Housebreaking an adult dog

[wolfie]

Another consequence: Teaching the pet that action X yields result Y, when trying to deter action X, only works if the pet DOESN'T want result Y. If result Y is desirable from the pet's point of view, you're actually ENCOURAGING it to do action X.

[Kheldarson]

You may have to make your own crate: couple pieces of furnature and a gate.

This would probably be your cheapest option, honestly. A full proper crate for a dog his size would be a huge cost.

[Shpepper]

They do make crates that big. I am not sure where you live but look up the local Great Pyrenees or Great Dane Kennel Club groups. They will all have resources for finding a crate that will fit him.

[cleorose]

Mastiffs are incredibly smart and they adapt pretty well. Ours we got at 11 months. She was an outside dog and we had to break her.

Lots of great advice above.

The scheduling of the food is a must for any dog you have to train. You do food breaks 3-4 times a day with water. Put it down give them 10-15 minutes tops. When they are done eating they go out for 5 minutes-10 minutes. If they don't go bring them back in and put them out again in an hour.

You want to limit his access around the house since he is too big for a kennel. Unless you want to build something like this.
http://topeka.craigslist.org/pet/4361749554.html

So I suggest baby gates. They are cheap 3 or 4 dollars at a garage sale or thrift store or $10 brand new at walmart. You want to limit big boy to a single room. Preferably nothing bigger than his length times 2 each way.

Rewards are a must. I absolutely ABHOR table scraps but we broke our dog in three days with hot dogs as a reward. Find the motivation that will work for your dog. We have had dogs that loved peanut butter dog treats as rewards. She didn't.

If you have to leave, put the dog on the leash to contain the area they are in. Since you can't put him in a kennel. Put down puppy pads just in case. and take him out as soon as you come home.

Mastiffs are great dogs. And they do communicate. Ours will stick her big ol head in my lap when she wants something.

[Seshat]

Most likely, he will TELL you when he wants to go out. He almost certainly already knows that the house is your 'den', and not soiling the den is a wolf behaviour that carried over during domestication.

The main reasons puppies soil the den is tiny bladders; plus not yet realising that the entire house is the den. (It's a BIG den, from their perspective!)

A mastiff is large enough to associate the entire house as a den, has a large bladder, and this one already associates the house as 'yours'. I really expect that he'll tell you when he needs to 'soil'; you just need to learn to read him and maybe teach him to give you a clearer signal.

If you're planning to teach him to be an entirely indoor dog, including indoor pottying, then what I said above would be my main technique.
Secondary: if he soils outside the approved zone, pick up solids and put them on the piddle pad; and sop up liquids with a piddle pad first. Put the soiled pad in the approved spot; and use enzymatic cleaners (your vet will have good ones) to completely erase the evidence in the 'not-ok' spot.
Smart dogs will very, very quickly get the hint. Potty stuff goes here, not anywhere else. Slower dogs will .. well, be slower to get it.

[mathnerd]

Thanks. Lots of great advise. He does already eat on a schedule, so I don't plan on changing that. Indoor pottying is NOT gonna happen He sounds like a firehose when he pees, and I really don't want that in the house. I think I'll start with him being inside when I'm home and outside when I'm not and attempt to build a crate for nighttime, then work him up to being inside while I'm not. That might be a little easier than trying to do it all at once.

[jedimaster91]

Rewards are a must. I absolutely ABHOR table scraps but we broke our dog in three days with hot dogs as a reward. Find the motivation that will work for your dog.

As long as you don't feed table scraps directly from the table, it's ok to feed them "people food." Just don't season it. If you save a piece of ham or turkey for Fido, put it in his bowl. Most dogs will do anything for (plain cooked) chicken. Hot dogs are also good. You can ask at your local pet supply store for what's called "puppy crack." PetSmart's brand is Pet Botanics. You may be able to find Natural Balance as well (any flavor except beef because it's got a weird texture and the dogs don't seem to like it as much). It is actually a dog food, and it comes in a roll like ground meat. You just slice it up. It even freezes into individual pieces instead of one huge glob like hot dogs would and the dogs will eat it frozen. They don't care, lol. It gets it's nickname because dogs seem to universally go crazy for it. I know I've been able to trade a handful of puppy crack to get my beagle to drop a dead bird.

[Seshat]

Thanks. Lots of great advise. He does already eat on a schedule, so I don't plan on changing that. Indoor pottying is NOT gonna happen He sounds like a firehose when he pees, and I really don't want that in the house. I think I'll start with him being inside when I'm home and outside when I'm not and attempt to build a crate for nighttime, then work him up to being inside while I'm not. That might be a little easier than trying to do it all at once.

You may not need a crate.

When he potties, give him a 'potty' command, and praise him, just like teaching him any other trick based on stuff he already does.

So he starts out by signalling you when he needs to go, and you let him out and give him the potty command.

Then you let him out last thing at night, during bedtime prep, and give him the potty command.

When he's reliably obeying you re pottying last thing at night, keep him in for the night. He will (almost certainly) either wake you to have you let him out, or be absolutely fine for the night cause big dogs have big bladders.

Just remember to let him out and tell him to potty first thing in the morning.

[Aethian]

Just remember, just like us the dog might have to go in the middle of the night. I know mine has every so often.

[mathnerd]

He's pretty good about holding it when he has to. We've done a lot of cross country travelling and stayed in hotels and such, and I've never had a problem. I wasn't even thinking about that when I originally posted. Now that I am thinking about it, I'm significantly less worried. I think the main concern now is when there's nobody home and the long overnight stretches every night as opposed to once in a blue moon when we're travelling.

Thanks again

[Seshat]

'nobody home' and 'long overnight stretches' is why we have the piddle pads and Vi is trained that they're an ok place to potty.

I guess you need to decide whether he's an outside dog during those times, or you need to have a fire-hose-safe place to do it.
Maybe train him to jump into the bath, and make sure to leave the drain open? Rinsing out the bathtub and wiping it down isn't a big job. Or the shower recess, as an alternative.