House training an adult dog is not the same task as training a puppy: existing indoor habits are already reinforced, there may be a medical reason behind the accidents, and the dog's previous living arrangements shape which method will work. Most videos that come up in search are aimed squarely at new puppies and skip the complications that matter here. The four videos below are ranked on how directly they address an adult or re-homed dog.
Short verdict
Top Dog Tips is the clearest choice: it is the only ranked video that starts with a vet check and works through the specific difficulties of a dog that has already formed indoor habits. For the shortest possible starting point, Moe Puppy (Monkoodog) covers a five-step reset in under four minutes. Will Atherton Canine Training explains the denning psychology well enough that the confinement method makes real sense rather than feeling arbitrary. The Cesar Millan clip is a roughly three-minute overview of the core formula — worth watching as a quick orientation before going deeper.
The ranking
1
Best overall
How to Housetrain An Adult Dog (Easy Housebreaking Method)
Top Dog Tips · 11:11 · Aug 2016
Samantha from Top Dog Tips builds the case for treating adult-dog house training as its own problem rather than a repeat of puppy training. She covers the recommendation to take time off work to establish a routine, a vet check to rule out medical causes before assuming a behaviour problem, consistent feeding and watering times, a designated outdoor spot, how to interrupt an accident mid-flow, enzymatic cleaners, and the specific risk that a second dog adopted into the home will start marking over spots that were only partially cleaned.
Why it ranks here: It ranks first because it is the only video here designed around adult-dog realities. The vet-check recommendation appears early and is framed as a prerequisite — and for a dog that has started soiling indoors after living cleanly, ruling out a urinary tract infection or incontinence issue is the correct first move. The note that a second dog may begin marking over improperly cleaned spots is an adult-specific detail that no other video in this set addresses. One commenter with 436 likes notes the extra difficulty when a dog has a history of abuse, which gives a sense of the range of situations the advice has to stretch to. The main limitation is the transcript quality: the video is thorough but meandering, and a commenter with 1,164 likes flags exactly that frustration.
~10 min · introductory · no prior training knowledge needed
2
Best short guide for re-training
RE-Train Your Adult Dog 🐩 to Potty 💩 outside the house. II Dog Potty Training II Monkoodog
Moe Puppy · 4:09 · Jan 2021
Moe Puppy (Monkoodog) addresses adult and older dogs explicitly, framing the content as re-house training rather than starting from scratch. The five steps are: take the dog out at the same time to the same spot 1:03–1:13; learn the dog's individual signals — whining, circling, purposeful sniffing 1:27–1:43; use a consistent verbal cue before the dog eliminates 2:02–2:09; praise and treat immediately on completion 2:13–2:27; and set a twice-daily feeding schedule to make elimination times predictable 2:28–2:42. A dos-and-don'ts section follows, covering no scolding, enzymatic cleaners, and the relationship between wet food and bladder pressure.
Why it ranks here: At under four minutes it gives the clearest structured checklist of the ranked videos. The explicit framing for previously trained dogs that have regressed — or dogs new to a home — makes it directly on-target. The verbal cue step at 2:02 receives more attention here than in most other videos, which is useful for dogs that have come to associate going outdoors with play rather than toileting. A commenter with 39 likes describes exactly the regression-after-moving situation many owners face, and the same-time-same-spot approach is the right starting point for that.
~4 min · introductory · five-step checklist format
3
Best for understanding why the method works
How To Potty Train Your Puppy Easily!
Will Atherton Canine Training · 3:56 · May 2023
Will Atherton Canine Training opens by stating the advice applies to any dog — 'a brand new eight week old puppy or a 10 year old rescue dog from a shelter' 0:04–0:08 — then builds the training logic from canine denning instinct. Dogs dislike eliminating in their den space, so keeping the accessible area small prevents accidents and creates predictable success. The video adds a designated toilet area with immediate verbal praise and a treat, an hourly schedule during waking hours for the first week, and a list of additional triggers to watch for: after drinking, after waking, and when sniffing or circling 3:29–3:35.
Why it ranks here: For owners who find pure instruction hard to follow consistently, understanding the denning instinct at 0:14–0:38 makes the confinement step feel logical rather than punitive. The explicit inclusion of rescue and older dogs at the very start removes the guesswork about whether the advice applies. The hourly-schedule instruction is given as a firm rule for the entire first week, which is more specific than most videos manage. Note that the video promotes a free external course from around 2:33; the core method is complete within the video itself.
~4 min · introductory · links to external free course at end
4
Quick primer
How to Potty Train Your Puppy
Cesar Millan · 2:57 · Feb 2016
The Cesar Millan channel presents trainer Todd Langston running through the core house-training formula: take the dog immediately to one designated spot, stand quietly and ignore them until they go, then make it a positive experience. The schedule — after eating, after sleeping, after play 1:22–1:35 — is explained clearly, as is the logic of adjusting frequency when an accident reveals the dog cannot hold it as long as assumed 1:51–2:00. The video explicitly states the formula applies equally to puppies and adult dogs 2:36–2:39.
Why it ranks here: At under three minutes it is the fastest orientation to the core method. The advice to treat each accident as data — 'my puppy just taught me it can't hold it for an hour, so now I'll take him every 45 minutes' 1:55–2:00 — is a practically useful mindset shift that applies just as well to adult dogs. It ranks fourth because it adds little beyond the fundamentals; the two adult-dog-specific steps (vet check, managing existing habits) are absent.
~3 min · introductory · interview format
