Our Dachshund pees when I leave the house….

[Ziggy]

We have a very nice and well-behaved wirehair dachshund called Ziggy. He is 11 weeks and he is almost housebroken already. We take him out after every meal, after playing, and nap. However, the last couple of days he has started to pee inside when I go outside. What should be noted is that my girlfriend is at home, but he still pees. It seams like he is doing it for spite/revenge. What also should be noted is that I am the alpha leader for him. He has also started to growl at my girlfriend. She scolds him when he does it, but once in a while he still do it.

We would appreciate if somebody could help us with this question.

Henrik

[Cindi]

My experience with puppies is that they are never reliably housetrained until 6 months http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif When I leave babies in the house they are always confined somehow. Usually in an x-pen at Ziggy's age. The x-pen is fully papered with a crate, no door, so that he always does good by pottying on the papers. When I am home, babies are never left loose except when I am paying 100% attention to them. That way they can't make the mistake. Once they do make the mistake and they don't get corrected for it they, being dachshunds, think it is ok to do so as long as they don't get caught. Retraining is more difficult http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif
I don't know why the baby is growling but it is unacceptable. Reprimanding baby is probably useless because we aren't dogs and can't do it properly. However, if he is used to being help on his back by you, I would probably recommend your girlfriend start using that method of reprimand/showing dominance. It isn't done in a mean manner, it is done calmly and he is held until he gives up. Either hold him on the floor or in your/her arms.
Frequently we encounter those puppies that scream at everything in our obedience class. The holding on their back, calmly and speaking calmly or even not saying anything until they stop, works 99% of the time.
Best of luck!