Hi John,
We bought a Miniature Dachshund/Poodle puppy. He was four months when we got him and he is now six months old. Our problem is house-training. We bring him out every hour and if he does not go pee we bring him back and put him into his cage. This is after he has been outside for over fifteen minutes. We give Hemi praise and a treat when he goes to the bathroom and some days he is so good and other days he will make mistakes. The people that owned Hemi kept him in a dog run in the daytime and at night they would bring him into a cage where he would spend the night. They said that he never went on the rug but we knew when we got him to our home they were not telling the truth. When he is out to go to the washroom we are always saying “Hemi go pee.” but he spends more time wandering into the neighbours yard. If Hemi goes on the rug and he hears that we know, he now goes right into his cage, so he knows he has done wrong. We don’t know what more we can do.
Ruth
Dear Ruth,
I hear the statement from dog owners, ” He knows he has done wrong” all the time but knowing one has done wrong and knowing what one has done wrong are two very different things. Every man that’s had a wife or a girlfriend knows how your Dachshund X feels because at one point or another we’ve all received a similar message. The women we love using some some estrogen laced logic without hesitancy will let us know they are upset about something but leave our testosterone dampened brains to figure out just what that might be. If we are so unwise as to inquire as to the boundary we have trespassed the trap snaps shut with, “If you loved me, you’d know!” Isolated by our maleness we more often then not, wisely and meekly retreat saying, “If you need me I’ll be (hiding) in the basement/garage/at a friend’s/Iraq’s Red Zone etc.” Your equally confused dog is heading to his own sanctuary, his crate. I agree he knows you’re upset but I’ll bet he doesn’t know why. How could he? All he’s got to go on is your tone and body language and it seems he’s hearing about it after the fact and pardon the pun, he doesn’t have enough to go on.
You have to have a look at the digestibility of your dog’s food, how often he eats, how many treats he’s getting, how to supervise so that mistakes either aren’t happening or are happening right in front of you (so he will know why you’re upset.) It’s all about structure and supervision. Get his leash on in the house so he can’t wander away to eliminate. You can’t catch him one time and not two others. It’s too hard for him to connect the dots. Keep him on a lead in the yard so he’s not touring the neighbour’s yard or getting otherwise distracted, and take him to the same small area for no more then 5 minutes. Put him in his crate in between trips outside when you can’t be sure you can track him in the house.
He’s two months past when he should have had this down cold and every mistake you miss is gelling this into a life time habit. If you get all your ducks in a row you’re 3 months from getting on top of this and a year from him not even considering going elsewhere then outside.
You can learn which ducks to get into what rows with a House Training “Cheat Sheet” I give my clients.
Pawsitively yours,
John Wade
