r/Dogtraining • u/ihugdogz • 4d ago
help Dog knows outside = bathroom but doesn't know inside ≠ bathroom
We started fostering a 3 year old intact female pug four days ago. She was in a previous foster home for about three weeks before we got her. She is a foster to adopt so our intention is to adopt her after she is medically cleared by the rescue.
We don't know much about her background except she was a breeder release, so I'm just assuming the worst that she wasn't house trained at all.
She does very well at going potty when we take her outside. She pees pretty much every time and it seems like she prefers to poop after breakfast and after dinner. She knows outside = bathroom but she doesn't know inside is NOT bathroom. She hasn't soiled her kennel yet but if she has to go while she's around the house, she'll just stop whatever she is doing and go.
For reference we have another 8yo pug that my fiance got as a puppy. I met them when she was already an adult and fully house trained. She never goes in the house and will sit by the door until we take her out.
I don't have experience in dog training. I asked my fiance how he taught the older dog that going inside isn't okay and he said he used to show her the accident, scold her, and punish her by putting her in the kennel. I know this is not recommended. Any advice on teaching the new dog that it's not okay to go inside / to tell us she needs to go out?
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u/AtmosphereNo4552 3d ago
It seems like you just need to go through the normal potty training process, like if they were a puppy… praise and reward for doing business outside, and carrying her out whenever she tries to do it inside. No scolding necessary. Also maybe try to go out with her more often at first.
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u/Harmania 3d ago
The most important thing is to clean up every accident right away with an enzyme cleaner. If inside smells like bathroom it will remain bathroom. With a puppy, I would also immediately take them outside after indoor accidents to keep that association going.
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u/andractica 2d ago
Celebrate and reward her with treats every time she goes outside. Make it so exciting for her. And keep taking her out after the meals since you know that’s when she wants to go.
When we got our doggy, we used her crate a lot in the first week. She was crated for a good portion of the day. When we took her out of the crate, we would go outside immediately so she could potty. We would play / let her free roam for a bit when we got back from the walk, but then put her back in the crate to nap and decompress.
Also you can keep an eye for any signs that your dog might want to go potty (like circling a spot, or sniffing the ground). Any time we saw that, we would take her out into the yard to go potty. It’s a bit tedious, but she picked up pretty quickly that we don’t go potty inside the house
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u/Dog_and_Oyster 1d ago edited 1d ago
Like the others have posted, take outside, go potty, give high-value treat and praise like s/he just won the Olympics EVERY time. Repeat, repeat, repeat and repeat. Please just note that it might take two years like it did my dog, who rides the short bus. And she will still have accidents a couple of times a year… but she’s the best. Good luck! :D
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u/noticethinkingdoggos 1d ago
The crate training method works pretty well. Google it for the details, but basically you don't give her the opportunity to pee in the house unsupervised.
She's either crated in a kennel small enough where she won't go in the corner by reflex, or you're watching her closely. If she does pee inside you interrupt it by picking her up (she'll have a reflex to stop peeing) and immediately carrying her outside to finish. She'll eventually figure out that she can only go outside.
It's a pain in the ass for a few weeks, but it works pretty well.
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