Housebreaking an Older Dog

Another good training method is the bell. Attach a bell fairly low to your back door. Everytime you take him outside, ring the bell and say "outside" or "potty". It might take a couple of weeks at his age, but they usually learn to nudge the bell with their nose or paw.
It's great because I can hear the bell over the kids and TV, too :)

Another thing to try is to take him out 30 minutes after he eats or drinks. Stay outside with him and tell him a command (Hurry Up, GO Potty, etc...) When he potties, tell him good boy. Dogs can hold thier bladders for up to 8 hours and if he doesn't go in the crate- then he just needs watching after he eats or drinks. Pick his food up, water if you need to and only allow him to eat when you can then take him out. He should get the idea in about a week.

You will have a difficult time housebreaking an older dog, but it can be done. You need to treat him like a puppy and only let him out of his crate if you are directly watching him. He should be in the crate when you can't watch him directly, when you have left the house and when you sleep at night, etc. You should leave a non-tip bowl of water in his crate. When is he is out of the crate - you can either keep a leash on him in the house so you can catch him if he starts to have an accident in the house and take him directly outside. Also, you can set your kitchen timer for every 1 hour to let him outside to use the bathroom so you don't get preoccupied and forget. This will increase the chance he'll use the restroom outside instead of inside. If he is not neutered, you will have to do that or he will never housetrain because he will mark his territory (your yard and house) with urine. You also need to speak with your vet about how to help you with this as well. You have to be diligent and patient, doxies are hard to housetrain, and because he was never fully housetrained as a puppy, you are going to have a more difficult time. It's great that he's crate trained - that will help you out immensely. Whatever you do, do NOT papertrain or puppy pad train him. You are only teaching him that it is okay to use the restroom in your house - he will continue to find magazines, socks, etc. to use as a bathroom. Good luck! -JM

I house trained my girls when they were 9, so it absolutely can be done. When my mom had them, she just had them go on newspaper in a certain room (disgusting), but I got them when I was in college, and it really just took a weekend (with a few accidents). I took them out every hour and walked them around for a while. I also watched to see if they got up to go anywhere but for food and water. If they did, I took them out. It usually only ended up being every hour. It will take you staying home and working non stop, but really my girls knew what to do after one weekend. They would go to the door when they had to go. After a day , you can make the time in the house a little longer (say 1.5 hours). Then, after a few hours of doing it that way. . .2 hours. But stick with the 1 hour mark on that first day. Good luck to you! OH treats are great! I always gave a treat when they went outside, and I cheered and clapped and petted them after, and that made them pretty excited.