# Housebreaking



## primejeager (Sep 23, 2008)

I need some advice from all you great Vizsla owners out there. My family has just adopted a 1 year old Vizlsa. We have been wanting one for a longtime and we will be picking him up this Sat. Here is his story: His name is Prime, but we are going to change it to Jeager (yeah-ger). He has only been a kennel dog and has had no house time at all. He is not house broken. We've trained our Dals and never had a problem, but they were both puppies and females. I'm nervous about how well a 1 year old Male will train. He's never had to "potty" outside and he's never been told that he can't "lift his leg" in the house. I want to make this an easy transition and a good transition for everyone. Did I mention that he is VERY active and has NO TRAINING AT ALL


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## Vlicked (Jun 19, 2008)

aw...poor guy stuck in a kennel. Are you getting him from a rescue?

First thing I would do is schedule him to get neutered if he isn't already. This *should* take care of marking behavior. If he's already neutered, have you been told he marks when inside? As soon as he has that look about him that he's going to leg lift, give a curt and startling noise like saying "ah-ah" and take him outside immediately.

Housetraining is always an activity that takes time and diligence. Are you going to crate train him (would HIGHLY recommend this)? When you start puppies anyways, you train them to associate crate with den. Dogs do not like soiling the place they sleep. So, you should always keep your dog in the crate when you are not home to supervise.

Since you've already had dogs, then it seems you already know how to housetrain! I don't think it would be any different with an older dog (even though, technically, he's still a puppy at 1 yo!). But, I'll offer advice to anyone else:

Be sure to never free feed him and always feed him at the same times everday and you will start seeing how long after he eats that he has to poo. You will also have to be sure to take him outside, on a leash to begin with, at least every hour if you can. It helps to say a "cue" word everytime he pees or poos and maybe give a treat as soon as he's finished. We said "hurry hurry" while our puppy was peeing and "get busy" when he poo-ed. Now, if we want him to go, we say those words and it works almost everytime. The key is, you shouldn't just open the door and let him outside; and don't praise or give treats as he comes back in the door, he'll just associate that with coming back inside...not doing his business.

Never scold dog if he's had an accident and you didn't see it as it was happening. If he does start to do his business while you're in-sight, again give him an abrupt noise so he stops what he's doing, and immediately take him outside.

And register him in a beginner obedience class. The trainer can also help you with housetraining. A well trained Vizsla is a good family friend! And be sure to get him out for an hour to run everyday (are you new to Vizslas?). You will love the breed...they give back to you 110 percent what you give them.

Good Luck!


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## Vlicked (Jun 19, 2008)

Well, that sounds great! Our V picked up training faster than any dog I've known so far...V's require a fair amount of patience and positive reinforcement. They can be stubborn! But worth it. 
Good luck with your guy and have fun!


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