Quote:
Originally Posted by Taryn0405  She said the key is to catch him in the midst of him beginning to lift his leg, and when he does, smack the leg down and don't yell but in a frim voice use "No". |
there is no need to hit in order to retrain.
When I adopted my little boy, he was a year old and a marking fiend. He marked everywhere on everything. It really is starting all over when you add a dog, of any age, to your home. They might be trained in their former home, but the adjustment period can and will throw them off.
First thing I did was had him neutered after being home for 4 days. It is helpful, but it's not a quick fix. It takes weeks before the hormones are completely flushed from their system. After that, I treated him like a puppy. I had him in an expen when I couldn't give him 100% of my attention. When he was allowed to roam, he wore a belly band, and I literally walked behind him as he explore his new home. As soon as I saw him try to lift his leg, I double clapped really loudly, and that was enough to correct the behavior and redirect his thought to something else. It was a slow process that included walks 5 times a day, slowing he earned his roam, and now he is the perfect little boy. it also helped that I praised him for every single potty, and every time he marked outside. I wanted him to understand that it wasn't the fact that he was marking was bad, it was where he was doing it.
He started in the pen, earned limited free roam in my room, then unlimited access, then he had limited free roam of my room and the hallways, and on and on until he earned my trust and now has free roam of the entire apt. Due to a sudden life change, he was able to be potty trained to piddle pads in 2 weeks using the same method. This will sound like I'm bragging, because I am
but he's perfect. He has one piddle pad in the apt and will loyally walk to it for every potty. 0 accidents in our home.
It might sound like a lot of confinement, but I really wasn't. He was walked a lot, when I was lounging in the couch, or on my bed, he was lounging with me, and we played a lot. But, the balance was lots and lots of potty breaks. Set then up for success and they will improve.
Sorry for the long winded post. I hope you can get ideas from it hat you can use to train your pup.