When you bring your new dog home, you can be certain of one thing: There will be messes in your home. Your home is a new environment for him and he doesn’t know the rules. So, he will probably mark places that have interesting odors and he may relieve himself in places that look appropriate to him. He will also be stressed and somewhat anxious, which may cause him to pee. This is very common and is a normal part of dog adoption.
If you are lucky, you a bringing home a dog that has had house training to some extent. If so, all that is necessary for you to do will be to show him the approved outdoor areas for him to relieve himself. But, in all cases, the best thing for you to do is to assume that he is completely untrained and implement training from scratch. Don’t assume that your new pet will understand your home and routine from day one. If he’s from a shelter he is coming from a place where it was perfectly okay to relieve himself in his run. And in any case, helping him with this one skill will help him to quickly adjust to living with you and will begin to establish your relationship with him.
Here’s how to get your new dog off to a good start. We’re going to begin by assuming that you do not have any other dogs in the house. We’re also going to assume that your new dog is an adult and not a puppy.
First, start him off right. When you take him home for the first time, do not bring him indoors immediately. Take him for a walk around your property and around your neighborhood and give him a lot of positive reinforcement when he relieves himself. Praise and pets all around.
Second, you can use a crate to help with feeding. Feed him in the crate with the door closed and keep him inside for a few minutes after he eats. Once he’s done, take him outside to an area that you want him to use and stay with him until he relieves himself. Again, give him a lot of praise when he does it. FYI: I strongly recommend feeding your dog twice daily on a set schedule, and that you pick up the bowl with any uneaten food after 20 minutes. Free feeding your dog will make it difficult for you to establish a schedule with him.
Third, a dog does not want to pee or poop in the places that he eats or sleeps. You can take advantage of this by limiting the area that he is allowed to have access to in the house. Start with a crate, and gradually expand his living space with pens or baby gates, giving him more room and access as his training firms up. It might be helpful to keep him on leash indoors at first.
Fourth, take him on walks and establish a routine for doing so. Extended exercise and walking has the natural effect of encouraging bowel movements, and exposing him to outdoor spaces will encourage him to pee in interesting places. As always, praise him and give him positive reinforcement whenever he relieves himself outdoors.
Fifth, when he has accidents in the house, do not – repeat not – punish him. Don’t react to them at all if you can avoid it. Simply clean the up pee or poop immediately and take steps to remove any residual scent. There are two products on the market that are very good scent removers: Resolve™ and Nature’s Miracle™ (I don’t endorse commercial products, but these both work). Removing the scent is critical, as he will tend to reuse areas.
Lastly, as he learns that he needs to go outside, he will develop behaviors that will let you know when he needs to go. Learn his body language so you can tell when he’s feeling the need to go, and to understand when he’s telling you that you need to take him outside.
The key thing to remember is that you are teaching him to relieve himself in places that you want him to use. He wants to have go-to places and he wants to have a routine; its up to you to tell him what they are going to be.
If you are adding your dog to a family that has an existing, house-trained, dog then your job gets a little easier. And a little more complicated. I strongly recommend that you put the existing dog through a refresher course while you’re training the new dog. There is a good possibility that the presence of the new dog might cause your current one to regress in this area.
For one thing, the new dog will be leaving new scents throughout your house. Your current dog may feel a need to mark areas where he detects them. This is normal dog behavior and shouldn’t come as a surprise. You can also take advantage of this by having them go in your yard or on walks together, because the new dog will tend to use areas where your existing pup as left his own scent markers. By praising the new dog when he does this, you are reinforcing a completely natural behavior. By training them together, you are not only establishing a routine for your new dog, but you are also socializing them with each other. Start this at step one (above), by having both dogs go on the initial walk around your neighborhood and property when you first bring the new one home. This gives the new guy a good start and provides a way to introduce the dogs on neutral territory.
Also, if there is an existing dog in the house, this increases the need to establish a feeding schedule and walking/potty schedule. If you leave full dog bowls around the place so that they can just eat when they’re hungry, you are making it difficult to determine which dog is eating most of the food. And you are also increasing the likelihood of conflict between them as they guard their food bowls. Feed the new dog in his crate at first, and take them both outside for after meal walks. After all, you’re going to be picking up twice the poop now, you’ll appreciate having it on a schedule.
For some tips on how you should dispose of that dog waste, please visit Disposing of dog poo in a safe and eco-friendly manner | The Animal Nerd.
Additional reading:
Carson, L. L. (2015). Housetraining 101. In Horwitz, D., Ciribassi, J. and Dale S. Decoding Your Dog. (pp 76 – 82). Boston, MA. Mariner
Hoffman, H. (June 30, 2020). How to Potty Train a Puppy or Adult Dog. PetMed. Retrieved from How to Potty Train a Dog: Potty Training Tips for Puppies and Adult Dogs | PetMD
Miller, P. (2008). The Power of Positive Dog Training, 2nd Ed. Hoboken, NJ. Wiley.
Naito, K. (2018), BKLN Manners. Mount Joy, PA. Fox Chapel