Hi, This is my first time using this site but I need help. I have a 6 month old mini dach. And she is a great dog the only problem is she keeps having accidents in her kennel. She is for the most part potty trained she will sit at the door and go out when she needs to, and I go and let her out at lunch, but sometimes in the afternoon and during the night she will go in her kennel. She is doing better but she still has accidents, she does not bark at night to tell us she has to go out, sometimes she does but not always. We did get her at a pet store where I know it is hard to break the habbit since that is how she was brought up. But we got her out of there right away she was only there for about a week and we have had her for 4 months now. I just need help, suggestions at how to help break this completely. Thank you! :confused:

How big is her kennel? Most of the time if they have too much space to move around in the kennel they think its OK to go in there. If they have just enough room to stand up and turn around they won't want to. Also, at 6 months old, you can really only expect her to hold it for 6-7 hours. Is she in her kennel for longer than that at night?

How long is she staying in the kennel? The rule of thumb is that a dog can "hold it" for an hour of each month of age; so your dog would roughly be able to hold it for 6 hours. However, she is a small breed so the length shortens. The best thing you can do is take your dog out every three hours or so and give a cue to use the bathroom. Praise her if she does. This means getting up at night to take her out. The key to potty training success is prevention. You MUST prevent her from having to go in the kennel. After a while she will stop associating her kennel with potty and will hold it.

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Originally Posted by rankrank55

How long is she staying in the kennel? The rule of thumb is that a dog can "hold it" for an hour of each month of age; so your dog would roughly be able to hold it for 6 hours. However, she is a small breed so the length shortens. The best thing you can do is take your dog out every three hours or so and give a cue to use the bathroom. Praise her if she does. This means getting up at night to take her out. The key to potty training success is prevention. You MUST prevent her from having to go in the kennel. After a while she will stop associating her kennel with potty and will hold it.

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Thank you, the only thing, if you let her out at night every 3 hours will she get in a habbit of that.

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Originally Posted by deannjohnson

thank you, the only thing, if you let her out at night every 3 hours will she get in a habbit of that.

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No she won't. This will just prevent her from going in the kennel. After a couple weeks or so, you won't have to do it anymore. She'll hold it and wait for you.

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Originally Posted by rankrank55

No she won't. This will just prevent her from going in the kennel. After a couple weeks or so, you won't have to do it anymore. She'll hold it and wait for you.

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Thank you for your help I will try it! Anything is worth a try at this point, and I know she knows she's not suppose to cause when she does it she will come out of her kennel really slow. Thank you again! I will let you know how it goes!
:)

Your welcome! Hope she gets better, bless her heart! This is the method I've tried with my small dogs and it works. Good luck!!

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Originally Posted by deannjohnson

thank you, the only thing, if you let her out at night every 3 hours will she get in a habbit of that.

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The question has been answered pretty well, I just wanted to add that you should never let them out in the middle of the night, this will just encourage them to start crying and then you open up a whole new can of worms that need fixing.

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Originally Posted by shazamataz

The question has been answered pretty well, I just wanted to add that you should never let them out in the middle of the night, this will just encourage them to start crying and then you open up a whole new can of worms that need fixing.

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But she would at least need to take her dog out right before she hits the sack, right? To prevent any accidents...

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Originally Posted by rankrank55

But she would at least need to take her dog out right before she hits the sack, right? To prevent any accidents...

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Oh yes, of coarse... when we have young ones we let them out late at night before we go to bed, put them in their crates and they can usually hold it until morning when we get up.

From my experience it's best to get into a routine as soon as the dog is brought home, that way there's no confusion.