanted to play, so Barbra brought her inside to play. Within 5 minutes she had peed again and before we could get her back outside, she pooped!?
Although many puppy owners have difficulties teaching housetraining skills, it really doesn’t have to be a difficult process. Housetraining is the process by which you teach your dog to eliminate when you want it to and where you want to ? and to refrain from eliminating at any other time or place.
Sounds simple? Actually, it can be, and it is ? so long as you stick with the tried and true basics of approach. Housetraining does not have to be frustrating or overwhelming. However, you must be extremely consistent until your dog is completely housetrained.
This was a little bit older dog and had learned how not to be housetrained. So the Thompsons will need to house training older dog.
Start With A Schedule
Dogs are creatures of habit and a schedule will help your with potty training your puppy and your will puppy develop good housetraining skills much more quickly. You can establish a schedule that takes your own needs into account as long as you realize that almost all puppies and older dogs will need to relieve themselves when they first wake up after a night’s sleep or a nap, after they eat or drink, and after playtime.
An 8 to 12 week-old puppy may need to go outside when first waking up in the morning, after eating breakfast, after playing at mid-morning, then again at about noon. If the puppy naps, it will have to go out when it wakes up, then again at mid-afternoon. A schedule like this should continue all day.
As the puppy grows and matures, it will develop more bowel and bladder control, and you can increase the length of the intervals between trips outside. However, increase this time between potty trips gradually. You want to set your dog up for success (no accidents), not failure.
By 8 to 9 months of age, a dog that has been housetrained using a consistent, realistic schedule will need to go outside first thing in the morning, at noon, later in the afternoon, after dinner and before bedtime.
However, keep in mind that all dogs, no matter what their age, have their own unique needs. Some will have to go outside more often; others will be able to hold it longer. During the housetraining process, you’ll need to learn your own dog’s particular needs, strengths, and weaknesses.
Get the FREE report about Potty Training Your Puppy. This information works because I used it myself on my stubborn pound puppy who was really an older puppy dog.