Is a 4 yr old Male too old to house break?

We have just taken on a 4 yr old male Maltese. He has been kept outside in a fensed yard most of his life and is not House broken. We want to clean him up and make him into a house dog that will poop outside.

We have had a Maltese in the past, raised from a puppy and we trained the dog to live in the house and bark at the door when he wanted to go outside. Is it too late for a four year old dog? We also put our dog through a 4 week training coarse where he learned about 10 commands and to heel. Can we do this with a 4 year old dog. Can we change the dog's name?
Taylor

• I don't think it is ever too late to train a dog. Understand that it will take love and patience, which you seem to have. And if he can learn new commands, he will probably learn to go outside when necessary. He will probably be so happy that he has more companionship now,with you, than he had before as a yard dog. Dogs want companionship so much. He will probably just want to please you. So do try and I think you will be successful.

  However, on the name change, I am not so sure. You might try calling him by the name you want and see how it works. But, I am unsure if he will be confused. I am no expert, but what I think I might try is combining the old name and the name you want and then when he gets used to that, drop off the old name. Like going from Fluffy to Sweetie, for a while call him Fluffly Sweety. Then when you think he is used to that just do the Sweety. Any thoughts from anyone else? Good luck. I just can't imagine a maltese being a yard dog. You are doing a really good thing.
  Rebecca J.

• A friend of mine rescued a chiquaqua that had been an outdoors pet for years. Within 2 days he was completely housebroken, however as has been said in other posts, it takes a watchful eye to look for the signs or even anticipating them so that you can get them out in time to do their business. It's helpful too, to select a spot you wish them to go to every time. Not only does it train the dog to want to go once he/she is at the spot, but it makes daily cleanup easier and you don't have to worry about messes in other areas of the yard. We adopted a 1 1/2 year old maltese and immediately changed her name from Cassie to Gigi. Within a very short period of time, she knew and responded to her new name. It probably helped that the name change was kept to 2 syllables and both ended with the long "E" sound. You are doing the right thing by training your dog to be inside. These little ones are perfect members of the family once they know and do what's expected of them. Hang in there!
  Lorene