So You Have Adopted A Rescue Dog And It’s Not Domesticated: Options For Raiding An Adult Dog

When you think of house training a dog, it is usually a puppy that comes to mind. It makes sense to consider house training as part of a puppy’s “growth stage”. Unfortunately for some dogs, that is not the case. If you adopt a dog or get a rescue dog, you really don’t know how they were trained as puppies. Some dogs may have been outdoor dogs and training at home was never a problem for them. For the previous owner, accidents the dog had in the house may have been treated as “just part of having a dog.” Perhaps that was the straw that broke the camel’s back and made previous owners ditch the dog. Whatever the reason, you are now faced with home training your new adult dog.

Older dogs have their habits, more than puppies. An older dog has an established routine or behavior that will be difficult to break. That doesn’t mean you can’t train an older dog, it just takes more patience and time. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the older dog will need more time to pay attention to introduce him to a new routine. When establishing the new bath routine with your dog, use plenty of encouragement and treats to reinforce the new behavior. The new deliberate routine will have to be practiced regularly, which is where patience comes in. You can teach old dogs new tricks, so don’t be discouraged!

An important thing to keep in mind in the early stages is to keep the amount of changes you make to the new dog to a minimum until the dog is domesticated. Many new routines or changes in the dog’s environment will only confuse him and make training longer. Keep an eye on your dog to mimic some of his natural routines at first. Once you’ve fixed the burglary, you can start working on some of your other “bad habits.”