Quote: Nora Ferrell

... We haven't made it a full two weeks yet, and every accident, I will have to admit, was my fault.

Yes, my experience has been that even a dog who has never been indoors, including a senior Pug, will respond if you set him up for success. Nora's points are good ones. Don't let the dog be in a position where he has to go, is unsupervised, and is indoors. Set a good habit with lots of outdoor opportunity that leads to outdoor potty and much reward and praise.

My trusty tether, a short piece of a 20-foot cotton line I got from LB, has served me very very well with all kinds of adopted untrained dogs -- including one who had had no choice for years but to use her kennel.

P.S. I know that many people say that small dogs are harder to housetrain, but I have to say that once I've allowed for the limited capacity, I haven't found them to be different from big ones.

A couple of very dedicated weeks will really pay off in the long run.

I'm not sure how long of a tether people used in the house, but I didn't use one that was more that 4'. For a couple of my foster dogs, 6' was long enough for them to still get in trouble if I wasn't paying close attention. So I went even shorter.

I got a Leerburg 3' drag line for my dogs (used it on Carbon, too) and just tied it to my waist. At that length they just did NOT want to pee that close to me. I always got signals if I paid attention. Whines or anxiousness. And then I dropped everything and took them out and labeled, labeled, labeled the act of peeing or pooping outside and praised like a loon.

I can't tell you how remarkable that was. Coupled with crating and lots of potty opportunities...it was smooth sailing. I'll never go without tethering again. And I really believe it worked wonders on bonding and leadership and chewing issues too... But I digress.... Anyway, the tether meant zero accidents...so no smelly spots to trigger anything and no bad habits to build. But more than anything, I think it really amplified communication.

Anyway, tethering a dog is as close as I have ever seen to a miracle cure in dogs, for so many issues. In my experience, a shorter line in the house works better...not saying that's true for every dog but it's been true for many dogs for me. To keep them occupied if I was on the computer or writing or something, I would give them a marrow bone or a non-rolling ball-type thing to play with. I would interact with them every few minutes, too. And of course, they were crated when I just couldn't have a dog tied to my hip.

I always had a fenced in dog yard off of the kitchen door, so I would just drop the drag line and didn't use a long line for potty breaks. But I do know of plenty of dogs that "need their space" so I agree with the long-line outside suggestion whole-heartedly.

Carolyn, you'll do great. How long it will take will depend on the dog and how willing you are to have him underfoot while tethered. The crate is great, but I think that the more often the dog is out and tethered, the quicker you'll see signals and learn to read your dog's individual signs (they're all different, IME) and the quicker you can respond to them.

Good luck!

Carolyn, as Amber said, the outside leash is the long one. I also tether close to me (right next to me) and the accidents have been when I would let her go thru the house on her own with the drag line still on. Just takes a few minutes, then bam.

So, short tether inside and long or short outside which ever you and dog prefer.

You will do great and I'll bet in two weeks it will all be over.

Also, one of my dog's signs (rather almost a slap in the face) is she would come right back to me and squat to poo and I would scoop her up and yell nooooo and run outside with her.

Just want to make sure that I was not misunderstood about using the long line.

I use a 3' or 4' lead in the house, and the long line is for outdoors. I apologize if I was unclear.

 Quote: Carol Boche

Just want to make sure that I was not misunderstood about using the long line.

I use a 3' or 4' lead in the house, and the long line is for outdoors. I apologize if I was unclear.

I thought you were clear, I'm sorry Carol...I think it was my post that made it confusing by talking about the length.

I was only trying to say that I wasn't sure how long of a *tether* people used in the house and that I found a shorter tether was more effective, for me, in the house instead of a longer one (lots of people I know use the 6' leash as a tether and I've known dogs that will still have accidents at that length, so I just wanted to bring that up just in case.)

 Quote: Amber Morgan

I was only trying to say that I wasn't sure how long of a *tether* people used in the house and that I found a shorter tether was more effective, for me, in the house instead of a longer one (lots of people I know use the 6' leash as a tether and I've known dogs that will still have accidents at that length, so I just wanted to bring that up just in case.)

Oh no, no, it was not you at all. I just reread my post and saw that I did not mention the shorter tether in the house....no worries Amber. It's all good.

Just thought I'd follow up-- this is silly but it made me happy, .

Last night I took the dogs out as usual; they dragged me from the front door to "their tree" in the front yard and promptly urinated on it without my having to guide them over there at all.

I feel like I'm making a tiny bit of progress.

p.s. I know they shouldn't be dragging me anywhere but one step at a time...