House Training

AnthonyK16

I recently got two westies(brother and sister) that are nearly 3 years old but for some reason or another they are not house trained. Does the phrase "you cant teach an old dog new tricks"apply in this case, any tips on how to house train dogs when they are not puppies?

star-pants

AnthonyK16 wrote: »

"you cant teach an old dog new tricks"?

I don't think that's always true
If you're willing to have time and patience you can train dogs with new things.

You go about training pretty much the same way, except the dog being an adult, can hold it in (ie won't just go the second it needs to).

You can do crate training (others in here will have info on that, I've never done it myself so I can't advise).
Or you can do regular training, bringing the dog out to the grass and when they go to the toilet, lots of praise and assurance. IF they go inside, you can tell them a firm 'NO' and even if they're mid wee pick them up and put them outside on the grass(or wherever you want them to go) and then praise them.

They'll associate going outside = praise eventually. If you bring them outside shortly after eating / big drink they'll probably need to go, and you can praise them when they go outside. And you can make a phrase like 'X need to go out?/need to do wees?' and then bring them out and praise when they go, they might then associate that phrase with going outside, so if you ask them and they need to go, they'll know what you're asking and either go with you to the back door/ head that way or look at you going 'eh.. no' lol.

Least that's how ours work, when they go outside now I tell them to go do their business, and they know what I mean. Our youngest (9months) lets us know now if she needs to go out by scratching the door. They can pick up their own way of letting you know.

But basically - just use mostly the same methods - a firm 'no' when they go inside/carry them outside, and lots of praise when they go.

ghost_ie

It is possible but may take some time. We got the middle dog - a Jack Russell cross - when she was 2, and although she copped on to peeing outside quick enough it was over a year before she stopped pooing indoors. The third dog -also a JR cross - was a year old when she arrived and even now, 18 months on, will poo indoors on occasion. The good news is she's doing it less and less frequently so there's light at the end of the tunnell