House Training an Older Corgi

[Squeaker]

A two year old female corgi, a fluffy, has come up for re-homing. My sister-in-law and brother-in -law have always been great admirers of our corgs and have always said that they would like to have a corg at some stage. So I thought of them when this 2/y/o came up.
However, the dog is an "outside" dog and has never been house-trained. If she is ever inside, she marks where the people's cat has been sitting. My question is basically (if somewhat long-winedly :D ) how easy is it to train an older dog to be a house dog? Are there special issues, or would one simply proceed in the way one would with a puppy? Has anyone had experience with this? Any and all feed-back would be much appreciated.

[Fluffypants]

I'll bet that our experienced corgi rescuers / breeders (Glencorgi & Taflar) will have some advice for you! I hope that it works out and your in-laws can help this fluffy girl.

[Bobbie]

I've never had a problem training a female corgi. Males (older ones who have not been neutered until they entered rescue) are another story; it is hard to get some of them to stop marking. But once the female lives inside she should stop marking with little problem.

Bobbie

[Jespah]

I have had a very hard time with my female Jemma with peeing in my apartment. I got her when she was 7 months and had been used to a kennel situation and use of a yard for relieving herself.

My problem was that before my other girl Riley, died last summer, she had been having accidents in my apartment due to her medication. Jemma could smell it (even though I used chemicals to clean it) and figured - okay, if I have to go - use the dining room. I am not home all day, so, even though I made sure she was peeing twice before I left in the AM she would still pee sometime during the day in the dining room.

2 Weeks ago I had to pull up the carpet, clean and reseal the wood floor and then put down new carpet. I have been keeping Jemma in my small kitchen since that time and she hasn't had an accident in there. I don't want her to live her life in there while I'm at work - I would like her out and about with Rupert my other Corgi.

Bobbie - in your experience, how long do you think I should keep up the kenneling before I give her another try? I can't take any more of the peeing inside stuff - emotionally or financially! But I want them together - this is affecting them both.

Deb

[corgimom]

A two year old female corgi, a fluffy, has come up for re-homing. My sister-in-law and brother-in -law have always been great admirers of our corgs and have always said that they would like to have a corg at some stage. So I thought of them when this 2/y/o came up.
However, the dog is an "outside" dog and has never been house-trained. If she is ever inside, she marks where the people's cat has been sitting. My question is basically (if somewhat long-winedly :D ) how easy is it to train an older dog to be a house dog? Are there special issues, or would one simply proceed in the way one would with a puppy? Has anyone had experience with this? Any and all feed-back would be much appreciated.

Here is an article that may help somewhat.


http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&C=144&A=1681&S=0

[Bobbie]

I would try some clicker-training to pee in the right place. I used that with Merlin and got him to stop peeing on the porch and also got Teddy going outside (he still marks inside if not watched but he goes outside normally.) Clicker-training works better than just rewarding going outside because the clicker marks the act of peeing in the right place. The problem inherent in peeing is that it is self-rewarding: the dog gets relief by relieving herself, which reinforces the act of doing it. So the clicker-training reinforces heavily doing it OUTSIDE rather than inside.

[Bobbie]

Oh, and as to how long: kenneling her isn't doing any training. It's just preventative, to save your carpets. You have to train her to go in the right place before she will stop going in the wrong place. (And punishment when you see her does not help, it only trains her not to do it in front of you.)

Do you have a dog door?

[mtoy]

I would try some clicker-training to pee in the right place. I used that with Merlin and got him to stop peeing on the porch and also got Teddy going outside (he still marks inside if not watched but he goes outside normally.) Clicker-training works better than just rewarding going outside because the clicker marks the act of peeing in the right place. The problem inherent in peeing is that it is self-rewarding: the dog gets relief by relieving herself, which reinforces the act of doing it. So the clicker-training reinforces heavily doing it OUTSIDE rather than inside.

Thanks for that info! I was wondering about clicker training myself, that is such a nice easy explanation. I might try that myself.

[Squeaker]

Linda: Thanks for the link. :)

[taflar]

My question is basically (if somewhat long-winedly :D ) how easy is it to train an older dog to be a house dog? Are there special issues, or would one simply proceed in the way one would with a puppy? Has anyone had experience with this? Any and all feed-back would be much appreciated.

You proceed as you would with a puppy, taking her out on a schedule, and anytime you think she needs to go out. You praise her for going where she's susposed to go.

And like with a puppy, her freedom is earned only when she has gone potty outside like she's susposed to. When she cannot be watched she must be crated or confined.

The advantage with an adult dog is they have a larger bladder and can wait longer between times needing to go out. And usually they catch on a bit faster than a puppy does.

Some web pages for more help:
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/housebreaking.htm
http://www.cuhumane.org/topics/hseold.html
http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/lib-SpecTrain.htm

Peggy

[Jespah]

Thanks for the info from both of you - Squeaker I tagged onto your post as we have pretty much the same issue - I wasn't trying to hijack it. :o

I don't have a doggie door - I live in an apartment - Jemma pees where I want her to, when we go out - and I have always made a big deal about it - even treating her - I don't know anything about clicker training, but I'll look into it.

[Squeaker]

Peggy: Thanks for your response - what you say is pretty much what I thought, but a family member thought there may be different issues for an older dog.

Deb: Feel free to tag along at any time. The more the merrier...:BIGGRIN"