We just got a border collie/golden retriever mix this last week. He's perfect, and sweet and all the great things of THE BEST DOG - except he's not house trained. I was told by the previous owner that he was house trained - obvious lie, from what I can tell. He's peed and pooped so many times it's not even funny. I don't want to get rid of him, because he's honestly the best dog I've ever had, but I wasn't prepared to house train, especially with my work schedule. Originally, I was going to be able to bring him with me to one of my jobs, but if he's not trained I can't do that.

Do any of you have any success stories on working and house training a dog at the same time? :P Any tips for me? I have been taking him out as much as I can and saying "go poop go pee" before I take him out and while I'm out there with him, then I shut up while he does his thing, and immediately after the pee/poop is done I give him a treat. I heard it's bad to do the whole rub-the-nose-in-pee thing and also scolding is bad - and from the experience I've had doing that so far, it's only made things worse. Now he's scared of me when he goes in the kitchen, because that's where I yelled at him. :( I don't know what else I can do.

have you tried crate training?

Yeah, I was thinking about crate training. Just have to find a crate. Poor boy though. I get my panties in a bunch over putting an animal in a crate. :P But I've heard it also becomes their "save haven", and I've seen that my mom's dog loves her crate and goes to it for security. So I'm definitely considering it.

lol don't worry doll. i was all concerned about bella when i first put her in a crate. she would whine, and howl and i felt so bad. lol she had a few accidents in her cage, but eventually learned to hold it until it was time to go "outside".
but she eventually stopped whining, and peeing her space. now it's like you said. it's her "safe" place where she goes when we all annoy her! she hides her toys and things in there. :)

Yep, it's like their personal den. Don't feel bad, it's actually highly recommended and most dogs enjoy having their own place. I also wanted to suggest a belly pad for when he is in the house to help with the piddling. It won't do much good if he poos in the house, but it helps with pee. It's just going to take time and lots of patience. Don't give up! :)

It was personally easier for me to potty train my dogs using puppy pads. First we placed puppy pads several places all over the house and when they would pee or poop on the floor, we'd tell them NO and take them to the puppy pad. Doesn't take long for them to grasp that idea, and then we took the puppy pads away until there was only one and it was in front of the door..and then, voila, they just started going to the door when they needed to go!

Hm! That sounds like a good idea. I considered something like that, but wasn't sure if it'd work out that way or not. If he doesn't get better in the next week, I think I'll break down and try that. :)

Look up NILIF training. It's an abbreviation of Nothing In Life Is Free. It did miracles for my dog when we brought him home from the SPCA. It's basically what you're doing right now. You're doing a great job. Remember too, that he's in a new house and it's probably really scary for him to be with new people. Accidents are bound to happen. Definitely keep up the positive reinforcement. It's going to take awhile. I will also suggest crate training as well.

i've never heard of NILIF training. might have been useful. :) my pitbull was hardheaded all hell!
but yea, my dog responded to crate training really well, and keep with the positive reinforcement for sure. yelling at them doesn't help anything, other than to make them skittish.

I had my doubts that anything would get my dog to stop being a spoiled boy, but it really did work. The 48 hour "social ignoring" was the hardest part. The first 48 hours, you're not to talk/pet/play with them at all. Just simply feed them, water them, take them outside. No other attention. It's to help them realize where they are in the pack. It's pretty hard because they know exactly what you're doing and they want you to stop it! lol. After that, we went back to regular obedience training and I got him to sit, stay, stand, dance for a treat and stop jumping on people when they came in. He also realized that he had to do something for everything. If he wanted to eat, he had to sit. If he wanted a treat, he had to dance and if he wanted to go outside he had to wait by the door until we said, "let's go". He seemed so much calmer after all of that and happier. It was like he was humbled by the experience. When we get our next dog, I'll be using the same method.

Yeah, I feel so terrible when he pees in the kitchen now, that I can't even say "no" when he's doing it because I feel like it's my fault that I've scared him so much that he pees himself when he's in there. :( I'm not sure if it's because he's scared or if it's because he just thinks it's where to go.

I personally think crate training is the best way to go. Animals naturally don't use the restroom in places where they sleep or eat. Also, after they ate, take them for a small walk to to the restroom. Have magic words like "Let's go pee pee" or whatever and praise them when they go along with a treat. I did this to my dogs and it worked great. Praising them is most important, it makes them understand what they did was good and they learn.

i agree. my dogs magic word is just "outside". you say that and she spazzs out so completely, lol

We say "let's go pee pee" and they run over to the back door. They spaz out and bark too, haha.

Our dogs react to "potty", lol.

I find that crate training works as well. I think it really is your best bet. It worked for my dog. After you take your dog outside to go to the bathroom, and he does his business, tell him "Good dog", and then give him a treat. I find that helps as well.

crate training works a treat, and it's not so bad for them. the crate becomes their own space where they can choose to go to if they feel the need to. my dog treated like his own personal cave. probably why he likes sleeping under beds actually..

I know this is unorthodox, but we got Sadie from the pet store years ago, and she had no clue she wasn't supposed to pee inside because they always took the puppies out at regular intervals at the store. Poor girl had such a hard time learning, and the carpet in the computer room took it's toll. My dad is old school, he wanted her to be paper trained (kinda like puppy pads) and told me to rub her nose in it and swat her with a newspaper or magazine. I know now that you aren't supposed to, but it worked. She soon learned that when we said "gotta go potty" or "gotta go outside" she'd bark or go to the door. I know it is frowned upon, but it worked for the best. She's the sweetest dog I've ever known, very much a people-dog.

I'll probably do crate training with my next dog just because I like the fact that they can be comfortable being locked up when you don't want them roaming the house when you can't keep an eye on them.

This is what I think about that:

A rolled up newspaper can be an effective training tool when used properly. For instance, use the rolled-up newspaper if your dog chews up something innappropriate or has a housebreaking accident. Bring the dog over to the destroyed object (or mess), then take the rolled-up newspaper... and hit yourself over the head as you repeat the phrase,"I FORGOT TO WATCH MY DOG, I FORGOT TO WATCH MY DOG!"

Haha just kidding. I saw that yesterday and thought it was funny though. Seriously, I think it works, but I feel guilty for hitting him with anything or even yelling at him. The praise thing has worked a lot better so far, and yelling at him or hitting him or rubbing his nose in it has only made him scared of me, and now he piddles every time he goes in the kitchen because he thinks I'm going to hit him or scream at him! :(

Haha well quit hitting him and screaming at him!! I'd look up the crate training thing esp in your little house.

We have the whole house now ... kind of. We need to rent the room upstairs, but we don't want to rent to someone we don't know. But yeah, I haven't hit his nose or rubbed his nose in it or yelled at him or anything like that since. Just been taking him outside and giving him treats when he goes poo or pee! :)

Sounds good to me. Oh, and btw. I sooo miss you guys. Like whole bunches.

I know dude. Where have you been hiding? We should par-tay sometime. :P

We've had three dogs and trained them all the same way. For the first week or two we took them outside every 30-45 mins (while we were home) and make sure they do their business each time. And when we were gone locked them in a crate since dogs are less likely to go to the bathroom in their own area. It seems inconvenient but it worked well for all three of our dogs & we had very few accidents with them.