[I_Love_Lucy]

Hey..

I have a question about my nine month old dashchund- Lucy. She will not go outside and potty on her own.. she wants us to rub her belly or pat it out of her..

What I have been doing for over a month now is when she is ready to come inside I pat her and if any potty comes out I tell her bad and put her in the grass and tell her to go potty.. and sometimes she will.. however she does not squat she rolls over.. and other times she will not... If I let her in the house with out patting her down she will come in the house and roll over and potty with in two min.

I took her to the vet and he could find nothing wrong as in kidney infection.. or anything of that sort..

Would you have a suggestion for me..

Thanks Mandy

[labman]

This is really strange. It sounds like she does have some sort of a physical problem. Did you explain the potty problem to the vet when he examined her? You may even want to get a second opinion from another vet.

The problem could be muscle tone. She may need more exercise and less food. Put out in the back yard by herself, she may just stand around or lay down. You may have to spend more time playing with her or talking a walk. Dogs need the stimulation of exercise to eliminate. A walk may replace the patting. You got a dog to enjoy spending time with her. She may require more time than you expected, but you took on the responsibility. Be careful punishing her, it may be she can't help what she is doing. Check her weight. Your dog definitely should be narrower at the waist than the hips and chest. As a Dachound ages, over weight, can lead to back problems. You should be able to easily feel the ribs, but not see them. Each dog is different. Standard recommendations are a good place to start, but each dog must have its food adjusted to its individual needs. See http://www.purina.com/dogs/nutrition.asp?article=292. Finally go through the material below and see if there is anything you have missed doing.

Much of housebreaking is not training the puppy, but making it easier for your puppy, you, and your carpet while its body to catches up to its instincts. At around 8 weeks when the puppy goes to its new home, the time from when it realizes it has to go, and when it can't wait any longer is a matter of seconds. Only time will fix that. You can hardly be expected to be attentive enough to avoid all accidents There is no sense punishing the puppy for your inattention. It is not fair to punish you either, but you still have to clean it up if you didn't have the puppy outside in time.

Housebreaking starts before you get home with the new puppy. If you don't have a crate, buy one. I prefer the more enclosed, den like plastic ones. Skip the bedding. At first it gets wet, and later it can be chewed into choking hazards. A wire rack in the bottom will help keep the puppy up out of accidents at first. They are available with the crates, but a piece of closely spaced wire closet shelving from a home supply place is cheaper. If you already have a metal crate, covering it may help. Just make sure you use something the puppy can't pull in and chew. Dogs that start out in crates as little puppies, accept them very well. Never leave an unattended puppy loose in the house. If nobody can watch it, put it in the crate. I suggest letting the dog have its crate all its life.

Choose a command and spot you want it to use. The less accessible to strays, the less chance of serious disease. If it is a female, choosing a non grassy spot will avoid brown spots later. When you bring it home, take it to the spot and give it the command in a firm, but friendly voice. Keep repeating the command and let the puppy sniff around. If it does anything, praise it. Really let it know what a good dog it is and how much you love it, and maybe a treat. Note, being out there not only means you can praise it, but it also keeps it from being snatched by a hawk. If it doesn't go, take it inside and give it a drink and any meals scheduled. A young puppy will need to go out immediately afterward. Go to the spot and follow the above routine. Praising it if it goes is extremely important. If it doesn't go, take it back inside and put it in its crate and try again soon. Do not let it loose in the house until it does go..

At first it is your responsibility to know and take the puppy out when it needs to go. It needs to go out the first thing in the morning, after eating, drinking, and sleeping. If it quits playing, and starts running around sniffing, it is looking for a place to go. Take it out quickly. You will just have to be what I call puppy broke until it is a little older.

By the time most dogs are about 3 months old, they have figured out that if they go to the door and stand, you will let them out. The praise slowly shifts to going to the door. Some people hang a bell there for the dog to paw. If your dog doesn't figure this out, try praising it and putting it out if it even gets near the door. A stern "Bad dog!" is all the punishment that is effective, and only when you catch it in the act and are sure you didn't miss it going to the door. Clean up accidents promptly. I mostly keep the little puppies out of the carpeted rooms. Still I need the can of carpet foam sometimes. First blot up all the urine you can with a dry towel. Keep moving it and stepping on it until a fresh area stays dry. A couple big putty knives work well on bowel movements. Just slide one under it while holding it with the other. This gets it up with a minimum of pushing it down into the carpet. This works with even relatively soft ones, vomit, dirt from over turned house plants, or anything else from solids to thick liquids. Finish up with a good shot of carpet foam. Note, do not let the puppy lick up the carpet foam. Once the dog is reliably housebroken, your carpet may need a good steam cleaning.

[I_Love_Lucy]

Thanks for the reply... She was kind of potty trained when I got her.. she was living in a bad home.. however she did get a lot more exercise there because they had her outside with other dogs most of the time.. I would not call her over weight.. in fact I have felt terrible because I have herd a few people call her to thin in the past and she weighs 8 pounds. Actully the last time she went potty on her own was after playing around with my parents German Shepard.

I do in fact have an appointment with another vet.. I will bring up your post to her.. THanks so much

Mandy

[dutchwolf]

Hi,
Sometimes dachshunds can be very stubarn in potty training. I would advise you to get yourself a little house kennel. Put the kennel in a room where the dog will be separated from you. When she goes wrong you;ll put her in the kennel and leave her there. For the dog it's a very bad punnishment when they are separated from their "pack" When she starts barking or yelling, just leave her until she is quiet. When she behaves well you take her out and play with her, don't give her candy or other treats. Re enforce her with your voice or a pet. Be consistance and you'll see that she will be potty trained in about three weeks.
Succes

[tgslickers]

Thanks for the reply.... She was kind of potty trained when I got her.. she was living in a bad home.. however she did get a lot more exercise there because they had her outside with other dogs most of the time.. I would not call her over weight.. infact I have felt terrible because I have herd a few people call her to thin in the past and she weighs 8 pounds. Actully the last time she went potty on her own was after playing around with my parents German Shepard.

I do infact have an appointment with another vet.. I will bring up your post to her.. THanks so much

Mandy

That is wonderful you rescued her from a bad home. There may be a reason for what see is doing now and how her living conditions were. If she was with other dogs outside, she may be use to that. Is she the only dog you have now? She went on her own after playing with your parents German Shepard. Maybe she needs to play with the German Shepard more or maybe get her a playmate, she may miss the other dogs.

[carolbcac]

It strikes me as very odd that she rolls over to eliminate. When you mentioned the bad previous home, I wonder if they were very harsh with her when she had accidents. Puppies go through a "fear period" somewhere around 8 weeks old. If something very traumatic happens to them during that time, they may never get over it.
It amost sounds like she is taking a submissive position when, or just before, she eliminates--as if she is waiting for the verbal or physical punishment to come.
If you can manage it, she would probably get a lot of benefit from a buddy dog. A nice, well adjusted medium size neutered male mix from the shelter would be ideal. If she has a laid-back "role model" she may follow his lead and mellow out herself. This is really interesting. Keep us posted.

[froggy7]

When you say that you "pat it out of her", do you mean that you actually physically move the stool in her body, or just that she won't go unless you are petting her? I've been talking to a neurologist recently about some trouble with my dog, and one of the things that he mentioned was that some of the dogs that he treats have to have their bowels and bladders manually expressed because of neurological problems. And doxies are known for having back problems. Hence the request for clarification. I'd be surprised if that was the first symptom that your dog had, but sometimes they can surprise us!

[dkclssw6]

My parents rescued a mini dachshund she was around a year old, it became obvious she had neglect issues or something of that nature she also would pee every time we pet her and more so when we would just come home. Most of the time she would roll over on her back and pee on herself. We started by not greeting her when we got home we would wait till she settled down and jumped in our lap before we would pet her, I remember it took a little while before it completely stopped but it did my parents also had two other mini dogs for her to play with and keep her company because she seemed to have issues with being left alone when she lived with my sister and didn't have playmates. I would have to ask my mom what else they did to stop this problem because it has been about 13 years now and she hasn't had this problem for at least 12 years, she is now 14 years.
So maybe your dog is confused and thinks you expect her to pee when you pet her because you continue to repeat the behavior that leads to her peeing.
Good luck!

[SweetDee]

It's true that Daschunds take a little longer to potty train than a lot of other breeds.

This one seems to have devoped some odd habits. Habits are meant to be broken...

I would begin a whole new regime of potty training. It would begin w/ a leash law.

Check on line or in a dog training book on "How to potty train a dog"... once you've established the rules and mind set, (it's too long to explain on this thread... it's simple to learn and teach)... begin the process ON A LEAD as tho' the dog was a 4 month old pup. Imagine that your Dash has an under developed bladder, as 4 month old pups do. Treat this dog to intensive potty training... no matter how often you have to take her out.

Also, perhaps teaching her crate training would be key here. It would help her understand that eliminating is something she only gets to do when you solicite it. It needs to become TOP PRIORITY. Once you've taken charge... and become consistent and commanding it will all fall into place.

She has to learn a new behavior for eliminating. Rolling and urinating is not allowed anymore. Stop her by putting her on a leash and commanding the right behavior. You will have to "right her" by putting her on her feet. Try walking... and asking her to "potty", (or whatever words you want to attach to the command... ).

It's not a lost cause... it just takes effort on your side to help her learn new manners.

Let us know how it goes...

Just know, this is a new project for you... it will take time and energy.

She has proven that she CAN eliminate normally, (proof was after her play time w/ the Shepherd).

Dogs need to walk w/ their new family members/pack. It evokes bonding... not to mention that a dog learns better after he's had some exercise... Walking your dog is the best way to show leadership... a pack WALKS together... Good luck. Let us know if we can help you better.

Just remember that the rules of potty training is easy to find either on line or in a book. Just read up and APPLY... we can help you as you go...