If you are housetraining an abused dog, the most important thing you need to know about it is its background - although it is easier said than done. A dog can be abused in many different ways such as beaten regularly, ignored, repeatedly shouted at, kept outdoors all the time, repeatedly teased by kids and scared or attacked by other dogs. Such dogs become both psychologically and physically vulnerable. These dogs many even fail to trust human companions anymore. They become either fearful or aggressive. Owners, who adopt abused dogs, may face a few problems like hypersensitivity, submissive urination, aggressiveness and so on - while dealing with such pets. But dogs are remarkably adaptive. Given proper care, freedom and space, they can adapt to new loving families. A dog is open to learning new rules and getting to know new people. So, when you are housetraining them, it is important to be patient with such dogs.

If your dog, after behaving impeccably for months, suddenly starts having "accidents", what do you do? The reasons could be many. The most obvious one being that he has been hit by a bladder infection. So, the first thing you should do is to take him to his vet to rule out this possibility. A second reason could be old age catching up with your pet. As with old people, so also with dogs suffering incontinence, you will have to make allowances for this problem and get special pads to prevent your house being "mucked" up. These are physical reasons over which you have little control. But there are other possibilities which are not so obvious. A change in environment for instance, can often cause a dog to start having accidents. One of the first things you can do to help your dog is refresh housetraining. Next, try to keep your pet in good humor by playing with him at home, giving him ample exercise and taking him out for a walk.

‘Do your business’ is an easy command to teach your puppy. This will help you train your puppy to relieve himself on command. This is not really a command, but a phrase. Repeat ‘Do your business’ again and again to make your puppy familiar with this phrase as he does his business. Continue to repeat this until the dog learns to make the connection between the phrase and the action of doing his business. The main goal is to condition your dog to this phrase so that the dog has to go to the washroom whenever you say ‘Do your business’. Keep him on the lead so that he’s close to you. This should be done right away during the puppy training. Remember that this phrase will work only if your puppy actually wants to do his business. Praise your puppy by saying ‘Good do your business’ after it is done with its business.

If you're never quite sure when your dog needs to go outside, you might be thinking that it would be nice if he would just tell you! Training your puppy to ring a bell is a wonderful tool for learning when he needs to go outside. With this training, you need to set up some jingle bells on the door the dog uses to go outside when you’re housetraining him. Ignore the bell. Don’t introduce your puppy to the bell when they are first hung up. Next time when you take him outside, bring him to the door and let him nose the bells. If you can’t get him ring the bell on his own, encourage him to touch it and shake it slightly to make a ring. Don’t ring the bell when you come back inside. The puppy will often ring it just to play with it. But whenever he does so, take him outside immediately even if he doesn’t have to go. This actually helps the puppy learn to ring the bell only when he needs to go outside.