any advice out there?

[warthog]

I'm appealing to those of you who have taught your dachsies NOT to jump up and down on furniture. Better yet, can you tell me how to break the bad habit once it has started? Henry is one year old, and we want to break him of this as soon as possible. Despite our best intentions, he does jump some. Do you have any good advice for us?

[Tanya]

I am by no means an expert dog trainer and it is difficult to stop a dog from jumping totally. We built ramps for our dachsies and they really used them...once they knew what they were for. Try a ramp to see if that helps.

[Mark]

There is no magic formula or foolproof training tips. We are just very determined and consistant. After 2 years . . . do they ever jump when their not supposed to? Of course they do . . . once in a while. But most the time they do not. And we have disciplined them so that they haven't gone up or down stairs at all in two years (except for the one step that leads from the deck to the backyard). Again, let them know they can't - and be consistant until it is their own second nature not to do so.

Good luck

Mark

[warthog]

Tanya,

We have one ramp (one of those mini ironing boards) and that works well. Did you build your ramps or buy them? If you built them, do you have a pattern? If you bought them, where did you find them?

[Penny's Aunt]

The few homemade ones I've seen are just pine shelving from the hardware store with carpet scraps stapled to them. The main problem is you have to anchor them so they don't slip or fall with the pupper on them.

One I saw for a tall bed was a right-angle triangle. The base was wider than the rest of it, for stability, & long enough to make a ramp that wasn't too steep. The upright support was secured with metal braces so it was sturdy. The angled ramp itself was carpeted for good footing. Then the whole thing was placed at the bottom of the bed so the dog could walk up it, & have one side against the foot of the bed. I don't know if there was anything holding it TO the bed, but I think I would add an additional board sticking out at the proper height so it would go between the mattress & box springs. BTW, this bed did not have a footboard, so there may have been something there. It didn't wobble when the dog ran up it.

[Mrs.F]

My husband made our ramp. (to the couch) It's 18 inches wide and covered with carpet to match the floor. As Penny's Aunt mentioned the supports are right angle triangles, with boards across the bottom and back to stabilize them. You pretty much have to customize each ramp to the piece of furniture to get the right height. Because our ramp is so wide and is made of pine (stained to match the rest of the furniture) it is pretty heavy and very stabile. Neither Penny nor Maggie have ever been able to move it despite their wild chasing up and down it! http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/biggrin.gif Fergie put little sides on it (3") to be sure that neither dog would get knocked off or get so busy running and chasing that she missed the edge.
Because it's free standing it's easy to move out of the way when we have guests (and need all the seating) or when we want it somewhere else.
Maggie still jumps though. She seems to have learned that I'll scold her if I catch her jumping, but when she thinks I can't see she is just as likely to jump as she is to use the ramp. Luckily, I'm a mom and a kindergarten teacher so I see EVERYTHING! http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/uh-oh.gif