Papertrained adult

K8burger · 01-15-2007, 01:32 PM

Hi All,

I was looking into adopting a mini poodle who is 6 years old and is "papertrained." I do not have experience with an adult dog that is trained as such..Does anyone have any tips? Is it something that is easy to live with? Should it/can it be trained out of this? Just trying to get a sense of the repercussions of this. Thanks a lot!

Curbside Prophet · 01-15-2007, 01:57 PM

Yes, the dog can be trained out of this. However, at her/his age, it may take a little longer to break than say if (s)he were a pup. It would really be no different than if (s)he were a pup. Taking the dog outside frequently and praising him/her when (s)he eliminates outdoors. Personally, I would not want to live with the clean-up. I'd prefer to retrain for outdoor elimination, but expect the training to take longer than normal.

poofywoof · 01-15-2007, 02:14 PM

Paper trained dogs of the age you are talking about have already developed their "substrate preference". After 6 years, it is Difficult, (but not impossible) to retrain. Bear in mind that if the dog has come to PREFER to use potty-pads, it will seek them, and may use newspapers, magazines, clothing, etc. that is lying on your floor as a substitute.

K8burger · 01-15-2007, 09:41 PM

Thank you for the replies thus far. A couple other things..he is un-neutered. I am all for neutering him, but is it the sort of surgery that is tougher on an older dog? I wouldn't want to put him through an intense amount of stress. Also, I'm a little concerned with the possibility of him marking as he is an intact male (though as far as I know, he doesn't do it at this time). If he is prone to it, would neutering curb that behavior, or is it kind of "too late" for that?

Thanks again for the help!

Lorina · 01-15-2007, 09:56 PM

It's never too old to neuter.

You'd want to get presurgical bloodwork done first, though, to make sure everything's functioning ok for anesthesia. Perhaps consider having a dental cleaning done while he's under, too, if he needs it. Older dogs do take a little longer to recover completely, but six isn't old for a little guy.

DogAdvocat · 01-15-2007, 11:22 PM

Yes, neutering is okay, and yes it may (no guarantees) prevent marking, but it usually takes a few weeks for the male hormones to disappear. If you're not having problems now though, you probably won't. Marking may occur if you bring in another dog, especially a male - even if they're neutered. Being vigilant and cleaning up any incidents immediately with something designed to eliminate odor, will help to stop that kind of thing.

Neutering as a preventative to health problems is always a good idea, at any age.

For your question about housebreaking when he's used to papertraining - how about putting the paper outside and encouraging him to go in that one spot. Once he identifies with the spot, remove or decrease the newspaper. But do be sure to keep the newspaper you're reading off the floor.