House breaking a rescue dog

[Scruggzy]

We adopted a year old, owner surrender golden doodle yesterday. First owner was unsuccessful in housebreaking him. He is not yet neutered and is scheduled for that in 2 weeks. Suggestions??

[Donna K & Quincy]

Congratulations! He is beautiful. You need to start from scratch and treat him like a new puppy. Out to potty often and on leash so that you know for sure that he goes. Keep him close or tethered to you with a leash so that he can't wander off to do his business. Use a really good cleaner like Nature's Miracle to clean up any accidents. When he goes outside, treat and praise. Don't scold or punish for inside accidents or you made find him trying to sneak away to hide to go potty. It probably won't take as long as you think. 

I am thinking that he has had more than enough negative attention regarding potty training so do you very best to make it as positive as you can.

Use a very high value treat and only give it for pottying.

Good luck and bless you for giving this beautiful doodle a second chance at a great life.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Donna has said it all. Good luck with this gorgeous doodle.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There are 3 parts to housebreaking a dog: 1. Teach the dog where he should go, 2. Teach the dog where he should NOT go

and 3. Eliminate all traces of odor in the places where he has made a mistake so that he doesn't return to those places.

You also need to feed him on a regular schedule so that his bowels are on a regular schedule. :) Meals need to be given at the same time every day.

In order to teach number 1 & 2, it's necessary to always praise him every time he eliminates in the right place, and to correct him every time he makes a mistake. In order to do that, you must see & reward him for pottying outdoors and you must catch him in the act of making a mistake indoors every time. You cannot reward or correct a behavior after the fact. So ideally, it goes like this:

The dog is never allowed a chance to have an "accident" without you seeing it. He must be crated when nobody is home, and tethered to you or otherwise supervised when you are home. Keep a leash on him. Every "mistake" he makes that goes unnoticed is reinforcement of the wrong behavior.

You always have treats handy to reward him for "going" in the right place.

When you do see him start to make a mistake, you immediately stop & correct him verbally with a clear "Eh Eh Eh" or "No", spoken loudly and firmly but no screaming or yelling. Since he is wearing his leash, you can also grab it and get him outside fast. If he finishes what he started outdoors, you give him a treat and praise him to the moon. Have a "good dog" party. Act like an idiot, lol. You are teaching him that pottying inside makes you unhappy, showing him where he should be doing it, and then rewarding him for making the right choice. 

Then you clean up the area where he made a mistake with an odor neutralizer designed for that purpose, like Nature's Miracle. Just cleaning up is not enough; you may not be able to smell anything, but trust me, he can. You have to really saturate the area to eliminate any odor, or the dog will return to that spot. 

Neutering may help eliminate any marking behaviors, too, but I wouldn't count on that. 

Good luck and thank you for adopting an adult dog. Once you get past the rough spots, it's one of the most rewarding things you will ever do. :)

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Everyone is correct so I will just add one more thing.

Have a lot of cloths around and take those cloths you used for clean up  to a specific place in the yard. Establish his scent in that spot.  Your yard will look a bit like a laundry room for a time, but do keep one poop ( clean the rest ) and a few with a urine scent in that area.

Like others said, treat him as a new puppy. Never let him out of your sight, crate when you can not, take out often, praise, treats, etc.

Many of us have done this and have been successful with patience, termination, and love. 

I believe you have another dog. If so, GREAT.  Your other dog is invaluable in helping teach potty manners. 

Also, do you use potty bells in your home?  That may help down the road.

Congratulations on this BEAUTIFUL dog and adopting.

Please, keep us updated on how things are going and let us know if you need more help.

[Scruggzy]

Jo Anne what us the purpose of putting clothes in the yard? Perfectly willing to do it just confused!

[Stella]

She means cloths that you have used to clean up peeing accidents in the house!! If you leave a couple of these outside, you are putting the pee smell out there which will encourage him to pee in those areas. Hope this helps!

[Scruggzy]

For clarification the black dog in my photo is not my rescue dog. He is my 7 year old labradoodle

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

OMD! He is gorgeous!!!!! In addition to the great advice so far, I say don't rush independence and freedom to roam.  We crated when we weren't home and at night, but we didn't tether our foster (who had NEVER been housebroken,) however we used ex-pens and baby gates and even furniture to create smaller spaces so that we could watch him carefully. As he was more and more successful, we made the spaces bigger.

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

OMD, he is such a handsome Dood!  I do not have any additional advice, but totally agree to treat him just as you would a new puppy.

[Lynette Main]

All great advice listed below. I have always used bells on the doors. Ring them when you say potty. Soon they will ring the bells on there own.have fun!!!