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View Full Version : Housetraining Adult Dachsies



isobelsmom
12-15-2005, 09:28 PM
I have to thank both Nancy and wee Molly for this spur-of-the-moment post on housetraining adult dachsies. This works for ALL breeds, but especially well for the dachsie, which is a notoriously stubborn furkid when it comes down to braving the outside to potty.

If your adult dachsie is crate-trained then:

Now, this may sound odd, but put a pee pad (or hand towel) in her crate and LET her pee on it. Then take the pee pad/towel out of the crate, take it outside and (yes, this is the yucky part, so have gloves on!) wring it out on the spot you want her/him to pee on so the urine drips on that spot only.

Quickly, for those not crate trained, you have to bust him thinking about it or in the act, in order to correct the behavior before it cements into a constant rule of bark outside and potty inside. When he does have an accident, first---never let him see you cleaning it up as this harkens him back to the days when his bio mom cleaned up after him and it will cement the behavior more quickly. Sop up the urine and continue with the above and below. For poop, use a paper towel to grab it and place it outside in another spot you want used for pooping and leave it there. Take him to both places (keep them close together) and follow the below directions. Other than the crate, cleaning, and placing of the urine and poop, there are no other differences.

When you take her outside, give a command for each potty: "Go Poop" (which has a neat dog show trick I'll tell you about in a few!). "Go Pee." Do not combine into just go potty as it will just make this drag out. AND when you take her outside, take her to that exact spot you dribbled urine on (mark it if you have to with a stick or rock) and give her the "Go Pee" command. Make sure to have a snack ready and when she does (even a dribble counts now) cram that snack into her mouth and praise her...not overly much, but enough so she knows she's done a good thing.

The praise should be low-key excited and warm, with touching (if your dachsie likes that), but not over-the-top excited in a too-high voice. Just use an excited voice you would not be embarassed to use in a public park or on walkies.

Now, the "Go Poop" command. If you have a dachsie that takes absolutely forever to poop, or waits until she gets back inside to do it in the spare room under the bed...that you find when cleaning for Holiday guests...there is a short-cut to this command to help her along.

Get a couple books of cardboard matches and a small tin of vaseline. When you KNOW your furkids has to poop, tear off a match, dip the cardboard end in the vaseline and insert, very gently into her rectum about 1/2 way and release her to potty with the command: "Go Poop." Important: DO NOT insert the end with sulpher as this will seriously injure your furkid!! If you are working in dark-ish light, snip off the sulpher end completely so that you will not have any chance of hurting your dog!

When she finishes, have that treat in hand and to mouth and praise coming out of yours!

One of the major rules in any type of dog training is to reinforce the commands. This is done by sating them before: Go Pee. During: Good Pee (no treats and minor praise). And after: Good Pee (with praise and treats).

Always make sure that when using treats to lure a dog into a behavior and to then cement that behavior you also verbally and/or physically praise your dog too. This will enable you to ease away from the lure of treats into simple praise for a job well done and not add extra pounds to a dachsie that doesn't need it. Treats are used at first. Praise is used forever!

This is how I did it in potty training classes in puppy pre-school (and with adult adopted dogs that were less than fortunate to have good prior hooparents) and it does work....98% of the time for dachsies. Let me know if it doesn't work and I'll come up with another plan.

Oh, and on a final note....cleaning up a mess. Use a dog accident cleaning product and nothing else. These products have enzymes in them that break down the molecular structure of the urine and poop still left on the floor, in the carpeting or on the bedding even after cleaning it with other products like bleach. I always recommend Nature's Miracle (both by the gallon and in a spray) as it breaks down the molecules very effectively. Only drawback is that it cannot be cut with water for carpet cleaning machines. Another product out there called X-tract can be used in carpet machines and can be cut with hot water for stain and odor removal and it works wonderfully well. I use this one as it can be cut with hot water for machine washing bedding and slip covers, if need be, also.

Best of wee dachsie luck to you in your housetraining adventure!!! :boogie: