Dog House Training – Retraining Your Mature Dog

House Training Your Older Dog

Let’s face it, our dogs get old, just like we do and sometimes, when dogs get old, they begin to have “accidents” in the house. Your previous dog house training, may have to start over again as you may have to begin retraining  your mature dog.

It can feel as if you’re dealing with a puppy all over again, with all the dog training problems you faced before, so it’s important to know how to tell if your dog is getting old or if there is something else going on.

Often, dogs as young as five can be old, while other dogs stay young for much longer, so it can be difficult to tell if your pooch is suffering from old age or is just misbehaving when they are leaving you “presents” for you to clean up all over the house.

Is Your Dog Having Problems?

If your dog is having problems with going outside, the first thing you need to do is to get veterinary advice to determine if she is old or just irritated. When your mature dog winds up losing their dog house training skills, it can feel as if you’re going to have to housebreak her all over again, and you may, but there might be some other medical condition which your veterinarian can treat and your dog will go back to being her well trained self.

Are There Dog Health Problems With Your Mature Dog?

It’s so important to have any conditions treated as soon as possible, though so that she doesn’t slide into the learned bad dog behavior that it’s okay to do her jobs on your living room floor. Often when your dog has diabetes or nephritis, she can begin to have “accidents” in your home. Also, the reason for the accidents could be as simple as a urinary tract infection, or parasites could be the cause. Because of these things, it’s not a good idea to assume that your dog needs to be re-housebroken.

You should also understand that when a dog is upset or unhappy, she may begin to back slide when it comes to her housebreaking. Maybe she’s upset because you’ve brought a baby or another animal into the house. Maybe you’ve gotten married or divorced. These are very upsetting for dogs and can often cause them to begin having issues with their dog house training.

Are There Any Bad Dog Behavior Problems?

It may be that if you have a male dog and your neighbor has a female that he begins to go in the house because the female next door is in heat. This is your dog marking his territory and although it’s frustrating, it’s also instinctive. Because of these issues, however, it’s important to make sure that you stop it as quickly as possible to ensure that your dog doesn’t get into the habit of bad dog behaviors. It may be time to re-housebreak your dog so that you can get back to a clean, mess free home.

When you are working to re-house train your mature dog, it’s important to make sure that there are no physical conditions that will make doing this impossible. Work with your vet to make sure your dog is healthy and then do what you can to make sure the accidents no longer happen. In the mean time, use a cleaner that effectively removes odors, but avoid ammonia, as this can be a “safe” spot to go by your dog.