kimba10

I have 3 bassets 4yr male 6yr female and their baby 18 months. they came from a farm and lived outside only. we have had them for 10 months now and were housebroken untill now the baby is ok but her parents actually wait to go inside. we walk them and still wait to go inside they are in crates when home alone and i have used the crate 2 teach them when they first came to us. im not sure why now they are using the house for their bathroom. i use natures miracle for clean up and a no go product in the house to help with the urine smell. i hate to keep them in the crate when we are home but they won't stop going. i am new at owning bassets my husband on the other hand has had them his whole life and is no help. anybody have a clue about this?

SophieB

Having had a lifetime of being owned by Bassets, we found out many years ago that we need heaps of patience and understanding to own Basset Hounds... and the reason we have rehomed some Bassets over the years has been because their owners didn't have patience and instead of persevering and rewarding their hounds when they were good, they gave up and lucky for us we have had some stunning Bassets.

I think that because your hounds came from a farm and lived outside, they probably didn't receive any toilet training from their previous owners, as they could wee/poo where they lived and it's probably a bit harder to train them once they start to live indoors!

Lightning&Stomps

"3 stubborn bassets" could be the name of this forum, except it would need to be "300 stubborn bassets". Patience, consistency, and a stubbornness equal to or surpassing that of your dogs are qualities a basset owner SHOULD have, although most don't, of course. But when they "get it", they get it good. So hang in there and keep working the program.

Mikey T

I have never met a stubborn basset or a stubborn dog for that matter. It is a trait ATTRIBUTED to dog to let the owner of the hook for why they can not effect or change the dogs behavior. It is in these case that the owner is stubbornly using techniques and methods that clear are not working but insisting they have some magical power and will always work with every dog. There are not stubborn dogs only stubborn trainers.

Problem 1, Walking is walking, going out to eliminate is going out to eliminate. The two are very separate activities. If go out and walk around the neighborhood g the dog is unlikely to go unless coming upon a spot to mark. {marking is some what different than urinating in that a dog can mark 1000's of spot and in the end still need to urinate. very little urine is required to mark) If you want to house train the dog you want to create a specific spot for them to go. Use it consistently. The dog is taken to the spot and you wait and wait and wait some more if you have to. Reward the dog while going not after, You do not engage the dog, at the chosen spot, bywalk around , talking to it etc. Also consider putting eliminations on Cue, (verbal command) see Potty Training Tip for an alternative method of creating a specific potty spot
and House training your Puppy for general house-training tips and specifically on training a cue.

Does not matter why only that they are. That said most house-training problems are directly related to substrate preference see house-training article above. Also one serious flaw in most house-training is training a reliable signal for the dog to use to tell you it needs to go outside. Most rely on the dog coming up with one on it own however by it very nature the first time it must be a new behavior, so we as humans general ignore it, as such it is very difficult to impossible for the dog to find a reliable cue on its own. A better alternative is to teach the dog a specific cue that you will respond to each and every time see House Training: Ring My Bell!

Management is the key to preventing accidents which is the first step to house training, Lack of accidents in not an indication of a dog being house trained simply that an adequate management plan is in effect. It is when an owner assumes that a lack of accidents is indication of successfully house-training and loosen the management that reality sets in and shows them the dogs were not really house-trained in the first place only managed to prevent accidents, In order to be truly house-train the following must occur.

1. the dog must have a clear and effective signal to notify the human when it needs to go

2. It must have a substrate preference for a surface found only out side.

3. it must be taught adequate sphincter control to hold it until it reaches an appropriate place to go. 9a crate can be particularly usefully for training this)

4. The behavior must be sufficiently generalized to understand that other indoor location besides the house the live in are also not acceptable places to eliminate.

A crate can be an effective part of a management plan but it is far from the only tool.

1. Strict schedule. by limiting quantity and access to water, food, play and sleep on a strict rigid schedule the dogs eliminations will follow the schedule as well. This makes predicting the need of the dog easy so you can prevent accident without the need for constant confinement.

2. When you are home but can not strictly monitor You can tether the dog to yourself. This is especially useful for dogs that "sneak off" to do their business in another part of the house.

House-training and adult is no different than house-training a puppy except it general takes longer because there is more history of being reinforced of going in inappropriate places that must be overcome. Keep in mind every time a dog has an accident (coes in an inappropriate location) it is a self-rewarding behavior, That is the act of elimination eliminates an uncomfortable feeling there by increasing the odds the do will do it again ( this is negative reinforcement by behavioral definitions) The anecdotal evidence of you three also supports this as it is the youngest dog that was first to be truly house-trained.