Outside or Paper?

[Mutzie's Mom]

I have desperately been trying to house break Sheppie. He is 9 months old and his favorite place to potty is in my daughter's room or the dining room. If she leaves her door, just the slightest bit cracked, he's in there in a heart beat doing his business. I am so frustrated with him. I haven't been home a lot to train him. When I'm gone, he'll hold it 5 hours or more. During the day, he's having accidents all over the place. I tried to paper train him, but that didn't work. He won't even go outside when there's snow on the ground. Unfortunately, we're still getting snow in Ohio. My husband is very upset <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="angry.gif" /> with me and Sheppie. My vet recommended taking Sheppie out every 2 hours on a leash. We cannot leave him in our gated yard by himself...he's figured out how to burrow himself underneath the gate in the fence. We've been outside with him and have experienced his disappearing act first hand. Is it too late for him to be housebroken? I am afraid he's so old that this is all he knows and I'll never get him going outside. <img border="0" alt="[sad]" title="" src="graemlins/sad.gif" /> It is hopeless? I am afraid he doesn't have the intelligence to learn new things. He hasn't proven himself very smart. He is by far the "slowest" dachsie I've ever seen. I've only ever met smart, clever, conniving dachsies. Sheppie is so carefree and relaxed. Nothing I'm used to!!

Thanks!
Sherry

[Owen's Mom]

Here's a link to retraining an older dog. I hope it helps you a bit :D

<a href="http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/re_housetraining.htm" target="_blank">http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/re_housetraining.htm</a>

[MARTHA]

Sherry - I think you have a genius on your hands. He is doing exactly as he pleases typical dachshund, and getting away with it, again, typical dachshund.

There is hope. Sadie Mae was a year old when she moved in. Her potty manners where based on her whim. Fortunately for me, Skooter put her foot down and she expalined to Sadie that if she wanted to live in her house and be her sister she would just have to get with the potty program. Sadie is pretty reliable with papers. She still gets distracted when she goes outside. You can almost hear her saying.."so many smells, so little time..."

Other than the fact that I had another dog to train Sadie, one of the most helpful things was keeping her in a small area when no one else was at home. We covered the whole area with paper and reduced the number of papers gradually. We used this method on our first Dachshund, Fritz, who wrote the book on stubborn. He caught on but when he got mad...

Anyway, I'm not really telling you that the method that I used is the best or will work for you. You may have to try several things. Our life styles are different and the personalities of the babies are different too. I just don't want you to be discouraged. Patience and love will win out in the end...sometimes the end is just as close as we want it to be. Some people say that Dachshunds don't mature until they are about 2 years old and that their potty training reliablity goes along with their maturity.

Check the web site that Owen's Mom suggested and scroll back through the archinves of housebreaking and you may pick up some tips.

Just another thought. Have you taken Sheppie to any obiedence classes? Sometimes that will help them learn how to concentrate and learn when they are supposed to. It will also give you an opportunity to pick up some teaching tips. And you a great resource for suggestions from the class teacher.

Good luck and give Sheppie a kiss from me and the "Grils". I'll try to keep Sadie off the computer so she can't e-mail him some tips on how to avoid proper potty manners...she wrote a book on that one!

Martha

[Mutzie's Mom]

Thank you! I read the site and will try it! I made the mistake of taking him out around noon. He hadn't pottied since this morning. I thought for sure he'd have to go. When I took him out, he wanted to sniff every inch of the property. I am going to start limiting him to a potty area. I am also going to use the soiled paper towels in his potty area outside. I thought potty training my daughter was impossible! This has to be worse! Then, my husband comes home and says, "Have you trained the dog yet?" I want to smack him over the head!! He NEVER takes his turn with the dog. The nerve of him! <img border="0" alt="[Lick]" title="" src="graemlins/tongueaction.gif" />

I will let you know if this works! Thanks again for the website!

Sherry

[Mutzie's Mom]

Thank you Amy and Martha! You were right! I do have a smart little guy on my hands. I was just babying him and not letting his intelligence shine through. After only one day of constant training, Sheppie has trained himself. We go to "the potty zone" which is a corner of the yard. I tell him to go potty, he squats, then looks back at me with a sly grin and lets it go! Then, he comes right up to me and sits at my feet waiting for a treat. He loves the lavish praise! He is definitely "my" dog. He is all over me, my constant shadow. I had to be the one to train him. He did go potty for both my mom and my husband, so that's great. I cannot believe how quickly he caught on. If he has to go, he starts sniffing and waits by the door. I can't believe how smart he is! He wanted to wet sooo bad in my daughter's room the other night, just to show her who's boss, but he resisted temptation and led me to the door. I am so proud! His ego has gone through the roof, but we knew that was bound to happen sooner or later, after all he is a dachsie! <img border="0" alt="[heart]" title="" src="graemlins/heart.gif" />

Thanks again for that website! It was wonderful!

Sherry & Sheppie