housetraining rescue dog?

Visit this site to learn how to help this dog. The problem is not just housetraining, it's that you have a dog with fear issues. You need to understand triggers and thresholds. A dog that cannot eat treats is not just not responding to positive reinforcement, it CAN'T respond cause it's over threshold. Yelling at a dog like this is a bad idea. Dogs also pee when they're scared, so yelling at a scared dog can make it need to pee! Also the dog can learn that peeing when you're around is dangerous and can get it yelled at. You really need to understand how counter conditioning and desensitization work. You need to work on the basic fear issues this dog has about being outside. You might also consider giving this dog a nice safe crate to be in when its inside so it cannot continue to practice peeing in the house. You could use the pads and move them to the door and eventually out the door. You might also try using a long line outside so the dog can 'go' further away from you.

www.fearfuldogs.com

Have you ruled out medical reasons? Always check for UTI or similar first. This can make things harder. 3 months is a long time.

Where do you keep your dog when she is not supervised? My advice would be to not give her a chance to have an accident.

When you take her out take her to the same small area on a 6 foot leash and let her walk only in that area until she elimintates. If she doesn't eliminate then put her back in the crate or other confined area.. don't let her sneak off and have an accident. If you yell no at her when she is peeing and she is very sensitive this can make potty time more scary as she will associate going pee with loud yelling. After crating her for 10 - 15 minutes take her back out on the leash and walk her in the same area. Repeat until she eliminates outside. Don't leave water and food around the house... start the potty routine about 30 minutes after eating and drinking. Control her intake so you know when you should be doing the potty routine and when it is o.k. for her to be free. It takes patience. I have two rescue dogs. 1 took 3 weeks to train the other took 4 weeks (she still has occasional accidents but this is clearly related to her eating food she shouldn't.. stealing people food). I was super consistent and used timers to let me know when it was time to potty the dogs

awww,poor thing, it sopunds like she is just terrified - i had a dog like this once - she had been beaten by the previous owner.

unfortunatly a lot of times with recues we just dont know there background

you siad its been 3 months,,thats not a long time,,,,she may never fully recover and may always have this issue

I would go ahead and try the wee wee pads and see what happens,,,and i would also get her a dog crate - a wire one -

teach her that this is her safe place - you dont need to shut the door on it,butt the crate will give her a place to go when she is overwhelmed and needing that extra security

try the pads, and see what happens............

when you are outside with her - if your walking her on a leash, do just that,walk her,take your time and if she should happen to go to the bathroom,let her know she is a good girl

if she doesnt go ,,then dont worry about it, just use the pads inside for reinforcement

I would also talk with your vet and have him give her a checkup just to make sure there is nothing physically wrong with her,and a vet is a good source of information....

you could also try a big litter box for her - i had a lab once that used the litterbox

i have a rescue lab too she was sick when she was a pup and almost died till we took her. first make her comfortable in side and if you have a garage you can put like a kitty litter box out there but made for dogs [you can find them at the pet store] and gradually take her out for walks like outside and play with her then start to train her so she kows you wont hurt her. good luck =]

rescued dogs are alwas hesatant because of events of what happened with there previous owner, it just takes longer, dont stop trying

ask a vet or ask a dog trainer if the abuse was bad some habits are hard to break