Ask the Trainer
Frequently Asked Questions
House-Training Trouble
"I recently adopted a Yorkshire Terrier mix from my local Humane Society. He is a 2 year old neutered male named Max. The previous owner turned Max into the shelter because she couldn't house-train him. He is crate trained and never has accidents in his crate. He seems to not understand that he shouldn't go outside as sometimes I walk him and he waits until we come back in before going to the bathroom. How can I work on his house-training to make him successful?"
House-training is a very common problem among toy breed dogs. It is great that Max is crate trained as that would have needed to be the first step. Since he is crate trained the process will go much smoother and faster. It is also important to feed Max 2x/day versus a free choice feeding schedule. This way you can monitor how much food and when Max is eating. It's o.k. if he skips a few meals while you are encouraging him to eat at a given time. Leave his bowl down for 20 minutes at each feeding and soon he will learn that that is the time to eat. Dogs won't intentionally starve themselves so he'll eat when he's hungry.
The only tools you will need for his housetraining are a 6 foot leash and a squirt bottle filled with water. Anytime Max is in the house with you he should be leashed to your side. If you can't watch him or when you are not home Max should be crated. To help with the crate time you will need to keep Max well exercised so he is tired and provide him with lots of occupiers like Kongs stuffed with cheese and peanut butter.
When you have Max outside and he DOES urinate/poop say "get busy" or another command while he is in the act of going. Feed him treats after each "get busy" incident. When you are inside and Max is tied to you take him out for bathroom breaks every hour or so. If you see him start to go inside squirt him with the bottle while saying "NO" and take him quickly outside. When he finishes outside, praise and give him a treat.
As Max gets more and more reliable about going outside you can give him more freedom. Increase bathroom breaks by hour intervals. The process, if consistent, should take about 3-4 weeks.
Good luck!