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We just got a new puppy mini dachshund (This past saturday)and I must say he is really a good dog! If your holding him or have him on your lap, bed, or car he doesnt pee!!!! Which is awesome! He also doesn't whine ALL night. BUT .........
POTTY
When we firmly tell him no when going #1 and 2 inside, it doesnt really phase him...yet. We tried the weewee pads for just monday and tuesdays because there is a period of 8hrs where he cant be taken out, he is taken care of those two days all day just the person is unable to take him out due to a handicap.
Now, yesterday afternoon, we tried that spray that is supposed to attract him to the weewee pad and go, but he went nuts, started jetting around the house and biting. He thinks he can play with it, bite it and bring the ball on it.
Last night he actually peed on the pad 3 or 4 times but pooped twice off of it!!!!!
When we take him out, he does go pee and poop and we praise him and tell him good boy and just give him all the love in the world. Occasionally we have given him a treat.
Anyways, it seems he goes #1 and 2 ALOT. And its hard to judge when he has to go.
Id just like to get an idea of other Dachshund owners, what worked for you and how long before it worked?
I know he's brand new to his new territory so we are patient and giving it time, its just a little frustrating not knowing if were going about it wrong, I know he's very smart.
BEDDING
Saturday and Sunday night we had him in the bedroom, put the cage there `and a pillow in it and thats where he ends up. But when we're ready to go to bed we shut the light off and shut the bathroom and bedroom door, we hear him roam around, bump into furniture, go under the bed etc. My Dh decides to put the light on several times to check on him, finally he ended up on the pillow. Pooped two times in the middle of the night.
We decided the bedroom is not the best place for him until he's potty trained and learns his boundaries when it comes time to sleep.
We did wear him out before bed, playing with the sqeaky ball which he LOVES. Its a bit noisy but he plays catch and brings it back which is pretty good for a 10wk old, hes soooo smart.
Anyway, Last night we decided to baracade off the living room. We put his wee wee pad, cage, twisty toy and blanket and pillow in the gated area. We said "Bed" and went to bed. He whined for about 45 min or so. & then again in the early hrs maybe 2, 3 oclock. & then finally slept.
Are these sleeping arrangements ok? Will he adapt? Do we let him whine for the 45 min or do we let him sleep with us and he will eventually learn? In the room he didnt whine or cry at all !!!!
Also for discipline they say don't yell, he is timid and so little, so is a firm tap on the nose ok? Or a pinch? What is the most effective method in your experience???????
Sorry I can't give any advice, but I'd love to see a pic!!
lol I have pics of him on my phone, I have to get a new digital camera, mine broke
Thanks for reminding me, I'm going to have to go out tomorrow and pick up a new one!
I actually want to get a professional pic of him, do they do that??
He's 10 weeks old. He can hold his urine for about 2 hours at this age. You menitoned you used the wee pads Monday and Tuesday, then expected him to know he can't go in the house when you got home. You're confusing the poor dog!
You need to take him out every 2 hours until he realizes that he is to go outside. You need to wake up in the middle of the night and take him out. You can't expect him to hold it in all night or use wee pads. If you catch him in the act, firmly say no and take him outside to where you want him to go. You'll be doing this for at least 4 months, so I suggest you start now and get used to it.
Barricading him in the living room at night is confusing. You need to continue the potty training, whether it's 10am or 1am. If you let him go in the house at night but not during the day, you'll be at this for months to come. Also, wee pads hinder training and we didn't use any of those with ours when he was a puppy. You want your dog to know that under no circumstance is it ok to pee in the house, yet the wee pads teach him otherwise and conufse the poor thing.
Also, don't hit your dog. That only teaches him to fear you. Don't yell, but talk in a firm voice when you disclipline. Say no, and redirect the behavior to something else.
Puppies are a lot of work. We got ours at 8 weeks and took him outside every 2 hours, day or night. Just before he turned 4 months, he was completely housebroken and hasn't gone in the house since. Did it suck? Of course. I didn't like waking up at midnight, 2 am, and so on. But we got a puppy and knew what we were in for and fortunatley both agree that he's our first and last puppy! You need to be consistent and realize that young puppies can't hold it for very long. Usually, a 2 month old can hold it for 2 hrs, 3 month old for 3, etc. Good luck and post pictures!
Mak stated it all. You can not expect a 10 week old puppy to hold it any more than a 2 hrs or so. Actually, when I have pups, it's out every hr. on the hr. until they get the hang of what is expected of them. In my opinion, the pads are just confusing the heck out of him and just another step you'll have to break, unless you decide to continue using them.
Yelling at him and hitting him is akin to yelling and hitting a 2 month old baby. Which is exactly what he is. At this point, a firm no will do.....it takes time and patience...but you will be rewarded in the end. And if you haven't all ready, don't forget to puppy proof your home. Good idea is to get on the floor and view as a pup might...wires, anything that could possibly be chewed, he will...because he is a puppy. Lots of toys and re-direct when he does get into something he shouldn't will help tremendously. On sleeping arrangements.....have you considered crate training him? Crates are one of the most valuable tools when having and training a puppy, in my opinion. Do a search of the threads...lots of good tips on crate training...(one can not just throw the dog in...it takes some patience as well) Good luck and we'll wait for those pics!
Here's my housetraining post: follow it TO THE LETTER and you'll have a trained dog. NOT immediately, but eventually. Your pup is WAY too young to have much control over his bladder. And the treats HAVE to be very special.
And NO SCOLDING. When he makes a mistake it's YOUR fault - NOT HIS!
Here's the post:
Housetraining your dog (puppy or adult!)
The first thing you need to do is to remember that you’re trying to reinforce a new behavior. That means that the rewards for this behavior must be WONDERFUL. NOT crap from the store. Wonderful treats are poached chicken breast/turkey breast, cheese and steak. And you don’t have to use big pieces. Tiny pieces (about 3mm cubes) are just fine! I poach a whole turkey breast every few weeks, cut it into hunks when it’s cool enough to handle, wrap them well and store them in the freezer. When I need some, I’ll thaw a hunk overnight and cut off pieces and dice finely, storing them in a plastic bag in the fridge. One hunk will last about five days. Cheese is also popular, so variety is fine.
I carry these plastic bags in my jacket pockets in the winter and in a fanny pack in warmer weather. You HAVE to have these with you, or this method won’t work, because you need to reward as soon as the dog finishes pooping or peeing. It’s not going to work if the rewards are in the house.
Remember that you’re trying to change a very ingrained behavior. Some dogs like to feel certain things under their feet when they eliminate, like fabric, or newspaper. This is called a ‘substrate preference.’ What you’re trying to do is change this substrate preference, and to do that you have to make the treats SO wonderful that the dog will change this very well-entrenched behavior. Thus the chicken, cheese, steak.
I love clicker training, but this can be done without clickers. You just need a way to ‘mark’ the behavior you want to reinforce. Use the word ‘YESSSSS!!!!’ very enthusiastically – that works for some.
You’re going to need to GO OUTSIDE WITH your dog and the dog needs to be on a leash. Yes, even in winter. If you don’t reward IMMEDIATELY after the event (when dog immediately finishes pooping or peeing) and wait inside, the dog is going to be reinforced for coming inside, not for doing its business. So, leash up your dog. STAND IN ONE PLACE. Be boring. Bring a book or magazine for yourself.
Eventually, the dog will do what you’re waiting for. The NANOSECOND that the dog is finished, HAVE A PARTY – lots of loud, high-pitched praise, treats and running around. You want to make this memorable for your dog! You’ll find that once the first event is achieved, the others will come more quickly. Keep on treating (you don’t have to throw a party except for milestones – a milestone = if he only pooped outside but now peed, too, or something equivalent to that) until he’s good and used to peeing/pooping outside. Before you know it, you have a trained dog.
To quote Patricia McConnell, author of “The Other End of the Leash” (a MUST read) and co-author of “Way to Go” (a FABULOUS booklet on housetraining), “Once you face the fact that you just have take your dog out every time you turn around, give them the treat immediately after they potty, and prevent accidents in the house… well, it usually goes so smoothly.”
Regarding accidents in the house: NO SCOLDING. Just clean them up. If you scold you’ll get the dog to think it’s bad to pee or poop and he’ll do it in places you won’t see. Until you step in it. Invest in a big bottle of Nature’s Miracle or Simple Solution and use it liberally on accidents.
With young puppies, remember they have little control of the muscle that holds the bladder closed. This is something they grow into. Just as it’s not expected that a human baby is toilet trained at six months, don’t expect much from a puppy. Patience, patience, patience!!!! The nervous system in a puppy has to mature, and it won’t have much control over the sphincter (closing muscle) at the neck of the bladder until six or seven months. The same goes for the anal sphincter. Until control is achieved, both of these muscles operate on reflex: there are stretch receptors in the bladder wall. When the bladder is full, it sends impulses to the spinal cord and these, in turn, send signals to the sphincter to open and the dog pees.
In the stomach wall, there are also stretch receptors. So when the dog eats and the stomach is stretched, the impulses again go to the spinal cord, but this time the reflex, outgoing, nerve signals are sent to the anal sphincter, so the dog defecates. This operates in people, too – which is why some people rush to the ‘reading room’ after a meal – especially breakfast.
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Switching him to a high quality food may help him to potty less, but generally puppies potty a lot! Definitely crate train him...for those 8 hours during the day maybe get a doggie door and train him to use it. That should be a last resort though, because ideally you want to be out there with him so you can praise and treat. Using a doggie door will probably prolong the housetraining process for that reason. But you can't expect him to hold it for 8 hours and pee pads are confusing for a dog. Either the dog can go in the house or he can't-- anything else is confusing for him.
Also saying "ah-ah" when my dog is doing something bad works like a charm...I think it's the universal "no." I've even heard people using it with their kids!
The best way I have managed with puppies is to use up my PTO and then arrange for someone to take them out midday when I went back to work and I slowly transitioned them to being crated while I was gone so that it was not a big shock when I went back to work. he needs someone who CAN take them out. This poor puppy must be very confused with the inside/outside thing. If you want to commit to the next 15 years of the dog pottying in the house, then I guess you could set up a special area just for that........but then why not get a cat
He can sleep in the bedroom in the CLOSED crate and one small enough [even if you need a divider] that he really has no choice about going potty in it - then - at ten weeks expect to get up in the middle of the night. As others have said, he is very much a baby.
I don't know of anybody, even those who agree with a correction phase in dog training, that would scold or smack a young puppy. Smack him on the nose could make him hand shy and doxies are one of the litte breeds known to get snappy.
Thank you J-City-it's funny cause I've been "ah" ah(ing) and he immediately will stop what he's doing and proceed on to the next adventure.
He's my first dog! So, all of this training is very new to me. He's so precious to me, I want to do things right!
-Thank you all, keep em coming!!!
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