Rescued 3 YO dog still leaving puddles- help!!

[Batbear]

My MIL bought a 3 YO Cairns at Christmas which was being sold by a breeder who did not want her any more.
She had given birth to her first litter 15 weeks before she was rehomed and had needed assistance getting at least one puppy out.
She arrived in quite a state - she had worms and was quite underweight with a poor coat, but thanks to my MIL's care she has become a healthy little dog with a lovely temperament.
The one problem my MIL has is her repeated accidents. She was said to be housetrained, but often leaves puddles even when she has free access to the garden.
Has anyone got any experience of housetraining an older dog? Is it possible that her problems with her litter have done some damage?
MIL is getting desperate as she is scrubbing carpets and floors too often!
Thanks

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

I'd go right back to basics becauae if I am honest I doubt the poor dog ever lived in a house properly, let alone got housetrained.

In very poor condition, 3 years old and unwanted straight after a litter...sounds like a puppy farmer. Poor dog, thank goodness she has a chance now.

I'd go back to hourly garden visits, and after eating, waking or playing and go with her to praise her when she does things. And ignore accidents like you would with a puppy.

[Booboostoo]

It might be an idea to start with a vet visit. She could have a UTI or urinary incontinence that can be managed with medication or it could be a problem after the birth.

Otherwise, as above, you need to treat her like a puppy. Carpets are terrible for toilet training as they are virtually impossible to clean properly (even if they look clean they still smell of urine to a dog).

[ClaimedByMe]

I would second a vet visit, there could be damage from breeding, I help with rescue Staffies and there is one now that wears nappies as she has no bladder control, after scans and tests there's nothing that can be done for her, she's happy though, in a permanent foster home another has come in recently and is also damaged but she can be sorted with an expensive operation so funds are being raised for her.

Alternatively she could just not be house trained or have uti.

[Batbear]

Thanks for your advice. We thought it sounded like a puppy farm when my SIL collected her and she was a sorry bedraggled thing in need of serious clipping and caring for when she arrived.
I hope it is something that can be improved - MIL is worried that this is a permanent thing. A vet suggested 3 year olds are too old to be retrained.
Will suggest the vet as a first step.

[DairyFogMother]

Propalin or Incurin can be prescribed for bitches once the vet has ruled out infection. www.petprescription.co.uk/healthcare/dog%20information/diseases%20&%20illnesses%20of%20dogs/urinary%20incontinence%20in%20bitches/

It isn't unusal for some bitches to suffer with incontinence after whelping or being spayed. By the sound of it, your MiL's dog probably hasn't had the care she needed but now she has a new life. Good luck.

[musicposy]

We currently have an ex breeder rescue, been with us nearly 2 months, who is not entirely house trained. However, we are definitely getting there and she is at least 3, vet thinks older so it is certainly possible to do.

We've gone right back to basics, putting her in the garden regularly and treating her every time she goes out there. For ages we went out with her, rain or shine, so we could treat her immediately -thus ensuring she knows what the treat is for! If we catch her going or about to go inside we just pick her up without comment and put her in the garden.

I've also made sure that the very first thing I do on waking, is get her into the garden. Desperate for the loo myself, I had been going and then putting her out - and we were getting lots more accidents. Getting up earlyish and putting her in the garden as the very first thing we do (whilst hopping around madly out there!) has reduced the accidents so much.

We are now getting 3 or 4 consecutive accident free days at a time. At one point she was toileting inside at least once or twice a day no matter how vigilant we were so it is possible. But your MIL will needlto be prepared to work at it for a while. Sorry if this is all very obvious!

I've also bought simple solution by the bucket load and soaked every bit of bedding and every piece of floor she has toileted on very liberally. This has helped reduce repeat offences enormously.

[mistlethrush]

Yes, she needs to be taken into the garden and encouraged to realise that she gets praised for weeing out there. We brought a 2.5yo bitch home 18 months ago - we don't think that she'd ever been in a house - she thought inside was where you did things and could go for hours outside and on walks and come home and immediately squat - but we got there with persistence.

[Ducky23]

I've had this problem! I have a 1 yr old, she was brought for breeding and the person who got her locked her outside in a crate and left her to become v poorly :( he eventually took her to the vets and left her there so I took her on. She had absolutely no toilet training and this kind of took a back seat when we got her because she was so ill, we tried to concentrate on getting her healthy.

She is now almost better and I have been doing some hard core toilet training I take her out at least every hour and especially after meals. We stay in the garden until she does her business and praise/treat her when she goes. She is getting better at it each day but still struggles to hold it during the night or if we go out for a while. She's now about 1 1/2.

It is a lot of work but is starting to pay off. Am bloody sick of mopping the floor!!!

[mistlethrush]

I got up every night for probably 2 months - at about 3am - and went and stood in the garden, in my dressing gown with my coat over the top (in the rain on occasions) with the dog on a lunge rein to focus the attention (rather than look for interesting 'new' smells in the far reaches of the garden). I'm very pleased to report that she can now go from 10pm to 10am if it is tipping down with rain in the morning which makes her refuse to go out at 6.45am.

[musicposy]

Haha mistlethrush that sounds familiar! I've done quite a lot of delegating to somewhat unwilling family members at ridiculous hours, often with threats heavy persuasion! However, the teen DDs usually announce "I'm just borrowing your coat/ shoes/ dressing gown" which means it's my stuff getting soaked out there!