If you are adopting an adult dog, it may be that his previous owners told us he was not house trained, or he may have spent a long time in kennels and needs retraining.  

If he has been in kennels for a while, he will be used to messing on concrete, and may therefore be a little confused over where he should be going.

Generally, dogs that mess in the house will return to certain places.  

A lot of dogs will also do this in private, not because they know it is wrong, but merely because they have been told off in the past for messing in front of their owners.

 This obviously does not help to house train them; it only serves to confuse them.

The only way that a dog or puppy can be house trained is to consistently reward them for going to the toilet where you want them to go.  

This means that not only do you need to go to the garden with them, you also have to supervise them at all times when they are in the house.

The more times your dog has the opportunity to mess in the house, the more he will think it is the correct place to go.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DOG
Firstly, although your dog is adult, pretend he is a puppy.  

Take him outside into the garden and wait until he needs to go to the toilet.  When he starts to relieve himself, say a gentle command such as “be clean”.  

This way, once he has learnt what it means, he will be able to toilet on command.  Once he has been, give him loads of praise or a tit bit.

 Make sure that you take your dog outside after each feed, drink, play session, and other than that, every two hours during the day.

This way he has much less opportunity to need to go inside the house.  

Don’t forget to be consistent with your commands, and your praise.  

If you are having problems with house training your dog, it may be due to the fact that you are not able to supervise him at all times. This means he may be repeatedly toileting in the house, and due to the repetition of it, think it is the correct place for him to go.

It may help to confine him to a smaller area by using a stair gate, or introducing an indoor kennel.  

Dogs do not like to mess where they sleep, so being placed in a smaller area for short periods when they cannot be supervised can help reduce accidents.

If he does have an accident in the house, do not punish him.

Move him to another room while you clean up the area.  Biological washing solution is one of the best ways to get rid of the smell so that he won’t return to this spot again.  

Try to think of accidents as your fault for not taking him out enough.  

If at any time you catch him just about to mess, distract him by shouting “no” and then quickly take him outside and praise him when he performs.

BEING PATIENT
Remember that all dogs vary in the length of time it takes, but you should be prepared for at least 2 weeks of accompanying him to the garden every couple of hours, and of giving consistent praise.  

This may take longer depending on the dog and how long the problem has persisted.

The main thing to remember is that dogs learn habits through repetition and reward, so if he is praised each time he messes in the right place, he will soon pick up on what he is supposed to be doing.  

Obviously, if he is being allowed the opportunity to frequently mess in the house through being left too long, or not being accompanied to the garden, he will quickly think that this is the correct place to go and it will be harder to change his habit!   

IN CASES OF CRUELTY, NEGLECT OR IN AN EMERGENCY TEL: (24 HOUR)