We adopted a 4yo male Norfolk Terrier three weeks ago. The woman we adopted him from had recently gone through a divorce and had to go back to work and couldn't keep him. She told us over the phone that he was house trained, but we had concerns about that when we went to pick him up and saw the state of her carpeting. She told us that was from when he was a puppy. Well, I think she may have told us a fib. Dodger pees and poops on my floors daily and I am at the end of my rope! When I take him out he will refuse to go half of the time and then goes on the floor after we come back in. He does not do this in front of me, but will sneak off to another room or upstairs to do his business. I have never owned a house dog before and I have done everything I can think of to get him to stop. He seems happy in our home and not distressed in any way. I am open to ANY and ALL suggestions for ways to stop this and train him once and for all that he has to go outside to do his business. TIA

By Jackie on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 09:38 am:

First of all, get a crate to put him in . Its good for when you are not home, or when you cant supervise him.. At 4 yrs old, he should be housetrained.. but sometimes owners dont want to do the hard stuff. Never leave him unattended.. you said he goes and sneaks off into other rooms to do his business. If it means gating him in the kitchen, then do it.. Also , Im guessing you will have to treat him like a puppy.. If he does go do his business outside, praise him, or give him a treat..If all else fails, contact a dog trainer, or the vet, maybe they can offer more suggestions.

By Jackie on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 09:38 am:

First of all, get a crate to put him in . Its good for when you are not home, or when you cant supervise him.. At 4 yrs old, he should be housetrained.. but sometimes owners dont want to do the hard stuff. Never leave him unattended.. you said he goes and sneaks off into other rooms to do his business. If it means gating him in the kitchen, then do it.. Also , Im guessing you will have to treat him like a puppy.. If he does go do his business outside, praise him, or give him a treat..If all else fails, contact a dog trainer, or the vet, maybe they can offer more suggestions.

By Jackie on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 09:39 am:

sorry for double posting..

By Kittycat_26 on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 11:02 am:

I've also been known to use a leash to keep our puppy with me. It left me know where he was 100% of the time and it made it easier to know when he needed to go outside. I'd just slip my foot through the end and off we'd go.

It probably saved the puppy from taking a trip and me from going insane.

By Palmbchprincess on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 11:39 am:

Leash training. Keep him on a leash at all times, and take him out at timed intervals. It's a pain, but it's an effective training technique. We used that for Peanut, and he's finally spending more time off his leash without trouble. We also crate train, and he FINALLY spent a day (8 hours) in his cage without an accident yesterday. Since yours is an adult dog it may be a lengthy process, but you'll get there!! Good Luck!!

By Tunnia on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 12:31 pm:

Thanks for the responses! I wish I could keep him in a room with tiled floor since it would be so much easier to clean up when he goes, but we have a fairly open floor plan and the doorways we do have are very, very wide. I tried to find gates that would fit when our dk's were babies, but never did. The bathrooms are not a good option either since I have a 4yo who needs easy access to the bathrooms at all times. I guess shutting him up in one room isn't an option for us. Maybe I could at least shut all the doors to the bedrooms to keep him out of there.

I really don't like the idea of putting him in a crate all day, but that's what I've been doing today and I will continue to do that if that's what's needed. When he goes potty outside he gets to roam the house until he either goes on the floor or refuses to go outside. Then once he messes up he goes into the crate until the next time I take him out. He never goes potty in his crate. I am in and out of the house all day long with working three hours a day, taking dk's to school and picking them up, and various other errands we moms always do. Do you really think that keeping him on a leash right beside me at all times when he is in the house and crating him when I'm gone will work? We have a fenced back yard and I would really like to be able to let him out the back door and have him go potty and run if he wants to. If I leash trained him now would I eventually be able to let him go out back alone? I have never let him off his leash unless he is in the house or in the backyard.

Oh, and when he goes outside he gets lots of praise, petting and attention - immediately, before we even go back in the house.

If anyone else has and more ideas, I'm all ears (or eyes as the case may be)

By Kittycat_26 on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 12:52 pm:

The leashing him to me worked for us for potty training because Rosie would never go in front of me. She would sneak off and go for me to find the mess later. With Timmy (my two year old) it seemed that I just didn't have enough eyes to keep on her and him. The leash just kept her close.

By Palmbchprincess on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 01:59 pm:

We used a 6 ft leash, and he wouldn't go. He would go right in front of me when not on his leash, but he wouldn't when leashed. Also, they are pack animals. You need to show them you are "leader" of the pack, and walking behind you on the leash shows him that.

By Annie2 on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 02:34 pm:

You could also tie the leash to a chair or to his crate so he can't wander off. I have to do this for our 12 year old dd when we leave the house. She tends to have accidents on the carpet when she can't hold it. She never has accidents on the tiled kitchen floor where she is tethered to a chair, though.

You can buy a spray from pet stores which you can spray on the area outside you wish for her to go.

Good luck!

By Dawnk777 on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 02:46 pm:

We got Jasmine 4 months ago. She had quite a few accidents in the house. We did keep her in the crate a lot in the beginning and then I got sick of that, so kept her by me on a leash. Eventually, she got it figured out and is letting us know she has to go.

Some of the accidents were our fault, since we knew she had to go out, but just didn't drop what we were doing fast enough! LOL!

By Tunnia on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 03:50 pm:

Thanks again for the advice. I have already put some of it to use and the only accident he has had today is the one this morning. When I put him in his crate after he pottied on the floor this morning you would have thought I was killing him with all the yelping and howling. He really likes his leash so that part is working out really well. I have another question - how do I get him to let me know that he needs to go out? He doesn't let us know in any way when he needs to go. We just find the evidence later.

By Pamt on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 08:17 pm:

I just want to second the crate training. It worked wonders for us! My dog has a bladder of steel can can go for 14 hours without peeing. It's unbelievable. Now if I could get him not to eat the garbage and then throw it up--yuk!

Continue with the crate and make it cozy and den-like with a couple of favorite toys and a towel or blanket inside so it will feel like "home" to him.

By Dawnk777 on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 11:08 pm:

Tunnia, we just tried to anticipate Jasmine's needs. She does tell us now, but she didn't at first. We would just try to take her out every 1-2 hours or so.

By Jelygu on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 11:45 pm:

My puppy just kind of started letting us know when he needed to go, without us really "teaching" him anything. I think once they understand that they have to potty outside they start telling us to open the door!!
When we were training Waylon, we always took him out after feedings, after long periods of playtime, and after naps. And of course whenever he started sniffing around the house. Eventually, he just started whining at the door when he needed to go out.

Good luck!

By Nicosmom on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - 03:17 am:

Crate training has always worked well for my dogs. My dogs have always learned to love their crates and would never think to pee or poop in it. Do not leave him unsupervised!

By Kittycat_26 on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - 08:15 am:

It took Rosie a couple of months to "tell" me that she had to go outside. After keeping your puppy on the leash or with you all the time, you'll start to get them onto a schedule (just like a babies feeding schedule). You'll just know when it is about time for him to go outside again. Then you can bring all sorts of training into the game.

I know bell training is extremely popular on the Boxer Board I am part of. Each time you take him outside ring a bell that you have hung on the door. Eventually, the theory is that you dog will ring the bell when he has to go outside.

For Rosie, she comes and barks at me. She came up with it and when I finally figured out what she wanted, after cleaning up several messes which I deserved for ignoring her, it works for me.

Good luck! I finally got Rosie house broken when I was about ready to "wring" her neck and thought that I couldn't clean one more mess up.

By Tunnia on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - 09:33 am:

Well, so far so good. He hasn't had an accident in the house since yesterday morning. This is the longest he has gone without going in the house. Yesterday I had to put him back in his crate two more times during the day and then once last night because he would go outside, but refuse to go potty. So when he wouldn't go I simply put him in his crate for about a half and hour and then I took him outside again to go potty. He would go after getting out of the crate and then I would give him lots of praises, petting, and a mini treat. I was reading about Norfolk Terriers that they are very smart dogs (I knew that because some of the stuff Dodger does just blows us away), but the are very stubborn dogs and will dig in their heels when they want something their way.

Thanks to everyone for their advice! I really appreciate it!

By Palmbchprincess on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - 11:27 am:

As far as him letting you know, you have to be vigilent. Peanut will start sniffing the ground, or walking in a circle. Even on his leash in the house, he would sniff at the ground and if I didn't take him out he'd pee on the floor.

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, September 15, 2004 - 12:11 am:

I'm so glad that JAsmine does "tell" us know when she has to go! So, most of the time we don't have any more accidents now. It's a LOT better than it was.

We still crate her when we are gone, though. Otherwise, she has the run of the house.

She likes her crate and often goes in there to rest, all on her own. I think she is up there right now.