Hello, I have a 6 year old, male (neutered), mini smooth-haired dachshund named Tobie. I got him about a year ago when a friend of a friend had to find a home for him (she already had 3 other mini-dachshunds.) He's the sweetest thing, never gets into any trouble, and loves coming with me in the car. The problem is when I do need to leave him home for some reason whether for 10 minutes or 2 hours he gets destructive. Peeing, pooping on the floor, chewing and scratching on the doors, etc. I know with his previous owner he could do no wrong and it took me a while to get him used to new rules like not being on the furniture and waiting to be asked to go outside or in.

His urinating issue has caused me to confine him to a room of my home without carpeting. But now he's making short work of my solid-core door. It's frustrating because when I'm around him you could not ask for a better, sweeter, quiet hound. But when I'm away I know he goes crazy. At times I come home and can hear him from the yard barking and howling. I took him to the vet and ruled out any health issues, her only suggestion was medication to help him relax. I've never had to medicate a dog before and would rather not take that route if possible.

I've tried making the room a "happy place" with treats and affection. I ignore him till he calms down when I come home. If he's obviously worked up I'll keep him in the room till he quiets down.

I just don't know what else to do with the little guy. I can't leave a bed for him because he'll instantly pee on it ignoring the puppy pads. And I can't replace doors every couple months.

I know Dachshunds are stubborn, and I know they get lonely when left alone. But there must be something I can do to help my little Tobie when I can't be with him or take him to doggie day-care.

Any suggestions?

Thank you SO much!

Chance & Tobie

I have written up a technique that I use and I have seen quite a few others have success with it...

I will copy and paste it below.
Have a read and let me know if you think it would help you at all.

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Does your dog cry when you leave the room? Urinate only when you leave the house?
These are a few signs that your dog may be suffering from Separation Anxiety.

Some dogs do not like being left alone and some will think you are leaving them permanently and not coming back. Here are a few tips to help fix this problem.

When you leave, no matter how long for always have fresh water available. Toys are also a wonderful training tool as it will keep the dog distracted, I use kong toys stuffed with yummy food as a cure for boredom, having special toys or treats that the dog gets only when you go out are also a wonderful idea.

When training my own dogs for separation anxiety I first distract my dogs with their favourite toy and then exit my house through the front door.
I only leave for a minute or two, just long enough so that the dog does not bark or cry.
I then re-enter the house and give them praise for not crying.

Next time I go out I leave for a few more minutes, again only entering the house if the dog is not crying and giving praise.

Increase the amount of time you leave for and always come back before the dog starts crying (you will learn how long that threshold is pretty quickly)

This teaches the dog that you are going to come back and they are not being left alone forever.


Another technique is to not "baby" the dog.
Some dogs become overly attached to their owner and don't even like their owner being out of their line of sight, in this case the training needs to begin before you start going out

Start paying less attention to the dog, when he pushes for attention, don't give it to him
If he wants to be petted, make him wait.
As harsh as it sounds it is the only way to get the dog to start becoming less dependent on you.

After you have trained the dog to be less clingy you can move onto things like leaving the dog in the living room while you have a shower, or leaving him inside while you are out hanging up washing on the clothesline.