[Dailydrool] Housebreaking

[Pam McQuade]

I was kind of waiting for someone else to give Barbara some ideas on this 
subject, since I've written on it so often and others are probably better at 
it than I am. Since no one has publicly stepped up to the plate, you old 
timers have to see this again (sorry).

First, though, I want to say to Barbara that topics like this can often be 
found in the Drool archives at 
http://lists.dailydrool.org/pipermail/dailydrool-dailydrool.org/ Should you 
lose that address, it's always at the top of the Drool digest. If you can 
find the right search word, you'll get a ton of information!

Housebreaking, with bassets, is largely a matter of stubbornness--yours. You 
need to be persistent and consistent in taking the dog out frequently. That 
means in the morning when you first get up. After meals, and whenever your 
hound shows a desire to go out. If that doesn't work, do it every couple of 
hours, if necessary. In while you may get an idea of your hound's schedule 
and be able to predict it a bit. But you have to go out often enough that 
the hound gets the idea. It will take patience and persistence. Also, when 
you clean up the mess, use one of the products specifically designed for 
that, because it will remove the smell. My absolute favorite is Get Serious, 
but it is the most expensive of the cleaners and is somewhat hard to get. 
The reason I love it so much is that it does not make your house smell like 
pee until it dries, like another, more common product that shall go unnamed.

In this kind of training, anger will get you nowhere, though I thoroughly 
understand the frustrations of training. Hitting or yelling will just make 
your job harder. Bassets respond best to positive reinforcement, so giving 
the dog a treat when it does the right thing will work much better.

Another thing you can do is hang some bells (ours are sleighbells) on the 
back of your door or near it. Our Jane learned to ring the bell in one day. 
I simply rang the bells whenever we went out. But our boys have never picked 
up on it--fortunately, because three hounds ringing incessantly would make 
you crazy. Jane was about nine months old when I first did this, and after 
we added the bells to the door she was just perfect in her pottying habits. 
She still does it occasionally, and she's twelve years old now.

Since you've just adopted Lulu, the housebreaking problem may also be one 
related to nervousness. Rehoming a dog is very stressful for the dog. Even 
well-trained dogs may lose it on housetraining for a while. As things calm 
down and the dog feels secure, it may get better.

Again I say it: persistence and consistency will gain you your goal. A hound 
who seems impossible (like our Jane) may one day end up the perfectly 
housebroken dog. Just keep doing what works, and it will work, as long as 
there is no physical problem like a urinary tract infection (is there blood 
in the urine or does she strain to urinate?) or perhaps back trouble (our 
Abner lost his perfect potty training after his back surgery because they 
cut nerves that have to do with his bladder), it will happen.

Hope this helps and that it works quickly!
Pam, food slave to the Dashing Bassets