Rescue Bulldog House Training

[JordBully]

Hi All,

Sorry if this has already been covered in another thread, I have had a quick scan through and couldn’t see what I was after.

We have just rescued our first Bulldog who is four years old. She was a Kennel dog who was used for breeding so has never been house trained. We are in the process of house training at the moment and making very good progress throughout the day and when she is left on her own. We don’t have any accidents in the house during this time. The issue seems to come when we go to bed!

We walk her early evening where she does go to the toilet and drinks when she gets home. We then take her outside every hour until bed time (She does not go to the toilet in these garden trips) when we wake up in the morning we are finding mess on the floor and on the kitchen chairs! She is shut in the kitchen overnight with her bed.

Strangely she was very good last week with no issues overnight but for the last four days she has gone to the toilet inside every night.

We are using positive reinforcement when she goes in the correct place and scolding when she goes in the wrong place. Is there anything we are missing or anything we can do to help her?

Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks,

 

[ddnene]

I'm going to tag some members that have rescued before... poor girl may have been kept in a kennel forever. Sounds like you are doing a fantastic job, you may have to take her out once in the middle of the night once till she gets used to holding it overnight. That is the way most of us potty trained our puppies...

 

[oscarmayer]

We’ve done numerous breeder rescues, many from mills where the dogs are confined to cages that are above ground with no bottom(only wire). The pee and poop fall right through the kennel so there is ZERO consideration given to housebreaking. You are starting from scratch. I recommend you kennel her at night and any other time when she’s not being closely supervised. Kenneling is not cruel. The kennel is her safe place. Safe for her and safe for your home and belongings. Every time she goes in the kennel give her a treat. Housebreaking a breeder bitch can take a long time...be patient and be consistent.

 

[JordBully]

Ah thank you ddnene, I am sure we will get there eventually but just wanted to make sure we were doing the best we could for Coco

 

[oscarmayer]

We've found that bulldogs(any dogs) used for breeding in these conditions literally have small bladders that have never had to hold much. She will learn that she needs to hold long before she has the ability to hold. Eventually the bladder will stretch more and that ability will come...takes time though.

 

[JordBully]

Thank you all for your advice! We will put it into action and let you know how we get on. I new it was going to be a slow process and we were pretty much starting from scratch. just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything obvious that we were missing.

Thank you again

 

[2BullyMama]

Great advice given.... one last thing to mention, do not scold her if not at time of mess. She has no understanding if not caught in the act.


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[JordBully]

Thank you all for the great advice, It seems to be working well already. Day's are now much better and Coco seems to be getting used to her new routine and only going to the toilet whilst we are sat out in the Garden with her or on her walks.
Still a few accidents overnight but that is to be expected as I understand it's going to take time. Strangely it doesn't seem to bother her and she will go in her create! Small progress but it is progress, thank you all!

 

[JordBully]

Hi All, Thank you for all your advice with the above. We are making really good progress with the techniques that you have advised. We have more dry nights than accidents now so we are moving in the right direction. Thank you all again