Manners and obedience
How to house train an adult or rescue dog
An adult that pees in the house is either a dog that was never taught, a dog that learned indoors was fine in a shelter or on pads, or a dog with a medical problem, and the plan starts by ruling out the last. Here is the two-week method our trainers give every rescue family, and the mistakes that stretch it to two months.
Last reviewed September 11, 2026 · by the Best Dog University Team
Why it happens
Never taught, taught the wrong thing, or a medical problem.
An adult dog that goes in the house was never house trained, which is common in shelter dogs and dogs from a previous home that used a yard and a dog door; or it was taught that indoors is fine, by a kennel run, a pee pad or an apartment balcony; or it has a medical problem, a urinary infection, a hormonal change, arthritis that makes the door too far, and that dog needs the vet before any training. A house-trained dog that starts going inside in a new home is usually stressed and unsure where the bathroom is, and a house-trained dog that starts in its own home is usually unwell. Marking, a leg lifted on a vertical surface, is a separate behavior with the same schedule fix and often a neutering conversation.
- Never taught: shelter dogs, dog-door dogs
- Taught wrong: kennels, pads, balconies
- Medical: the vet first for any sudden change
- New home: stress and no idea where the bathroom is
- Marking: the same schedule, and a vet conversation
The method
Seven steps, two weeks, and the dog is treated as a puppy throughout.
Choose one spot in the yard, one cue word, and one enzyme cleaner. The crate is the right size, standing and turning room and no more. Freedom in the house is zero on day one and earned room by room.
A veterinary visit first if the dog is new to going inside, is older, or is drinking more than usual
Out on a leash to the one spot every two hours, and after every meal, nap, drink and play, with the cue word said quietly as the dog starts
A reward the instant the dog finishes, at the spot, with food, then a short walk as a second reward; back inside with no play if nothing happens in five minutes, and out again in fifteen
The crate or direct supervision between trips: a leash clipped to your belt in the house is the easiest supervision there is
An enzyme cleaner on every accident, no ammonia, no scolding, and a note of when and where to find the gap in the schedule
Freedom in one room at a time, with a camera or an eye on the dog, after a week without an accident; a mistake means the room closes again
The schedule stretched by an hour at a time after two clean weeks, with the last trip out at bedtime and the first at waking for life
The mistakes
Punishment, the open yard, the wrong cleaner, and freedom too soon.
Punishing an accident, with a voice, a nose in it or a crate as a consequence, teaches the dog to go where nobody sees, behind the couch and in the guest room, and it teaches a rescue that people are frightening. The open yard is the second mistake: a dog let out alone plays, sniffs and comes back in to go on the rug, so the trips are on a leash to the spot until the routine is fixed. An ammonia cleaner smells like urine to a dog and marks the spot as a bathroom; enzyme cleaners break the smell down. And freedom too soon, the whole house on day three because the dog seems fine, produces the accident that resets the fortnight. The dog is treated as a puppy for two weeks, even if it is six years old.
A dog that goes inside only when left alone may be anxious rather than untrained, and a camera tells you which.
- Never punish; the dog learns to hide
- The yard on a leash, never alone
- Enzyme cleaner, never ammonia
- No freedom until it is earned
- A camera for the dog that only goes when alone
Proofing around Houston
A week of rain, a hot patio, a spot with fire ants, and a rescue that arrived in summer.
Houston weather stretches the fortnight: a week of spring rain produces a dog that will not go in the wet, and the answer is an umbrella, the leash and a covered corner of the yard rather than a pad; summer puts the trips at dawn and dusk where possible and on grass rather than a hot patio, and a dog that squats on a fire ant mound learns to fear the yard, so the spot is checked first. A rescue from BARC or the county shelter usually arrives in the heat and has spent months in a kennel run, and it needs the schedule, the crate and the patience together; the rescue guides on this site cover the first month. Our trainers run the same schedule at the training home and hand it over written down.
- An umbrella and a covered corner in the rain, never a pad
- Dawn and dusk on grass in summer
- The spot checked for fire ants
- Kennel dogs need the schedule and the crate together
When to call
A dog that will not go on a leash, a dog that goes only when alone, or a fortnight that has not worked.
A dog that will not relieve itself on a leash at all, common in rescues that were only ever loose in a yard, needs patience and a long line at the spot, and a lesson at home at $220 usually solves it. A dog that goes inside only when alone is often anxious, and the separation guide on this site is the page. A dog that has failed a clean fortnight of the schedule with the vet's all-clear sometimes goes into a Gold stay at $2,500, where the routine runs daily in a house with a trainer watching and comes home written down; house training is part of the structure in every stay. The puppy potty page is the young-dog version of this one.
The programs
Programs that run the schedule for you.
Lessons at home to set up the spot and the schedule, Gold for the dog that needs the routine run daily, Platinum for the anxious dog that goes when alone.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this.
Can an older dog still be house trained?
Yes, and often faster than a puppy, because the bladder is mature. Treat the dog as a puppy for two weeks: a leash to one spot on a schedule, a reward at the spot, a crate or supervision between, no freedom until earned. A vet check comes first for any sudden change.
Why does my rescue dog pee in the house?
Usually because it was never taught, or because a kennel run or a pee pad taught it that indoors is fine, or because it is stressed in a new home and does not know where the bathroom is. The two-week schedule fixes all three. A medical problem is the fourth possibility, and the vet rules it out.
Should I punish my dog for peeing inside?
No. A punished dog learns to go where nobody sees, and a rescue learns that people are frightening. Clean it with an enzyme cleaner, note the time to find the gap in the schedule, and tighten the schedule. The accident is the routine failing, not the dog.
How long does it take to house train an adult dog?
About two weeks of a strict schedule for a dog that was never taught, longer for one that spent years in a kennel or on pads, and the freedom in the house is earned room by room after that. Most families that fail did not keep the schedule for the full fortnight.
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