ADULT DOG POTTY TRAINING

Did you know that not having a potty trained dog is the second most common reason (after aggression) that people give up their dogs? Sad, but true. And it's something *you* really have control over -- you don't have control over your dog's genetics or his prior life, but you can teach him to be house trained!

Adult dog potty training (BTW, I really don't like the word "housebreaking" because you're not "breaking" anything -- "housetraining" is okay, though) is a bit different than potty training puppies because when we potty train puppies, we're working on basically a clean slate. But with adult dogs, although they have the muscle control to "hold it," they may have to overcome past experiences -- both of prior potty training and also an emotional component from you ("I've done EVERYTHING, and I can't believe he still isn't housetrained!" Am I reading your mind???) and there may be other issues involved. So we need to rule out the other things first.

Here are some of the issues we may need to address in housetraining your adult dog:

• Age-related changes
• Behavior issues or problems
• Excitement urination
• Health and medical history
• Marking
• Obedience training
• Prior potty training
• Submissive urination

Here are some things people tell me all the time. Do any of these sound familiar? In our consultation, we'll talk about why these things are happening and how we can stop them to make both you and your dog happy!

• I take my dog for a walk, but then he pees when we come inside.
• My dog pees on the pads but won't poop on them.
• My dog is spiteful and pees and poops when I'm gone.
• My dog pees when I come home or when visitors come over.
• My dog pees when someone pets her.
• My dog doesn't like to go outside for a walk.
• My dog pees on my bed.
• My dog was housetrained, but now he has begun to go indoors.

But if it's a simple house training issue, here it is summed up in one sentence -- Take your dog where you want him to pee or poop when he has to go, reward him when he goes in the right place, and watch him like a hawk or crate him at all other times -- for a more complete discussion, see puppy dog potty training tips.

Sometimes housebreaking (gasp -- there's *that* word again!) is just a matter of miscommunication. Dogs aren't humans, and what we intend and how our dogs interpret what we do many times are two different things. So we need to tweak what you are doing so that your dog understands exactly what you want him to do and what he's supposed to do.

The first step is to contact me so I can help you potty train your dog or puppy! If you understand how your dog thinks, then you're well on your way to housetraining him.