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Paws & Claws

Jill Bowen has practiced veterinary medicine in England and Texas. She lives in Blacksburg now, and answers local pet owners' questions every week in The Roanoke Times and roanoke.com.

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We adopted an 18-month-old Yorkie who had been rescued from a puppy farm and spent most of her life in a cage. We are having great trouble getting her house-trained -- when she's out of her crate she urinates all over the house and also soils her cage.

There are many reasons why dogs soil in the home; some are easy to correct and some are not. Patience and understanding is required. As Konrad Lorenz said in his book "Man Meets Dog," "Art and science aren't enough, patience is the basic stuff." First, have the dog checked by your veterinarian to make sure there is no physical or medical reason for the problem. Next establish a regular schedule. Take the dog out on a leash to a chosen area of the yard and walk up and down until elimination occurs. Try to prevent her from being distracted during this time. It is also helpful to repeat a certain phrase such as "hurry up." Any phrase will do, as long as everyone in your household uses the same one. Eventually most female dogs will urinate on command. Our old Lab responded to "Be a good girl," which was very useful on a cold winter's night. Once the dog squats to eliminate, the owner should stand quite still until all is finished and then praise the dog lavishly. It is not always a good idea to go straight back indoors after elimination because those dogs that like being outside may postpone elimination so that they can stay outside longer. Simply turning a dog out in the yard hoping it will train itself rarely works, especially in older dogs that have never been housebroken.

All dogs are potentially trainable, although adults who were never trained as puppies and forced to soil their crate through neglect present quite a challenge. Most dogs will go to great lengths to prevent soiling their bed. If after walking the dog for 15 to 20 minutes in the chosen area nothing has happened, put the dog back in the crate for 10 to 15 minutes before taking her out again. Repeat this procedure until you achieve success. The dog should be taken out on a leash first thing in the morning, 15 to 20 minutes after every feeding, immediately after waking from a nap, after playing with or chewing a toy, and the last thing at night. These are all times when the urge to eliminate is high. The selection of one spot in the yard can have an influence on the ease of training. Choose an area the dog has used before and, if necessary, bait it with a sample of the dog's urine on soiled newspaper.

Until the dog is housebroken, do not let it have free run of the house; instead confine it to the kitchen or any other area that is easy to clean. When cleaning up do not use ammonia products because old urine smells like ammonia. Instead a commercially produced enzymatic cleaner such as Zero Odor will neutralize odors. This is important to prevent the dog from resoiling in the same place.

Never punish the dog when there is an accident in the house. This is counterproductive, especially when the accident happened hours earlier and the dog has no idea why it is being punished. If the elimination happens in front of the owner, punishment teaches the dog to be sneaky and not to "go" in front of the owner. This in turn can make it difficult when the dog is taken outside. Try to learn the signs of when the dog is about to eliminate (sniffing, circling, etc.). At this critical point make a loud noise as a distraction, banging on the table or shaking a can of pebbles. Then while the dog is still distracted grab the leash and go outside immediately.

Jill Bowen has practiced veterinary medicine in England and Texas and has taught at Texas A&M University. She lives with her veterinarian husband and two cats in Blacksburg. If you have a question, please write to her in care of The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 540, Christiansburg, VA 24068, or send an e-mail to bowen508@verizon.net.