Training a dog to go to the bathroom outside and not in the house, when they are full grown, is a large task but can be done.
House training an adult dog takes patience and dedication.
We tend to get upset when the dog has an accident, but I will discuss how I did it with the dog we adopted from our local humane society.
A little over a year ago we found a really cute Maltese, adult male dog online at the Oregon Humane Society's website.
He was eight years old and had been a breeder dog his entire life in Tillamook Oregon.
The man who had him also had five other Maltese and a few King Charles Spaniels that he could no longer take care of and he called the humane society to remove them from his home.
Our dog, Whirly, was adopted quickly by a family who saw him and wanted him.
Unfortunately, after three months they returned him to the animal shelter stating they couldn't take care of his medical needs.
Whirly had not been cared for properly by the breeder and all but three teeth needed to be extracted and he had an anal abscess.
The doctors at the humane society nursed him back to health and then they put him back up for adoption.
We walked through the animal shelter, and we saw Whirly.
While all the other dogs were barking and jumping, wanting out of their confinement, Whirly sat there quiet and looking as though he needed us.
Immediately, we knew he was coming home with us.
During the adoption application process they informed us, it was also stated on the website, that Whirly was house broken and was trained to walk on a leash.
After getting him home we found neither to be true.
As far as walking on a leash, I will write another article about that.
The house training was the biggest thing.
It took about 3 months to train him to go to the bathroom outside.
However, even to this day he has accidents inside.
I did a lot of research on potty training and nothing really worked for him.
We tried clicker training, confining him in one room, crate training, but nothing seemed to work.
I am at home all the time so I decided to dedicate all my time in taking him outside.
Every two hours, after a nap, after eating or drinking, and after playtime, I would take him outside to go to the bathroom.
I carried treats and rewarded him each time he went to the bathroom outside.
After about three months it took! Not only was this a difficult task to take on and succeed because he was an adult dog, but I feel that it was even more difficult because he was a male dog as well.
As we know male dogs want to lift their leg and mark their territory.
Whirly was no exception.
I truly believe that if you can invest the time and patience, an adult dog can be trained to go to the bathroom outside.
It just takes a lot of dedication, so stick with it and you and your dog will learn and succeed.