House-training tips?

Hello all. :)

I'd love to hear other's experiences/suggestions/tips of what worked (or didn't work) when they were trying to house-break their dogs.

I recently adopted a 1 year old male boxer from the humane society I volunteer for. He's such a great boy :lovestruck: but I haven't house-broke a pup in years (8 to be exact :rolleyes:) and would love to hear what other's methods are.

I was delayed quite a bit with my boy in house-breaking, as he has a UTI :( it's slowly improving with the medication, and he generally only has one accident in the house a day.

Anyone care to share?

I had the joys of house breaking 2 pups at the same time, and it actually went quite well.

I found it easiest to block off sections of the house, so that I could see them at all times while they were out.
(there's not much you can do if you're cooking dinner in the kitchen and your boy is upstairs peeing on the carpet :frustrated:).

Then the obvious, take him out every time he wakes up, before and after every meal, drink, play time, etc. I like to use the phrase "go pee" once we get outside, and then praise like crazy once they do.

Since I was doing this so often throughout the day, I gave them a kibble or 2 as a treat, rather than an actual cookie.

If you do notice an accident in the house, there's really nothing you can do unless you catch him in the act. Just quietly clean it up and don't say anything.
On the other hand, if you do catch him peeing or pooping in the house, a loud clap of your hands and a "ah-hem" will kinda startle him mid-flow so to speak :o.
Then say nothing, take him immediately outside, and once he finishes what he's doing outside, again, praise like crazy.

Sounds like your little one already has a pretty good handle on things, so I'm sure he'll pick it up really quick. Some pups take days, others take a few months. We just have to remember he's really quite young at only a year old, and it'll just take some patience and persistance.

Good luck!

Try a house line maybe. Tether him to you - this way you can supervise him at all times to minimize the accident opportunities nad also learn to recognize his "signs" for when is time to go. At one year old he should be able to hold it longer than a puppy and be more predictable. After his UTI clears, of course.