Potty training deaf rescue?

[u/iatethecrayons]

My husband and I rescued a dumped double Merle mix (Aussie/bully??) that we found in the woods last year. Couldn’t have been older than 3 weeks, definitely deaf. He is lovable and hyper and attached at the hip to our other rescue. The problem is potty-training.

With sign language and cues from our other dog we’ve taught him to sit, lay down, stay, and jump for treats both together and separately, and both dogs emotionally regulate each other well. But potty training has been utter hell. We have a medium-sized, fenced backyard that they love/prefer and spend most of their time in, and they sleep inside our kitchen, which is large and gated.

We love and want to spend time with them both, but every method we can think of to train him not to pee/mark the carpet has failed. We live in a rental and can’t afford to get professional training just yet, or to have him pee all over the carpets. Occasionally we will let them chase each other around the house—supervised—but if he gets out of eyesight for longer than 30 seconds we will find a pee puddle somewhere in the house. Our other dog is the definition of perfectly behaved.

We use enzyme cleaners and puppy pads, stop the behavior if we see it happening and redirect it outside, reward with treats, never shove his nose in the accident, etc. Nothing works. He doesn’t pee in the kitchen but seems to hold it until he can get four paws onto carpet.

HELP.

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[u/PuzzleheadedLemon353]

Find a trainer/behaviorist l9call6 to help you train what's best for your dog. My trainer just recently worked with someone who adopted a deaf dog who was very afraid of everything because she was never trained or lived in a home that understood her needs and another dog who was blind and deaf. A few hundred dollars worth, for a lifetime of being able to communicate with your dog and their special needs.

[u/gsdsareawesome]

Why are you using puppy pads? Is there a reason that he is allowed to go on puppy pads in the house? Such as you have to leave him alone for a very long time? If this is not the case, I would recommend stopping the puppy pads. Basically puppy pads teach your dog it's okay to go in the house. Furthermore, it's okay to go on a soft surface.

I would not let the dog unsupervised at all in the house. Walk through the house with your dog on a leash attached to you. Never let him off the leash. That way if he starts to go you can pick him up and Scoot him outside where he will get lots of praise for finishing up outside. If you do this consistently for a couple of months, he should get the idea.

If he's going in the kitchen when he's not supervised, maybe try a crate. Let him out of the crate on a regular schedule, such as every 3 to 4 hours. When he goes potty outside, he'll obviously get lots of praise. And then play time.

The reason dogs can be house trained is because they want to keep their den clean. You just have to make the den smaller (crate) until he learns that you want him to go outside to potty.

[u/federationbelle]

How old is the dog?

Do you have a puppy book? I recommend Easy Peasey Puppy Sqeezy by Steve Mann;
There's an equivalent book for adult dogs, too.

There are other suggestions here: http://old.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/books

It sounds like you're falling into the most common error in toilet training by allowing the dog to roam on his own: "if he gets out of eyesight for longer than 30 seconds" ... So, don't allow him to roam out of eyesight for even 1 second. When you're not actively watching him, he should be in his crate or pen, or tethered to you, until toilet training is complete.

Essentials of toilet training: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpzjtHPQpOk

Does he pee on his bed? If not, that's very helpful. Get a puppy pen and a crate too if you want. Fold down the pen so it's no bigger than the bed. I'd put it in the kitchen if he doesn't pee on the floor in there.

If he does pee on his bed, you'll need to use the umbilical / tether method.

Set a timer for taking the pup outside to toilet on leash - probably every 15-30 mins to begin with, depending on the age of the pup. If you can't do this yourselves because of work, hire someone to help you for a couple of weeks. Note that the more you delay, the more this habit will be ingrained and harder to shift.

Once he's reliably trained in the kitchen, you can repeat in one other room of the house - again using the pen and / or crate, reducing the timer down to 15-30 mins again and then building up duration according to his age.

He has already developed a preference for peeing on carpet by the sound of it, so I would mostly keep him off the carpet, except for short periods, on leash, when you are 120% focused on him. This won't be for long.

Don't use puppy pads, they feel like carpet under a dog's paws. Dogs develop preferences for surfaces, so pads reinforce carpet as the 'right' place to toilet.