Housetraining Older Dogs

If you have never tried to housetrain your dog or have never needed to until now, do not worry about the training process. Although it is always advisable to start the training process when your dog is a puppy it is still possible for older dogs to complete the training.

Housetraining Older Dogs can be done by using a modified version of the puppy training schedule.

Older dogs have to be treated with more patience and kindness than puppies because puppies are faster at understanding. Older dogs can have failing eyesight and hearing so that’s where the patience comes into play.

When housetraining older dogs be sure to make hand gestures very obvious and that your voice is also firm and clear so that they understand.

Some larger old dogs can develop problems with their joints. One example is Hip Dysplasia and this is something you should take into consideration. The sit command requires them to rest on their hips so perhaps that command can be avoided and a simple 'STAY' command used instead.

The housetraining procedure should be started as usual. Use a crate and arrange a schedule. Older dogs - up until a certain stage - are able to control themselves for longer than puppies and a schedule should be fairly straight forward.

When your dog does not follow commands try again. Do not give up on him!

The whole idea of housetraining your dog is to make sure you don’t have to clean up after them and that they do everything outside the house. Therefore, while keeping to the schedule make sure you give your dog adequate time to do everything he has to do. This could mean keeping him out longer. Use the crate to your advantage, and for when you can't be around him, use it. For information on crate training click here.

Just remember that housetraining is important no matter what age your dog is. It is a simple process that will make the two of you happier.