House training the adult dog - how difficult?

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CazD

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I've spotted a dog I quite like the look of on a local dog rescue kennels website. The dog is currently in a foster home. its aged 2 but accordingly to the fosterer "does not appear house trained which is a problem".

How difficult is it to house train an adult dog? Is it possible that it couldnt be house trained ever now that its older?
 
Same as a pup really. The mistakes take a bit more cleaning though. And you need to be home with the dog all the time until you have crate trained him. You can then nip out to the shops while he hopefully crosses his legs. If you work hard at it a couple of weeks should do it. It is a real eureka moment when they go and hover hopefully by the door to the garden for the first time.
Most ex-racing greyhounds need to be housetrained when they are rehomed as pets. Getting a housetrained rescue is an unexpected bonus actually!
 
I have had quite a few rescue greyhounds and lurchers over the years, I've never had a problem house training any of them - and I certainly havent been at home until they were crate trained :)

My last boy came straight out of racing kennels, into the rescue kennels for 3 nights, then home to me. I had one day at home with him while he recovered from having 14 teeth out, then went back to work (shorter hours for a few days) and he was absolutely fine :) The other 6 I have had were just as easy :)
 
CazD said:
I guess so, although my current dog was house trained and a foster I had earlier in the year was brill too.

cayla, would you mind giving me your "tactics"?
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*Create a strict routine right away, inc letting out to toilet intervals, feed times and sheer quantity and water intake (as in smaller amounts left for longer periods) left alone over *night for instance* esp if its a dog thats drinks the bowl clear for the sake of it, some dogs do just drink and drink where there is a full bowl and it has to come out somewhere/sometime:p
*Confine the space the dog is left in (when you are out), ideally as suggested a crate or kitchen/laundry area, asoon as the dog arrives (no run of the house)
*Giving to much space to an untrained dog where by they can pass a motion and walk away gets a very bad habit going, hence the creating smaller spaces to help them hold as they wont want to literally crap where they lie in majority of cases.


It could be he is getting way to many meal and treats and not enough toilet breaks or walks and left with alot of space and never been crated and crating to be fair is the easiest way to revert back to teaching them to hold once more at those times when your are not home to let them out hourly in the beginning. Ocne they can hold you would then increase the space.
Could be the food is also innapropriate and is encouraging far to much waste and making said dog very thirsty= excess output:D (so not always just about) not being toilet trained as such.
 
I have had two dogs that were not house trained, it took a little time but both are now house trained.

I can't say I was particularly strict, I found that they naturally trained themselves over time.

However I have a slate floor and I have a dog flap.
 
CazD said:
I've found out a little more about the dog - he uses his BED to poo in. How on earth would I stop that???
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Lots of factors, ask the following...
Is he crated
how big is the crate
what his routine
what is he fed/how many times

We deal with this all the time, and we have to sort this to rehome them it can be worked through and its generally down to how they are managing him at present, they maybe be inexperienced and not thinking of the most logical things to help toilet train him.
 
I managed to house train one that had come out of a puppy farm as a mature adult. It took longer than with a puppy, but it was doable.

I used a crate, watched her like a hawk when she wasn't in it, and was around pretty much constantly and took her out to toilet every thirty minutes!

When she first arrived, she used to mess in her crate & lie in it - that was all she knew. But a few baths (she stank) and once she was clean, and restricted to a smallish crate, and she mostly stayed clean in the crate - but again, I kept taking her out to toilet, and rewarding her each time she did. She got there in the end.
 
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