- Joined
- Sep 11, 2006
- Messages
- 8,668
- Reaction score
- 7,959
We adopted an adult rescue 13 years ago. She is still going strong at the approximate age of 15.
Potty training her was a total challenge. It took a full year. She had clearly been an outside dog and to this day she prefers to be outside. She rarely will "go" on a walk, even after all of these years. Sometimes she went outside, but sometimes she went inside. She was a stealth pottier - we never saw her do it, we just discovered the evidence. So frustrating!! What ultimately happened is that I managed to catch her twice - once just after she had piddled, and once when she was on her way to piddle (she had her favorite spot - in the middle of the dining room. Ugh.) The first time that I caught her I asked her "Did you just go potty? Doggies potty outside!" - and outside we went. It wasn't a week later that I was in the kitchen and saw her slink into the dining room - I yelled "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! Doggies go potty outside!" - and outside we went. She never had another accident. It was like the light finally came on in her head. Once she truly understood what we wanted, she was golden.
I don't have any specific advice to offer - my limited experience has been that every lab that we have ever owned (3) has been very easy to train, and that Miss Mia (rescue - cattledog/sheltie mix) would try anyone's patience. We had to replace our carpet. It was pretty awful. I'm pretty solid on training a dog, or so I thought, but I found potty training an adult dog to be a real challenge.
In my mind, this advice seems very good (not that it worked with Miss Mia, lol):
Potty training her was a total challenge. It took a full year. She had clearly been an outside dog and to this day she prefers to be outside. She rarely will "go" on a walk, even after all of these years. Sometimes she went outside, but sometimes she went inside. She was a stealth pottier - we never saw her do it, we just discovered the evidence. So frustrating!! What ultimately happened is that I managed to catch her twice - once just after she had piddled, and once when she was on her way to piddle (she had her favorite spot - in the middle of the dining room. Ugh.) The first time that I caught her I asked her "Did you just go potty? Doggies potty outside!" - and outside we went. It wasn't a week later that I was in the kitchen and saw her slink into the dining room - I yelled "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! Doggies go potty outside!" - and outside we went. She never had another accident. It was like the light finally came on in her head. Once she truly understood what we wanted, she was golden.
I don't have any specific advice to offer - my limited experience has been that every lab that we have ever owned (3) has been very easy to train, and that Miss Mia (rescue - cattledog/sheltie mix) would try anyone's patience. We had to replace our carpet. It was pretty awful. I'm pretty solid on training a dog, or so I thought, but I found potty training an adult dog to be a real challenge.
In my mind, this advice seems very good (not that it worked with Miss Mia, lol):
Agree with staying outside WITH DOG until business is done, then a big ole party "GOOD PEE PEE OUTSIDE!" and pop a treat into dog's mouth RIGHT THEN. Don't wait to get inside for the reward, have it in your pocket.
Routine is super important, make one, stick with it.
Good luck, and thank you for rescuing!!