House Breaking the Older Dog
Since you are house breaking a senior dog, your emphasis should
be on teaching him to eliminate outside, versus teaching it not to
eliminate inside. It is much easier to teach an old dog to do something rather
than teaching it not to do something. If the dog already has an established
history of going inside, it would be harder to target your focus on eliminating
that established habit. It is much easier to teach the dog a better alternative
to an old behavior.
One of the key points while trying to establish this new habit,
is to be consistent. To begin, select a spot where you would prefer your dog do
its business, such as a particular section or corner of your yard. Even being
consistent in the area you would prefer they go is a good technique.
Consistently showing the same place to go potty would help the dog learn
quicker. It's also helpful if you do not clean the area too often until your dog
learns that this is the area you prefer they use.
Be consistent with your voice and choice of words in referring
to potty. An older dog might get confused if you use different phrases to mean
the same thing. When you want it to go potty, use the exact same phrase to make
housebreaking an easier task.
Be diligent in removing and cleaning up every trace of potty
accidents inside the home. Their sense of smell is very keen and the smells
might confuse the dog in thinking it is the place to go potty. Use a deodorizing
cleaning solution to eliminate odors.
Keep your pet's sleeping area as confined as comfortably
possible. Dogs do not want to potty in their sleeping area and by using a crate
or other confined area, you are eliminating possible space to go potty. Every
morning take your dog to the desire potty area to do it's business.
As we do when teaching children, reduce your dog's food and
water before bedtime. This can help prevent accidents due to your dog's full
bladder while sleeping that may hinder their capacity to control the call of
nature.
If possible, make it as easy as you can for your dog to go
outside. A doggie door is the best or leaving the back door open. If this is
impractical, leave a bell for your dog to reach. Make sure you are consistent
with bell training and take the dog out each time it rings the bell so that it
can associate being let out and ringing the bell to signal you.
If you are patient and consistent, housebreaking an older dog is
not difficult.
