Re-House Training...?

by Kevin Panting
(Springfield IL, USA)

My 4-year old black female, Maddie, came to us via a "panic move". The groomer (Groomer 1) that was grooming my salt and pepper male announced to me that she would no longer be able to groom Buddy. I asked her why and she said that she had some "family issues" and had to move to Florida very soon. I asked her what she was going to do with her 5 dogs. I knew she had a black female, because her and Buddy had play dates before. She said she was going to take them to the shelter if no one wanted them. I told her that if she had to take Maddie to the shelter I would take her. I asked my wife and we decided that we would indeed become a 2 Schnauzer family if needed. A few days later, she dropped Maddie off at our house. That was in May and she is now a part of the family. My main question is about re-house training her. My current groomer (Groomer 2) used to work with Groomer 1 and stated that she was aware that Groomer 1's dogs were only partially house trained. Buddy and Maddie are taken out several times a day. They are put on tie outs, and walked frequently. In the year that we have had Buddy, he has never had an accident. Maddie piddles in the house 3 or 4 times a week. And she poops in the house occassionally also. We have been gently punishing her and taking her outside when we find her leavings. We have also tried treat reinforcement when she does her business outside. She seems very resistant to all of this. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to teach an old dog new tricks?