I got a dachshund dog for my mom. The previous owners said she is 1-2 yrs old. They told me she was house trained and was no problem... well, they lied. My mom has had her a week and everyday she is pooping and peeing in EVERY room of the house. She has also torn down and chewed on 4 blinds, knocks over the trashcan and chews/eats the trash, has chewed on the edges of the wall, and has even gnawed her cell phone charger cord in two. I gave her a carrier for the dog and they have been locking her up in it at night, but leaving her out during the day. The dog can't be locked up 24 hrs/day! She is the sweetest and most loving dog I have ever seen. My mom has popped her and said "NO" very sternly trying to correct these problems, but it's not working. Her husband is wanting to give the dog away, but my mom wants to give her a little more time... I have a dachshund... she is 12yrs old, but she listens and NEVER pees or poops in the house. She has been trained very well and my mom wanted a dachshund for herself because my dog has given her a good impression. What can she do to teach the dog not to chew on everything in the house and demolish it? And how can she stop the dog from knocking over the trashcan and eating everything in it? Please help... I don't want my mom to give up and take the dog to the shelter... she deserves a loving home and a good life...

Also, if anyone has any good websites that can be of help, that would be great also.
Thanks in advance!

I know training is hard, especially with a difficult dog, but DO NOT ever strike or hit a dog, it does not discourage the dog but rather teaches it to be aggressive, because the dog does not understand why you strike it, only that you set out to harm them, and they become angered.

House training is not going to happen overnight. There is a "sticky" at the top of the topic that will give you helpful advice on how to do this. Other than that, obedience classes are always a good thing for building a good dog-owner bond.

The dog could be doing it in protest over being separated from his original owner.
He could have separation anxiety from being in a new environment and is not adjusting accordingly. You have to be consistent. If you try this and then that the dog has no idea that you are even trying to get anything across. You could try putting him out like once an hour or every two hours. Cage him at night if that helps. What I did that works for my Pit bull was to confine her to a small "papered" room when she goes on the floor or tore anything up. Eventually she got the idea to go on the paper and not tear anything up.

Charlotte,
I did not know that you weren't supposed to hit a dog to discipline them. I mean, my mom and I both LOVE animals and we wouldn't ever intentionally harm a dog for no good reason or hit them too hard... she just popped her on the butt and said "NO" very sternly in hopes that that would make the dog realize what she is doing is wrong. I will be sure to tell her not to do that anymore.

Froggy,
Thanks. I will check out the sticky about house training.

NoHelp4U,
Well, I contacted the previous owner and told her about what was going on and the owner tells me that the dog did that a few times. The previous owner had a baby and said the dog ripped open and chewed/ate the dirty diapers only a couple of times, but other than that, she was OK. I really don't know whether to believe that or not. I really do think there was some information that she chose not to disclose to me and wasn't exactly honest about everything to me. I will also suggest to my mom to put her in a paper room during the day. She just don't want to cage the dog up at night and during the day when they're at work... that just isn't very fair, of course.

I appreciate every one of you taking the time to reply to my post. I hope something works for the dog... she's so sweet and I don't want to see her go to a shelter.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Yeah I would tend to agree because once a person admits to 'sometimes' after they claimed never they are usually holding back on just how often 'sometimes' means.
Let the dog out of the room from time to time so she gets use to the idea that the room is for her to go.

Yes, I def. agree with your statement. When they first gave me the dog, they said she was no problem at all. Now that I've contacted them to see if her current behavior was normal to them, they say it happened "a few times". But anyway, I guess we'll see. Wish the dog (STAR) luck!

Thanks!

Hi... I'm a very big supporter of "The Dog Whisperer" (Cesar Millan) and find his training techniques very successful. His site is: Welcome to Cesar Millan's Official Web Site

Don't give up on this dog... it sounds like it's never been trained and will most likely turn out to be a wonderful pet.