housebreaking help needed!

[Vinny]

Hello- we are new to this message board. My husband and I have a 1 year old mini dachsie named Vinny. He is the greatest little thing in the world, except for 1 little problem- he STILL isn't housebroken. When we got him as a puppy, he was paper trained. He was very good about going on the papers in our kitchen (where we keep him confined while at work). Once he started peeing outside regularly, we got rid of the papers. He would have a few accidents, but not too many. We let him outside very regularly, and he always goes, but will still sometimes have accidents in the house. He never scratches at the door or anything to let us know he has to go, he just goes wherever he feels like if he has to. If we catch him in the act, we yell "NO- GO OUTSIDE!". He knows the word "outside", and he will then run for the door. We always reward and/or praise him for going outside. He is not fixed yet, and I was wondering if getting him neutered might help the situation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm hoping it's not too late!!! He's a terrific pet otherwise, but his idea of our whole house being his "litterbox" has got to stop!!

[Mark]

Hi and welcome to the board http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/wavey.gif

Hmmm, since you are in Michigan (me too) I know how cold it is and that there is a LOT of snow. This can really discourage correct behavior from a pupper whose papers have "disappeared".

Also, your message says you "let" Vinny out. Housebreaking/training is a group effort and unless you're going out with him to praise/reward him for correct behavior . . . the only side of it he's seeing from you is the "NO, GO OUTSIDE" part of it.

Also, have a regular schedule when your home to take him out. When I did this with Duck Butter, I kept saying "go potty" over & over . . . and when she did, she got praised & hugged a lot. She understood after a while that she goes out there to do her business and after a year or so we gradually started letting her out on her own until now . . . she needs no prompting. She also knows the word "outside" and when she goes to the door (she taught herself that) we ask "do you want to go outside" and she lets us know (kind of a pee-pee dance) http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/lol.gif that yes, that's what she wants.

And finally, It's never too late . . . but the longer it goes, the harder it is to fix.

I'm sure there will be other . . . maybe better advice from the members here. We're glad you're here!

Keep us posted on your progress,

Mark

[Vinny]

Mark- Thanks so much for the advice! You are definitely right about the snow - Vinny doesn't care for it much at all. However, once we got him a little "coat" to wear, he seems to mind it less. He is a smooth coat, so needs all the help he can get to keep from shivering! Also, we have another dog, Buddy, who is a larger, long-haired dog (shephard/retriever mix), and he LOVES to be outside and play in the snow. So, I think this helps, since Vinny likes to follow around his "big brother". Anyway, we'll stick to the training and see how it goes. Thanks again!

[Mark]

Hi again,

You're welcome, I hope it helps. Please be sure to post any progress or lack of . . . sometimes things do get worse before they get better as Vinny tries to figure out what the change in behavior you're looking for is.

Take care . . . I see they're predicting yet more snow for us today. http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/biggrin.gif

Mark

[Heather]

Hi, just to reiterate some of what Tom said. Be consistent with a command such as 'go pee pee' when you take him out. Say it over and over and over, until he goes, then praise and treat. My oldest was trained in a few weeks, but my youngest still has some regression. Unfortunately, you do need to accompany him outside, so bundle up, and don't come in until he does something.

When I say the command now (2 years old) my dogs literaly put their noses to the ground and look for a place to go.

Aslo, keep him on a strict schedule. This may mean taking him out once an hour, but it sure beats cleaning up the messes.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[Mandy]

Two words of advice.....consistency and schedule...not for the dog, but for you. Before we moved to PA, we had a nice little house with a fenced in yard, where Henry could be let out whenever he needed to go pottie. Henry, the easy son, who pottie trained himself....

Now we are in an apartment, and we have to put coats on, shoes on, leashes on, etc. We fondly speak of the good ole days when we could just open the door.....

It took Jakey a while to get the pottie thing outside. Unlike Henry, Jake didn't really care about where he went pottie and he would be so rapped up in playing he would forget.

I say consistency and schedule for you because that is what it really takes. Dogs like to be on a schedule and it really helps them if they go pottie at close to the same times everyday. So we have our schedule set up with pottie walks in it...we roll out of bed, and we go for a walk. After lunch (on weekends) we go for a walk. At around 1730 we go for a walk. And before bedtime, yep, you guessed it. Now, occassionally we have to add a walk or two into that schedule, because "Mom, when you have to go, you have to go!"

Consistency comes in two parts. You have to keep the walks up even when it is cold (although the dogs do cut the time outside down), raining, etc. You also have to decide with your husband and/or family how you will praise and deal with the pottie training and stick with it. Bart and I praise Henry and Jake using the same methods (this also helps because it means that the same person doesn't get stuck going outside every single time). Kids learn how to go to different parents to get what they want and so will dachshunds (they are our furkids afterall). So, you have to have a united front in the war against inside pottying. Mark is right in saying that it is a team effort! Good luck and happy pottying outside!

[Vinny]

Hello- Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the valuable housebreaking advice. Also, I have a little "accident" story that I thought you all might get a laugh out of. While we were at the gym tonight, our big dog, Buddy, decided to get into some leftovers that were on our kitchen counter.(Vinny was gated in the kitchen while we were gone, and Buddy can jump the gates for "all-access") The food was in a dish, covered with aluminum foil. Buddy apparently got hold of the foil and pulled it onto the kitchen floor. Vinny then decided to help out by pooping right in the center of the foil. So, when we returned home, there was our leftovers, uncovered, and a pooped-on piece of foil in the middle of the kitchen! Although it's not what we'd hoped to come home to, we did find it a little funny! There was one time a while ago when Vinny got sick from a new dog food we tried, - afterwards, he peed right in his food dish , as to say... "There... now don't ever feed me that crap again!!!!!". ha ha- I wonder if sometimes he plans these "accidents" strategically! He may be smarter than we are...

[Mark]

Hi,

http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/lol.gif That's too funny! Strategic accidents. http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/lol.gif

I'm glad you found the information helpful and please keep us posted on Vinny's progress.

It is good to see someone else from Michigan here. We are in White Lake, if you know where that is . . . several miles west of the Pontiac Airport (if that helps http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/biggrin.gif ). I hear that more into the city area's that the pothole situation is already the worst ever and they've used twice the salt (already) than they used all last winter. Yuck!

We are all glad you're here and are looking forward to getting to know you both & (of course) Vinny!

Mark

[Heidismom]

<IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm2.gif" border=0>Oh, Vinny, my tummy hurts from laughing about the poop in foil story! And to you others who have trained your dachsies to do their business "on command", thank you for your validation. I taught my oldest to do it over 14 years ago, and people told me it was just coincidence that she went when I told her to. (And then I taught the next 2 as well) I am glad to know my girls are not the only smart dachsies who can potty and poop on command! Heidi, Gretl, and Siglen's mom, Julia

[Meemoo]

Ok..maybe Chiefy is an exception to the rule with the potty on command. We've tried it now for 3 months..with consistency...he looks at us like...you are out of your mind if you think I'm gonna go when YOu tell me to. We've used treats, positive reinforcements, etc...he just does when he feels like it and it's NEVER right away. It's hard to tell when he needs to go, he doesn't alert us in any way. We just take him on a regular schedule, at appx 7am then when we get home from work. an hour later (since he's drinken a whole bowl of water) and before going to bed. He usually is pretty accident free with the occasional peeing when he's had too much water and don't take him out within the hour. Just have one stubborn potty on command dachsie.

[Lili's Mama]

meemoo, don't feel badly about Chiefy asserting his independence, Lili is that way also. We have the ideal situation for her, den door leading to a screened back porch where we keep the door propped open and then a fenced yard but she still wants me to go outside with her and watch her sniff and sniff, bark at the birds, neighbor dogs and then sniff some more. If I ask if she wants to go outside even after she has jingled her little bell it takes her 2 or more tries before she will actually go. She learned the jingling bell very quickly but she rings it to go out and bark also. Her Highness wants everything to be HER idea and not mine. We continue the battle of the wills. She is that way about eating too. She has to pick over it first, never wolfed down anything yet. A spoiled furbaby, but then I'm a sucker for the l@@k. She must know I'm writing something bad about her because she is kissing away right now. <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm43.gif" border=0>