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My husband and I are considering adopting an adult dog from either a rescue, or from an established breeder (NOT a puppy mill). We think this would be a good way to know exactly what we're getting, health wise and temperament wise, and also give a home to an older dog.
The breeder has several adult dogs who have been spayed and are ready to be adopted into families, but they are not housebroken.
We are endlessly patient, someone is home all the time, and have raised many puppies before, but I wonder how hard it is to "teach an old dog new tricks?"
I think a well-trained kennel dog from a knowledgeable breeder would be easy to housebreak - easier than a puppy. In fact, many of them may not require housebreaking at all.
I think a well-trained kennel dog from a knowledgeable breeder would be easy to housebreak - easier than a puppy. In fact, many of them may not require housebreaking at all.
I am not really thinking they are well trained, but I don't know. I assume that they have lived in large kennels and potty inside the kennels. What's to make them think they can't do the same thing in a small crate?
I think older dogs are easier, we've never had a puppy, but friends have and its takes several weeks.
We housebroke a one year old dog a few months back. Pretty much treated him like a puppy, lots of trips outside(every 4 hours and once before bed) and gave him tasty treats after he went. He had probably 5 accidents(with two of them being #2, granted one day it was pouring all day, I wouldn't want to go outside either lol) And the accidents weren't he didn't make it to the door, he would just walk across the room and go in the house. But it only took him about a week to "get it" and after 2 weeks we no longer kenneled him at night. He hasn't had an accident since.
Routines, tasty treats and being watchful are probably all you need.
I am not really thinking they are well trained, but I don't know. I assume that they have lived in large kennels and potty inside the kennels. What's to make them think they can't do the same thing in a small crate?
My father's hunting dogs had indoor/outdoor kennels - the shelter was inside the garage and the run was outside the garage. They never went to the bathroom in their shelters. Even kennel dogs can get the indoor/outdoor concept. An adult kennel dog that has been handled and well socialized and that knows basic manners/commands can pick up something as basic as housetraining. But if the dog has been largely ignored and just fed and let to roam an enclosure, I suspect it will be a bit harder.
My father's hunting dogs had indoor/outdoor kennels - the shelter was inside the garage and the run was outside the garage. They never went to the bathroom in their shelters. Even kennel dogs can get the indoor/outdoor concept. An adult kennel dog that has been handled and well socialized and that knows basic manners/commands can pick up something as basic as housetraining. But if the dog has been largely ignored and just fed and let to roam an enclosure, I suspect it will be a bit harder.
Our hunting dogs do not go to the bathroom in their houses either.
Or, in the dog boxes when they are hunting.........and that can be a long time.
I've heard that doxies are notoriously hard to housebreak. But, if you get a dog that is fairly smart, and you figure out their favorite treat, it shouldn't be impossible.
If it was me, I'd go for a female, because they won't have accidents by lifting their leg on your favorite chair or the wall, etc. Their accidents would at least be confined to the floor.
I believe you can do this, especially being home so much.
I did have a very tiny papillon that I fostered once, who was smart as a whip and I even trained her to jump through a hoop. But, she had "learned" that it was dangerous to have accidents in front of humans. She had lived with a single mother and her children, and they did no training. She turned over a male and female to me that she had intended to breed. The male went to a new owner right away, so I didn't train him, just got him neutered and de-flead - they were both covered in fleas! Both dogs would just go hide and do their business on carpets - always the carpet.
The female I was going to keep, would not go the the bathroom in front of me, and I did not have a yard. I walked her constantly, crated her in between and she would go to the bathroom in her crate. I hired a dog trainer (I was living in Davis which has a very reputable vet school at UC Davis). I tried everything with this very smart little dog, but she had decided until the day she died that she would never go to the bathroom in front of a human ever again.
So, I found her a home with a woman who had several papillons and a backyard. She very quickly learned to use the doggie door and go outside.
That was my only failure to train. If I were you, I'd try it. And if you fail, there will be other doxie lovers out there who will give her a good home. But, if you have a yard, and you're home, and the dog is fairly smart, I don't see how you would fail to figure out some training that would work for both you and the dog.
The big problem I had bringing the outdoor dogs in........was they panicked.
Rip almost jumped though a picture window.
These are hounds.......IMO......they are harder to teach anything.
Hounds being harder to teach is such a ridiculous statement. I have a walker on my couch now and fostered many lost and retired hunting hounds. They are just as capable living in a house as any other breed.
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