basset hound training

Question
i have a basset hound. their so cute but i have a problem, i have had her for a year and she still goes to the bathroom in the house! we don't have any other dogs so that might be the issue but i really don't want to give her away!  

Answer

Hi Sanday,

Because your dog has been going to the bathroom in your home for at least a year, it's going to take plenty of consistency, persistence and LOTS of patience to get her trained. How well and how quickly this happens depends solely on you, not your dog. Giving up your dog shouldn't be an option over an issue like house training. If you find it's not working after trying the things I suggest, I recommend you contacting a dog trainer. Sometimes there is no substitute for having a live trainer show you what to do!

You didn't say if the problem is urination or bowl movements or both. You also didn't say how old your dog is, and if she's spayed or not. It's possible your dog has a urinary tract infection, or some other medical problem that's the cause of her house training problem. Your first step needs to be have your dog examined by a vet to rule out a medical problem.

Next clean everywhere in your home where your dog has soiled with an enzymatic cleaner, such as Nature's Miracle or Simple Solution. Your dog can smell where she's gone to the bathroom in the past, and it may be tempting her back to remark those areas. The smell needs to be removed.

House training is based on these simple principals: Your dog should not be having the run or your home until she is reliably house trained, and whenever she's not being contained, she needs to be supervised.

When you are at home, you shouldn't wait for your dog to "ask" to go outside, because she won't. Prevent accidents by going on frequent trips outside, so she won't have the opportunity to "go" inside.  Get on a schedule of feeding and walking your dog. You must take your dog outside on a leash, not simply let her outside by herself. When you walk your dog and you see her sniffing around looking for a place to "go" repeat a cue word you would like to attach to the act of your dog eliminating. You can use "hurry up", "go potty", etc. just pick out a cue word or short phrase and don't change it. Use a happy encouraging voice. The moment your dog has finished going to the bathroom, enthusiastically praise and reward her, and give her a treat. Not just any treat, something "high value", such as a tiny bit of hot dog or a little piece of cheese. It needs to be a memorable treat so your dog understands what a good girl she's been. If you think your dog still needs to go to the bathroom some more, continue walking, using the same cue word, and rewarding whenever she eliminates. In your dog's mind you are building an association between the cue and her emptying out. If your dog doesn't do all that she should during the walk, when you return home put her in a containment area, such as a dog crate, using a child gate or two to make the contain her to part of a room, or use an indoor dog pen. In 20 minutes take your dog outside for another try... because you KNOW she has to "go"!

If you opt for the child gate or dog pen option, lay a thick layer of newspaper over the entire containment area, so accidents that happen can be clean up easily.

Some people keep their dogs on the leash in the house, and tie the end of the leash to a belt loop, so the dog can't wander off and have an accident behind the couch, or in a quiet room. The key to house training is supervise, supervise, supervise!

Before you leave your house for any length of time, take your dog outside, and then put her in her containment area. When you're home and just want to relax, cook, read, talk on the phone, etc. and can't be watching your dog like a hawk, it's time for the containment area. Your dog should also be contained overnight for the same reason.

If an accident happens, it's not your dog's fault if you weren't supervising her closely enough, or didn't get her outside fast enough! Never punish your dog for accidents. Clean up the mess using one of the enzymatic cleaners I mentioned, and promise yourself next time you'll watch your dog more closely.

These sites have lots of good info on house-training:

http://www.dogpark.com/Housetraining-The-Adult-Dog.html

http://www.dogs-4life.com/easily-housetrain-your-adult-dog.html

http://www.perfectpaws.com/htra.html

Best of luck,

Patti