House trained Dachshund still going in the house

• 10-10-2007 9:17 AM

  MBDaschund Joined on 10-10-2007 Posts 4 Points 0

  House trained Dachshund still going in the house Reply Contact Greetings! I've searched from one end of the internet to the next trying to solve my problem, but I have confidence there are plenty of smart people around here to help. I have a 2 year old Dachshund-mix (10.5 lbs) who was fully housebroken about 2 months after I got him. He never went #2 in the house, only an occasional #1 during a thunderstorm or if I slept in on a Saturday morning. All was well until we "dog sitted" a friend's Pit Bull.   The other dog was only in our house for 2 days, but now our dog poops and pees in our house daily. He remains crate trained (8-10 hours 3-5 days a week, NEVER has had an accident in his crate) and he knows he is wrong when he goes in the house. He runs and hides and you can see it in his face he knows he was bad. This leads me to believe something else is wrong. Things we have tried: * Crate training (works perfectly) * Praising him endlessly when he goes outside * Walking him around 6-8 times a day. (Just this morning he was walked at 5:45am. He peed outside, and within the hour peed and pooped inside). * Walking him for 5-20 minutes at a time. * Giving him treats outside immediately afterwards instead of inside the house. * Controlling when his food and water are down. * Steam cleaned the carpets to remove the other dog's scent.    I have no idea what else to do. I'm going to the vet this week to see what they say, but I don't think its a medical problem. He can hold it in the crate. He knows how to tell us he needs to go, and does most of the time. He still poops and pees in the house daily.  Any other ideas?

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• 10-10-2007 9:52 AM

  In reply to MBDaschund

  BEVOLASVEGAS Joined on 07-10-2006 Texas Posts 4,589 Points 640

  Re: House trained Dachshund still going in the house Reply Contact Dachshunds are notoriously difficult to housetrain. I have two doxies, so I can tell you that diligence is the key. Shooter is 1.5 years old & Schatzi is 1 year old. They are both fully housetrained, & now they are allowed to roam the house while I am at work, with no accidents.  It took Shooter 7 months, & Schatzi 8 months to be reliably house trained.  Barring a medical condition, ie. Diabetes, kidney disease, or urinary tract infection, I would recommend restarting housetraining basics. Crate training has worked well for you, so I would definitely continue crating. When the dog is out of it’s crate, I would suggest keeping the dog with you at all times. I have tethered my dogs to me, so that I knew exactly where they were at all times. Don’t give your dog the opportunity to pee or poop in your house. When I was housetraining both of my doxies, I would praise them when they eliminated outside, but I do not reward with treats, because they do not generalize well. For example, if they get rewarded for peeing/pooping, I’m not sure that they understand that the treat only comes when they are outside. I’m fairly certain that if I had used treats, both of my doxies would have failed to connect being outside to receiving a treat. I can easily imagine that they would be peeing on my floor & then coming to me to ask me “where the heck is my treat?” Amanda "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, throughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming --- ' WOW, WHAT A RIDE!!!! ' " - Author Unknown

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• 10-10-2007 10:24 AM

  In reply to BEVOLASVEGAS

  MBDaschund Joined on 10-10-2007 Posts 4 Points 0

  Re: House trained Dachshund still going in the house Reply Contact Awesome response. You are 100% right about the treats. We normally give Squirt his treat when he comes in the house. He gets 1 type for peeing and another type for pooping. He began expecting a treat when he came in from outside even if he didn't use the bathroom! So we moved to giving him treats outside immediately after messing.  Would you recommend not giving him treats at all? The last "plan" me and my girlfriend came up with was to crate our dog any any point he isn't around us. Sleeping, eating, using the computer...if he's not around us, he's in his crate. I'm afraid of that though because that won't teach him anything he doesn't already know. He has been in his cage for 12 hours before and was perfectly fine. While not ideal, he still knew to not go in it. So, tether our dog (I hope you don't mean literally) when we're home, remove the reward from going outside, and continue crating?   I think the strongest variable here is he knows he's wrong when he does it. He hides, runs away, and sometimes will stay in the middle of the floor under our bed to avoid us punishing him/crating him. If a dog knows he's wrong, has the ability to hold it, has no medical problems, and is able to tell us when he needs to go every evening, why does he still do this every day?

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• 10-10-2007 12:37 PM

  In reply to MBDaschund

  erica1989 Joined on 02-21-2007 Clearwater, Florida Posts 3,000 Points 260

  Re: House trained Dachshund still going in the house Reply Contact MBDaschund: So, tether our dog (I hope you don't mean literally) when we're home what is meant by this is you attach the dogs leash to you. wrap it around your ankle when you are sitting, to your pants when you are up an about. Don't give the pup any opportunity to sneak away and potty. You could try teaching him to ring a bell when he wants to go out, I have heard people have had great success with this idea.

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• 10-10-2007 7:36 PM

  In reply to MBDaschund

  Chuffy Joined on 12-17-2006 UK Posts 5,799 Points 10

  Re: House trained Dachshund still going in the house Reply Contact MBDaschund: I think the strongest variable here is he knows he's wrong when he does it. He hides, runs away, and sometimes will stay in the middle of the floor under our bed to avoid us punishing him/crating him. It sounds like you need to use the well known Rolled Up Newspaper method.  Next time he has an accident in your house, take him to it with a rolled up newspaper in your hand.  Then, hit YOURSELF on the head and chant "Bad human!  Watch the dog more carefully! Bad, bad human!" Seriously, please don't punish him for house breaking accidents.  It just makes the process even harder.  We had a nightmare with our dogs when we moved and I KNOW how frustrating it is, but don't punish and don't let them see you upset. Also, don't assume the dog "knows he did wrong".  Guilt is a very human thing.  Offering appeasement gestures and/or hiding because he is afraid of a consequence is not the same as knowing "he did wrong".  For all you know, he could be thinking "oh no, there;s poo on the floor, they're going to go nuts again".  NOT "I DID a poo INDOORS and now they are going to be upset".  Do you see what I mean? Have you tried moving his accidents and putting them in the outside in the place you want to use? If this is only happening since the other dog was in the house, he could be re-affirming that this is HIS home, for his own peace of mind.  How can you help to reassure him and relive any stress? Other than that, sounds like you are doing ALL the right things and have had great advice.... he will get there!  HONEST!! "Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life." (Pratchett, Jingo) "I used to look at [my dog] Smokey and think, 'If you were a little smarter you could tell me what you were thinking,' and he'd look at me like he was saying, 'If you were a little smarter, I wouldn't have to.'" - Fred Jungclaus

  Filed under: house training Post Points: 0