Board and train for house training

Whole Dog Journal's guide to remedial house training starts with a thorough veterinary exam, and it names urinary tract infections, certain illnesses and some medications as causes of accidents. Urinating in its sleep, or losing bladder or bowel control, is a vet matter rather than a training one. A dog that is suddenly drinking much more, or a senior whose habits have changed, belongs in front of your vet before any program begins.

Marking is a separate problem again. Male and female dogs can mark with urine, often on upright surfaces in new places, and it needs a different plan from a dog that has simply never learned where to go. Tell us on the training form what happens, where, how often and since when, and bring your vet's notes to the assessment. If a medication affects your dog's thirst or toileting, mention that too, so the schedule is built around it.

Ask at the consult how the stay's toileting schedule is recorded and handed over, then start your own log at home: the time of each trip, whether the dog went, and anything worth noting, such as a long gap after dinner or a dog that needs two tries first thing in the morning. At the go-home lesson we walk you through it. The pattern it shows is your dog's real schedule rather than a rule of thumb, and it tells you when the first morning trip and the last evening one need to happen.

Keep the log going for the first two weeks home, on paper or in your phone; two lines a day is plenty. A slip shows up in the log before it becomes a habit. Three accidents in a row after the evening meal tells you to move that walk earlier, not that the stay failed. If the pattern changes and you cannot see why, message the front desk through the Dogtown app.

We confirm the youngest age we take for a stay at the training consult, because vaccines and a puppy's stage both matter, and a very young puppy learns toileting best in the home it will live in. Tiny Tails Puppy School, for pups 8 to 16 weeks, keeps the puppy at home and teaches you the routine beside it. A dog that soils only when it is left alone may have separation anxiety, which a stay never reaches.

The daily updates during the stay will tell you how the schedule is going: whether trips out succeed first time, how long the dog holds between them, and whether any accidents happened and when. Booking confirms whether those updates include photos or video. Foundation and Advanced are set out on our board and train page. In a New England winter, keep the outdoor spot shoveled and close to the door, because a dog that has to wade through snow to reach it may decide the hall rug is easier.