Housebreaking

[Hceci]

I don't really know where to begin except to say that I have 2 dachie's, Toby 1 1/2 yrs and Data 7 months. Neither of them is Housebroken. I live in a converted garage that consists of one room. With three humans stuff in here there is no room for a crate. I do have one though. I spend my days home with them, so you would think they would have learned by now. I take them out first thing in the morning and everything seems to be going well. Sometime during the day in between us spending time out side or inside under a watchful eye they will have peed and pooped on the carpet. I have tried covering the spots,after cleaning them well, with baskets of toys or food. That does not work, they find a new spot. Sometimes they even go pee on our bed, witch they themselves sleep in. And last night in the middle of the night Data got up and proceeded to pee on a couch pillow that had fallen on the ground. They don't care where they go or on what. Another thing is, they have never let me know that they need to go outside to go to the bathroom. I am positive that they know they are supposed to be going outside. I think that they must be trying to become the leader of the pack. I am never able to catch them in the act they are so sneaky about it. I take them out tons of times a day. During our little potty trips, I have them on leashes and I follow them to make sure they go. However they have become very picky about where they will go. Sometimes I have to walk them around the yard for a half and hour or more before they find just the right spot. What could I be doing wrong? We have been working on this for over a year now. I find myself out side at 10:00pm walking them around in the dark. I don't think they have ever held it in their entire lives. Help!

[Mark]

Hi Hceci,

Unless there are other confrontational instances to support the dominance issue . . . I have two suggestions.

The biggest thing is it sounds like Toby & Data don't know what you expect of them outside. Start saying "go potty" over & over (this may take a while at first) until they do . . . then you must praise (and reward them, if you like . . . a baby carrot is great for this) IMMEDIATELY. After several times they will begin to understand that you actually EXPECT them to "go potty" OUTSIDE.

The other is to use a schedule (if you are not already). Go out once every ? hours. I would start at once every 1 1/2 to 2 hours and reduce or increase the frequency as needed.

The combination of two things should help and eventually eliminate the problem. Be sure you are cleaning the indoor spots well with vinegar or the like so they don't even detect what they used to do. And eventually, once they "get it" . . . they will start asking to go out.

A big "key" is to be consistant beyond when they "get it" . . . until they absolutely recall no other behavior than the correct one. And unless you catch them in mid-squat . . . there is no point to reacting to the indoor incidents in any way. If caught, simply give them a firm STOP. Act mortified, but not angry.

To eliminate the dominance issue . . . do things like roll them on their backs, do not kiss their faces (this is how lower level pack members honor the alphas), make sure they are not allowed to walk through doors ahead of you, etc., etc.

Good luck and please keep us posted,

Mark

[Hceci]

Mark
Thankyou for your sudjestions. I will beging talking to them when they go. I give them praise after they go potty, I just never gave them treats after. Seeing as how my dogs are food motivated maybe getting a treat after going will help.http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/bounce.gif

[LisaH]

Mark gave great advice. We made much faster progress with Annie after we started giving her treats for peeing and pooping. You could practically see it in her face: "Okay! So THAT's why I should do this outside!" <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm35.gif" border=0>

Good luck!

Lisa and Annie

[Snorodent]

House breaking with my five month old is going beautifully. She made it all weekend with out an accident in the house, and we are give her free run now.... But supervised. When there is an accident its because we didnt adhere to her schedule. She's got us trained! If we walk her every three to four hours she wont mess up but if we forget, watch out, there will be a puddle, eventually. When we are sleeping she is crated for eight hours now, no problem. Since we got her at 12 weeks she has never soiled her crate. I leave her for work at 8 and walk her at 12:30 and there hasnt been a morning puddle in two weeks. I know its too early to tell but this has been the easiest dog to house train so far - and people said Dachsies are house soilers. Im sure I just got lucky. My first dog was impossible! I think it helps if you get a pup from a breeder who started paper training before the puppys were even weened. They learn not to soil their living area very early and it sticks with them through life. Sorry to brag, but Im proud of my little devil!

A very happy ( and dry)
Stacy and Opal <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm28.gif" border=0> <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm27.gif" border=0> <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm11.gif" border=0> <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm39.gif" border=0> <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm44.gif" border=0>