[DocTurtle]

So we got our basset Snickers last week. She is 7 months old and we were told she was house broken and even saw that she was. Well...somehow in the transfer from their home to ours she became UNhouse broken. She doesn't scratch at the back door, whimper, bark...anything. Not even wait by it. She just find a corner of the house or room (normally the same corner although she just found a new spot today...) and does her business.

She gets her nose rubbed in it, a swat on the butt, and put out back. We normally leave her out ther for about 5-10 minutes and then she gets let back in. She's been having these "accidents" about twice a day. We've seen her use the bathroom outside...but for some reason it's just not sticking...yet.

Anyone else run into a similar situation?

 

[Nitrosmom]

Sometimes the stress of changing households will throw them off for a bit. You will, I am sure, get plenty of information from this website, especially the perils of "punishing" a basset for having an accident in the house. I have found positive reinforcement to be much more powerful with Nitro than any form of punishment. When he goes potty outside, he gets praise and treats and play time. When he goes potty in the house, I put him outside and clean up the mess. My husband tried punishing him one time. Nitro looked at him, took a step away and peed, still on the carpet. I thought my husband was going to kill him.

On a happy note, Nitro has been very consistently going outside for a good three weeks! He does get excited when company comes over and will let a little out, but if I know company is coming, I just greet them outside. Problem solved.

Mickey T has given invaluable information on this topic, if you scroll through the discussion bpords you will gather tons of information!

 

[Soundtrack]

Dogs don't really generalize well, so just because they are housebroken in one home does not mean that it will automatically transfer to another.

Rubbing a dog's nose in it's mess is frankly barbaric and not an effective method of training. Neither is hitting it. Putting her outside after the fact teaches her nothing.

You need to go back to housebreaking 101 as if she were a new puppy. Fortunately, it will be easier than with a puppy because she has better bladder control and because she already understands the concept, just not that it applies to your house.

She must be supervised closely (eyeballs on the dog) at all times when loose in the house. It is best if she is restricted to just a room or two, or has to stay in the room you are currently in. She needs to be stopped BEFORE she makes a mess - afterwards it is too late. When you can see that she is about to go, interrupt her, TAKE her outside and praise and reward her for doing her business out there. She should be crated when she can't be watched, or tied to you. If she does make a mistake in the house, grab a rolled-up newspaper and whack YOURSELF with it, while repeating "I will supervise the dog better".

 

[LuciaB]

When we adopted Cannoli she came with the assurance that she was both crate trained and housebroken. We tried crating her with the result that she howled and cried with no end. If she was housebroken she completely forgot it once she got to our house. It has taken a lot of patience but I echo the previous comments, positive reinforcement and supervision. My kitchen, dining and livingroom area is one space esentially, so I put a baby gate across the hall and the dogs stay within eyeshot. We also keep to a feeding schedule, and know that usually after high energy play time they need to go outside for a potty break.

 

[Kirska]

I went through the same thing and I definitely agree entirely with Soundtrack.

Punishing won't do any good unless you literally catch them right in the act, and even then it's iffy. My trainer says that dogs generally only make connection between behavior and reward/punishment for a window of 4 seconds. If you punish your dog, she's just going to try to find better places inside to hide when she pees. It doesn't teach her to pee outside.

For us it boiled down to 2 things:
1. Take her outside when she needs to go (after eating, etc), and reward with a treat when she does potty outside.
2. When you catch her inside, interrupt her (I usually clapped my hands really loud to startle her), then take her outside. Then I would FIRMLY tell her that THIS is where she pees.

We have had Anabelle since March and we still lavish her with praise when she goes out and pees without any effort on our part. In fact, now when she goes out and pees on her own, she usually comes running joyfully inside knowing there is praise waiting.

 

[Mikey T]

gads I read mirriam post and thought ! wrote it

You need to go back to housebreaking 101 as if she were a new puppy

below is a link to House training 101
Housetraining Your Puppy



And further on generlization. Thisw is the cause of must fustration with humans when it comes to training dogs when the fail to understand how dogs things. Ehich is quite differentent than humans. When humans learn a new skill the look to see where else they can apply it. But dogs are just the oposite the look to see where it does not apply. If you teach the dog to sit exclusively in the living room then that is what it knows I sit when ask in the living room. Ask the dog to sit in the kitchen and it will look at you dumbfounded. With no idea what you are asking. Before a dog will generalize a behavior to different situations. It must be taught the behavior in many, many different situations and locations.

For more on this subject see
The Sit Test

Even minor changes in routine can produce dramatic decreases in reliability. For example, it is easy to demonstrate that an OTCh dog doesn't really know what "Sit" means. Dogs are extremely fine discriminators. If the dog has been taught to "Sit" for supper in the kitchen, or to heel-sit and front and finish in obedience class, that's precisely what the dog learns -- to sit in the kichen and in class. The same dog may occasionally not sit in the obedience ring, while playing in the park, or while greeting visitors at the front door. The dog must be trained in an infinite number of situations for it to generalise the "Sit" command to all instances. (This is in marked contrast to people, many of whom will generalise at the drop of a hat - sometimes from a single experience).

To illustrate, I devised a simple test a Sit Test -- nothing fancy, no bizarre or frightening distractions, just minor variations in what the dog expects. I chose "Sit" because it is the easiest command to teach a dog and probably the first command that many dogs learn. Also, using "Sit" enables Novice, Open, Utility and pet-trained dogs to compete in the same test.

Generalization and Discrimination: Fraternal Twins

Proofing & Generalization

Generalization

They tend to tie all of the sights, smells, and sounds of one location together into what is called a stimulus package.

 

[DocTurtle]

Wow, I had no idea. I had no idea that how I was trying to house break her was wrong. I had always been told and always seen the way that I have been doing, from my parents with their dogs, friends, etc. Thank you. This really has been an eye opener.

 

[Lightning&Stomps]

I went through the same thing with Stomps, who also was a rescue. One of the most important things to do, I believe, is limit his access in the house, especially when you're not home. Neither dog would crate, so I restricted them to the kitchen when I wasn't home and to the kitchen and den when I was. When I moved houses, I went through the same routine. I have dog doors, so the dogs could go outside any time they wanted.

 

[bklantz]

I agree with everyone else, I have only potty trained Ella (Ringo was house broke when we got him) and positive reinforcement worked really well. EVERY time she goes potty outside give her a yummy treat and let her know she did a really good thing. We always gave Ella a treat and said good girl really excited and gave her some affection. When we caught her in the house we would clap to get her attention and then grab her and take her outside to finish, and when she finished she would get a treat and some love and affection.

You do always have to make sure you are always watching her so that you can always catch her when she starts to go inside.

Once Ella caught on that she can't go in the house she would learn to go to the door, but again it wasn't for a couple months until she actually started whining at the door. We would just have to make sure we saw her go to the door otherwise she would go potty right next to the door.

Also, Ella forgets she is potty trained at other houses too, I'm just glad she remembers at home

Good Luck!!

 

[Mikey T]

Wow, I had no idea. I had no idea that how I was trying to house break her was wrong

FWIW the terms right and wrong convey morality standard as well. When it comes to training I general think it best to stay out of morality issues and stick with what is effective and what is not.

The problem with the use of punishment for training is for most people it is ineffective because they do not have the time to make it effective. The punishment must occur within 1 second of the unwanted behavior to even be efective. Secondly it comes with a whole host of unintended consequence. Think of it this way. When the dog is being punished does it relize it own actions cause the punishment or does it interpret punishment the act of irrational humans and therefore they should be avoided etc.

see

​

　
AVSAB Position Statement
The Use of Punishment for Behavior Modification in Animals

​

　
AVSAB’s position is that punishment1 (e.g. choke chains, pinch collars, and electronic
collars) should not be used as a first-line or early-use treatment for behavior problems. This is due to the potential adverse effects which include but are not limited to: inhibition of learning, increased fear-related and aggressive behaviors, and injury to animals and people interacting with animals.2
AVSAB recommends that training should focus on reinforcing desired behaviors, removing the reinforcer for inappropriate behaviors, and addressing the emotional state and environmental conditions driving the undesirable behavior. This approach promotes a better understanding of the pet’s behavior and better awareness of how humans may have inadvertently contributed to the development of the undesirable behavior

And for some insight on the basset mind and how to use it to aid in training see.
Hard to Train?
A look at "difficult-to-train" breeds and the reality of what shapes these canine minds.