It is hard to teach old dogs new tricks. Does this mean that you will have to put up with the messes created by a dog adopted from a shelter? Surely not! The trick is to teach an older dog a new behavior instead of teaching it to unlearn an old habit. Dogs are not so different from humans as far as learning is concerned. Adult humans are still capable of learning although the learning competence is somewhat diminished. The same thing is true with our canine friends.
How will you teach your older dog that the carpet is not the toilet? There are a lot of information on the internet on how to potty train a dog. How-to book and DVDs abound as well. Dog owners have various ways of training a dog. Heres one.
Potty training an older dog would need a good deal of patience, perseverance and consistency. We know that dogs have ultra sensitive sense of smell. A dog recognizes things around its environment mainly by using its nose. So why not take advantage of the scenting ability to potty train a dog? Notice how a dog would come back to the place where it has eliminated again and again. By using their sense of smell, the dog can follow the way to its own toilet. Dogs are also consistent on the time they would go potty. Most dogs would go 30 to 45 minutes after eating, after drinking and after waking. Of course dogs have different personalities thus it would be necessary to observe the toilet habits of your dog so that you will recognize when it has to go potty. Moreover, dogs usually give signs when they have to go. A dog would feel and act antsy, sniff the ground or walk in circles.
This would take a lot of your time as you have to closely monitor the dog. Every time it shows the signs of going potty take it to a corner of the lawn or to the place where you want the dog to go potty. After leading the dog to the same spot for about two weeks you will notice that the dog would do its business on the same spot on its own. The training though is not yet finished. Expect the dog to have accidents inside the house every now and then. Again take advantage of the dogs sense of smell. The smell of poop and pee would entice to dog to do its business on the same spot. So to stop this habit you need to completely remove the scent inside the house. Be very thorough in cleaning the mess created by the dog. Even the lightest whiff will make the dog eliminate on the same spot again.