[acoston]

My husband and I recently adopted a mini Daschund from his co-worker. We absolutely love the dog except for one thing... He will NOT stop peeing in the house! We have an apartment and cannot ruin our carpet. He pees when he gets excited, he pees when he gets scared, he pees when we punish him, he pees when we punish him for peeing! He has the privilege of being walked about every 2 or 3 hours so it is not that he is not getting out enough. We put his water up except for dinner times. We have learned to "get on his level" when we punish him so he doesn't get scared... but so far it is about twice a day. My laundry and my nerves are shot. HELP!

[labman]

Many dogs eventually outgrow it, but you can reduce it by building the dog's confidence up. Start with obedience training. The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. 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 Raising Your Dog with the Monks of New Skete As you praise the dog for following your commands, it will build its confidence.

Play tug of war with the dog and lose. However at the end of the game, take the rope or toy and put it up, less the dog becomes confused about who is top dog. Ropes from the pets' store quickly turn to hazardous shreds. Ones I made lasted much better. Go to a hardware or home center that sells rope by the foot. Buy 2' of 3/4" poly rope. Melt the ends, and tie knots in it. Get them as tight as possible, put it in a vise and pound it with a hammer. Watch carefully, and be ready to discard when it comes apart.

Finally, make sure it has a den to live in. If you are not using a crate, buy one. The dog may be happier in its den than loose in the house. It relaxes, it feels safe in its den. It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving its self. Dogs that have been crated all along do very well. Many of them will rest in their crates even when the door is open. I think the plastic ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling. Metal ones can be put in a corner or covered with something the dog can't pull in and chew. Select a crate just big enough for the full grown dog to stretch out in.

A dog that has not been crated since it was little, may take some work.
Start just putting its toys and treats in the crate. Praise it for going
in. Feed it in the crate. This is also an easy way to maintain order at
Feeding time for more than one dog.

I am sure being in the new home is making the problem worse. He is very confused and unsure of himself.

[RubyPitbull]

Acoston, please review labman's info carefully. It will also benefit you to read through his sticky at the top of the dog forum. Click on this link to it. https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/i...man-53153.html

As labman states, this issue may have to do with being rehoused. He is very confused and doesn't understand why he isn't "home" with the co-worker. It sounds like he is exhibiting submissive urination. Please describe when the urination happens, what you are doing when you "punish" him to correct his behavior.

[bushg]

His water up except for dinner times.
Acsoton make sure he gets enough water or he will develop urinary infections. Also if he is not neutered some of the peeing, may be marking. Good luck with your new dog.

[acoston]

I agree that it may have a lot to do with being rehoused.
For punishment we are putting his nose in the "spot" and telling him no. Not violently or anything, but just enough where he understands.
We are also putting him in his kennel right after.
The good thing is that he does know that what he did was wrong. After the fact he gets his puppy face and sometimes goes right to his kennel.
However, this has not lessened the amount of times he does it.

Could it be a UTI by any chance?

[labman]

It doesn't sound like a UTI to me. Usually with a UTI, they strain and dribble. It doesn't sound to me like he is having any trouble getting started. One other thing is to keep him drained. When you come home, let him out of his crate, pick him up and carry him outside to his spot. I didn't mention the sticky, but Ruby did. I hope you read through it. Usually they won't urinate while being carried. That trick allows me to maintain my welcome when I take 7 week old puppies in public places. Take him out just before you expect guests.

Do not punish him. This is not a behavior he has much control over. As you can see, it only makes things worse.

[RubyPitbull]

Late yesterday afternoon, I was tired and didn't make the connection between this post and your other one on someone else's question. I need to bring you back to what bushg is saying here. Is your dog neutered? How old is this dog? What was the reason the co-worker gave him to you?

You are dealing with a lot of different issues here and I am not sure if we are going to be able to help you resolve them completely at this point in time. As labman says, no he doesn't have a UTI. Bushg is right about the water. You cannot overly restrict his water, it is very bad for his overall health. Your other post talked about his aggressive behavior with your husband. If he is a young dog, get him neutered. It should reduce his aggression issues. Do you have any information as to his breeding background? He is exhibiting a lot of conflicting behavior. Have you brought him in to a vet for a health check to make sure the bladder issue isn't a hereditary one? That would be the first step. If there is a genetic issue, that is another reason to neuter him. This is not a dog that should be allowed to pass on a genetic disorder.

I cannot stress enough what labman is saying to you here. You do not rub a dog's nose in his urine! That is a very old and outdated training method, and it is one of the reasons you are having problems. That is a negative reinforcement punishment that a dog does not understand. You think he understands what he has done wrong and why he is crated. He doesn't. Dogs don't connect behavior the way we do. Once you understand and accept that, you will begin to be able to resolve these issues. On that link I gave to you there are two books I want you to take a look at. Go to your library, or local Barnes & Noble/Borderbooks -- The Culture Clash, by Jean Donaldson & The Other End of the Leash, by Patricia McConnell. When I was starting with training foster dogs, although there were some decent books on the market, there wasn't anything that really explained to me properly how a dog processes what we do until Jean Donaldson published that book. It was like a lightbulb went off for me. This is not about training your dog as much as it is about training yourself to understand how a dog views the world around him. Once you can do that, you are halfway home. Patricia McConnell does the same thing in her book, although with a bit less of a scientific approach.

Once you have read those books, if you have further questions, please post back. We will help you as much as possible. If you find that you cannot adjust your way of thinking and your current training methods, seek out an experienced trainer in your area. They will be able to show you what you need to do. Your vet will be a good source for finding someone reliable. If you can't do any of the things suggested here, you will continue to have problems with this dog and I urge you to consider finding him another home.

[labman]

Great post, Ruby. I haven't had much luck finding better dog books on the shelves at either the library or book stores. You may have to order them.

[RubyPitbull]

Thank you labman. You are right. I haven't looked to see if they are still on the shelves because I have them both. If her library is large enough, they might have copies. If not, it would be a good idea if acoston did an internet search on both these books and see what the availability is.

[labman]

Our son gave his sister The Other end of the Leash last year for Christmas. Good kid, I am proud of him.

[kattygirl]

I want to add one little thing I have found out from now owning a daschund. They are notorious for peeing. Mine would do it when excited and also as he got older and was unfixed he would do it to claim his territory. Here are the three things that fixed this.. 1) extra walks for longer periods. Z would pretend to be done and really was holding a full bladders worth that he would empty as soon as we got upstairs. 2) when reprimanding I find that firm but gentle is the best for the breed. Especially since mine has emotional problems from abuse. Being too firm causes him to lose confidence and he will wet himself from fear for a good week after. 3) Put the water up if you don't plan on walking him within an hour after he drinks. I have lucked out because when we first got Z I knew there would be accidents and since I too live in an apartment I had to teach him to NEVER go on the rug. We had a puppy pad in the kitchen in the bathroom in the beginning so he now knows if he really can't hold it he needs to do it there. This said he has only had an accident 3x in the last year and always it happened in the bathroom. Good luck. Daschunds are sometimes more difficult but the love they give is better than I ever could have hoped for.