When you introduce a dog to your house, especially if it's an older dog, you may well find that you need to re-train it on a few of the fundamentals and house rules. Crate training is one process that works particularly well to house train dogs and it also minimizes the number of accidents that occur.
Crate training is very effective, especially when training older dogs. It works well if you have a busy schedule or simply don't have time to train your dog. Crate training older dogs is usually a straightforward process that can be achieved relatively quickly and easily with few problems.
Older dogs are usually harder to train than younger dogs as they have some habits that will usually hinder them from taking to the training as it would a younger dog. However they can be trained it just make take a little longer. You will need to be extremely consistent with the training of an older dog, especially if you are cage training them. In order for this process to work you will need to follow some very easy steps that must be followed to the letter and kept up on a regular basis.
The first thing you should establish is how much time you have to train your dog. If you decide that you can allocate 20 minutes in the morning, stick to this every single day. Try to keep to the same training routine at the same time of day to start with, you can mix this up later as your dog starts to master the commands.
As soon as you get up in the morning, take your dog outside so it can go to the toilet. Give it a command such as “Toilet” when you expect him to go to the toilet and then praise him after he's done. Getting into a routine with this will help your dog learn faster and without many problems. Avoid over praising your dog after it has gone to the toilet.
When you are working with your older dog and house training him, you will need to be consistent, and firm with your commands. The dog is very happy to do what you say to please you; however you have to be able to become the leader of the pack in order for him to take you seriously.
