How do I housebreak a true feral dog?
First, by “true feral” I mean specifically that the dog had absolutely no contact with human beings her first year, when those neural nets were being formed which are so neccessary in socialization. No amount of time with people thereafter can compensate for this. She is a wild dog, and will be until the day she barks her last. When crate training each dog, obviously we have foregone the doggie door and instead taken them outside ourselves. There is no way to give positive reinforcement simply shoving them out the doggie door. There is no educative value in that. Realllllly hope all you want, but walks aren’t the solution to the problem either. No amount of positive reinforcement on the neighborhood streets has conveyed to her that inside the house isn’t appropriate. I did manage to catch her in the act week before last, for the first time in 4 years. I immediately scolded her, she headed outside. There hasn’t been an incident since then. My huspand keeps a sharp eye for another opprtu
