House Breaking A Full Grown Dog

Well, Keishia, our Wolf hybrid is being rather stubborn when it comes to house breaking. I guess I have a bad luck streak with animals and pottying.

Anyways, what's the best way to train an old dog new tricks?

A little background of Keishia.

Her first owner beat her, and left her tied up to a tree. Without food and water, so when we took her in we knew it would be kinda difficult to house break her. But we have tried everything from crates to even paper training. We take her out, she stands there looking at the sky, as soon as she comes in she goes potty in the house.

Any dog specialist out there? I need help.

First of all, thanks for saving the girl! Yes, older dogs CAN be housebroken. It takes times though. What may help at first is to walk her until she goes, stay outside with her and make sure she goes before you come back in. The walking helps.

I would suspect because she part wolf that peeing indoors isn't "normal." I would feed her, then immediately take her outside and let her go out there. Stay out there with her because you are her pack leader. When she goes, praise her, and give her a meaty treat.

I have several friends that have wolf crosses, and one with a coyote cross. None of these dogs are inside only dogs, they are kept in secure fenced areas with the wire going far underground (as wolves dig) Provide her with a way to get outside quickly should the need arise, and if she does go in the house, don't scold her. She is a conflicted dog due to someone's desire or negligence to have a wolf for a "pet."

With our shepherds, we hang a cowbell on the back door low enough they can nose it when they have to "go." It works well and they alert when they have to go outside, because we sealed the dog door last year so the cats couldn't get out.

What Hissy said

With the rescue dogs I have had, most recently a mostly husky who had been left tied to a tree for years and was pregnant.... crate training has been the way to go for me. They won't soil the area they have to sleep in in most cases, and they can hold it longer than pups, so crate training makes it very fast and easy to train an older dog.

Well, congrats on the new pet...His previous history is a sad one, albeit a common one due to the new designer phenomena of owning a wild animal or any new dog breed. He may actually not even be a wolf hybrid. Many huskies/shepherd crosses are traded off as wolf hybrids so idiots can make money off them..
Anyway....

Housetraining should be based on the prevention of accidents rather than discipline after the fact. So, if your dog makes a mistake because you didn't get him out when you should have, refrain from any negative discipline.

Since your dog is no longer a young puppy he will have better bowel and bladder control. Place the dog on a regular schedule and take him outside at certain times, whether he needs to eliminate or not - first thing in the morning, after meals and play and the last thing at night. It is essential to accompany him to make certain he is, indeed, eliminating. Dogs are creatures of habit. The more quickly you turn a good behavior into a habit, the faster your training will go.

If you haven't already decided on a crate for your dog, you may want to investigate purchasing one for him. The most effective way to teach him to eliminate outdoors is to prevent him from using the house in the first place.

Dogs are den animals and have an instinct not to soil their den. The crate will become your dog's den.

Confinement to the crate overnight or for a three-to-four-hour period during the day when he is unsupervised will help speed the housetraining process.

Despite your best efforts and diligence an accident may occur. If it should happen, treat the incident in a matter-of-fact manner. It is critical that you not scare or confuse your dog by physical punishment or yelling. The dog won't understand why you're upset, and you are only creating more stress for your dog. Put the dog outdoors or in another room while you clean. If the accident should occur on carpeting use lots of paper towel and blot with fresh paper until you have lifted as much liquid as possible. Neutralize the odor with plain white vinegar and water or a commercial pet-odor eliminator.

Housetraining your older dog requires patience, humor, understanding, compassion and time. He wants to please you by doing the right thing. Help him make the adjustment to his new home a successful one.

If he does not potty outside, he should go back into the crate for another hour, then back outside. And the first time he goes outside...have a party! I mean praise him as if he just pooed solid gold! Pet him, and love on him, and tell him how wonderful he is.

My dog used to delay going potty outside, because she figured out that as soon she went potty, she was brought back in the house. So I started standing in one small area of the yard, saying, "Go poo-poo", until she went. Then I would praise praise praise, and walk her around the yard for another 5 minutes. Now she will pretty much go on command. (Yay!)

Do your best not to let him make another mistake inside...even if it takes a few days with a lot of time spent in the crate. Of course, as soon as he does his business outside, he gets to be loose in the house.

I dont know if Iam any help, but I rescued Molly about 2 yrs ago and she was always an outdoor dog, never indoors! Well when we rescued her, she just potty trained so good! I dont know how we honestly did it, but we did-it was awesome. I hope that you have luck in training her, and everyone here has given some great advice.