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sergelana · Dec 6, 2005, 09:54 AM

Hi, I desperately need help…

I have a miniature dachshund male (NOT neutered & ready to breed). He is 2 & ½ years old. Very free-spirited and strong-headed—born on July 4th . The problem is that he “marks” all of the corners in the house on the regular basis, when no one is home, or, when he is not included in the company—for example, taken to the garage if people are out there (or if he is left in the garage and people are inside the house). He retaliates by peeing on the dishwasher, trashcan, etc. just to make a point that we should have taken him with us… He doesn’t actually make any puddles but just leaves “marks” in 3-5 places each time. As soon as we are back, he starts running, so he knows that punishment is on the way—he knows when he does wrong BUT no matter what I do, he continues doing it… Tried to reason with him & ignore him as a punishment (he seems to understand), tried to push his nose in his pee & smack his behind with a rolled up newspaper (he understands, gets mad at first, barks, tries to nip me, but then 5 minutes later comes back with kisses for me), ignore the wrongdoing & hope it’d pass by itself (he always looks guilty as I clean the carpet)… I can never catch him in the act—when I find it, the deed is done…I don’t know what to do. It drives me and my family members crazy. I was told that winnies are just that way. But there must be a way to teach him to stop because he is doing it just out of naughtiness & out of spite—he knows it’s wrong but still does it. PLEASE HELP. :eek:
Thanks a lot for any feedback, my email is [email protected]
Svetlana

labman · Dec 6, 2005, 11:19 AM

I think he should be neutered as unfit to breed. Breeding him will only pass on any genetic tendency toward the behavior.

It is possible a good obedience program might help, but at his age, I wouldn't count on it. Such problems are rare in a properly bred and socialized dog. Having a good pack structure reduces such problems. The dogs see all the
People and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in
The pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members
Outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by
Reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class
Or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with
A treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/.

sergelana · Dec 6, 2005, 12:43 PM

Thank you for your advice. I would love to have more feedback please from anyone of how to fix the behavior rather then "snip it"... :eek:

However, there is no question of me neutering him--everyone who sees him (and he is the most loving & wonderful dog that an owner can dream of... ) asks me when I am getting his puppies--he is a dapple and is a pure bred from a good promimant line... As gorgeous as he is, he is a PERECT fit to breed, and in all other respects, he is a perfect dog. So we just need to figure out how to fix that one problem... :confused:

Jesikab · Apr 30, 2007, 07:15 PM

I understand this completely. My male dachshund used to do the same thing! It is very frustrating. I had my male nuetered and it stopped except for the exciting pee...

sergelana · May 1, 2007, 09:20 AM

Hello, everyone:

I have to report to you all that I did have my dearest Lance neutored. I did do the research, spoke to the professionals, and gathered opinions of dog-lovers. I wanted to make sure that I was doing the right thing for my Lance and not for me. I am very happy to say that the peeing around stopped--2 accidents only after being neutored within 3 months... It's a miracle... :p He is still as loving as he used to be towards me BUT he became less tolerant to my 2-year-old son--snaps at him LIGHTLY more often than I'd want him too... So I guess he became slightly bitter after such a procedure but overall I am pleased with the results--especially, after from amny sources I learned that he will live a longer life now that he is neutored... :D Thanks for all of your advice and support and expression of opinions!

labman · May 1, 2007, 09:46 AM

It is very good to hear back even now that you went ahead with neutering him and it worked. I am a little concerned about him not tolerating your son. Since your original post, I have found this site, Establishing and Keeping Alpha Position It has some good specifics on what you need to do give your dog the leadership it needs. Follow up their link to their page on dogs and children.

Jessyfay · May 1, 2007, 10:16 AM

I have a male daschund and he peed everywhere, after getting him fixed and putting him on a strict routine, the first thing I think you should do is put him on a short leash and make him heal and don't let him pee every tree and post you come across hold him back and let him have one or two. When he's in the house he needs to be in a sit lay stay position or in his bed, if you want to see him change you have to follow through with your dicipline and give him rules, like when he comes in the house he has to have down time in his bed, or after he eats he has to have 20mins outside. This breed tends to be extreamly stubborn or stupid and they are the hardest dogs to house train(fromAKC) You have to follow through!
You MUST get him fixed if you want to see an impovement. Trust me It's like I have a new dog, and if you look back at my previous posts I hated my dog before.

Jessyfay · May 1, 2007, 10:21 AM

Opps I just read your reply, and yes my dog snapped at my daughter too. Read labmans sticky on keeping alpha, cause it is crucial to fix this problem,
It works too, my daugter is in charge of feeding my dog, so the dog has learned to respect her, today he was chewing on a pig ear and my daughter (6yrsold) came and took it away from him because she was playing hide and seek with it and he didn't even snap or growled, as before he would snap and bite.

sergelana · May 1, 2007, 12:37 PM

Hi!

I appreciate the site reference, Labman--you have been very helpful! This site is great. I am planning to study 3 different articles in detail and concentrate on following the directions. I am not in any way worried about the relationship between my son and my dog--they love each other a lot and play together all the time, but I would like my "older" son (my winnie Lance) to understand that he must respect my "younger" son David :) Since he snaps and nips as a warning (not bites), I feel like there will be a great improvement in his behavior if I work on it by going through proper training and discipline techniques... Thanks again for the link. I will keep you updated once I have any results :)