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Charlie_D_'s avatar
Charlie_D_
Explorer
Mar 08, 2016

Potty Training

Two female Dachshund's. Sisters. 7 months old. Use a leash outside and only one outside at a time. They want to play and explore instead of taking care of business. We do allow them to roam and play in the yard unleashed daily. We do our best to make sure we see them all the time. They are taken out on average of every 2 hours unless we are gone. They are almost never in their crate except at night or when we are gone.

We have pads in laundry room and house training is pretty good with an occasional accident-perhaps 1-2 times a week. No pee in over a month.

Problem we have is when 1st one is returned and the second one is out the first one will sometimes poop on a pad after she has been out. We watch them when eating near the back door and occasionally the more mature one will walk to the door and look at me. I take her out and sometimes she just sniffs everything and heads back to the house.

I need help on how to get them to alert us that she needs to go out. Also how do I get them to take care of business and not play when I take them out? They will roam and sniff until it is impossible to hold it any longer. Peeing is usually pretty quick.
It may take 20 minutes before they are through. That creates a problem when the weather is bad,

Since we got them almost 5 months ago they have slept in a kennel together at night without interruption. When in the house they are very active and don't sleep much.

I would think that at 7 months they would be house trained. Am I asking too much of them?
  • TugCE's avatar
    TugCE
    Explorer
    Mar 10, 2016
    My DW taught both of our girls to go by saying "Time to go Potty". They are now 10 and 7 and they still tend to go faster when you use the words. Penny (DW) also used small treats as a reward when the went "Potty".

    We have a Fenced in Backyard and during daylight hours they are free to run around but at night I take them out in front on their leashes. We have a lot of Wildlife around here and the lighting in Front is much better than the back, plus I have better control of them. It is a habit now and they know which door to go to depending on the time of day.

    Our Little Sandi will go #2 just about every time we go out but Macy will only go at certain times.

    As for training Doxies, my Family has always had them and I would love to have one but after keeping my Mom's Trouble (a 13 year old Mini Dapple) I found out having to German Females in the same house did not work out very well. LOL

    Anyway, Doxies are great at training, just give it time and THEY will train you.
  • Deb_and_Ed_M's avatar
    Deb_and_Ed_M
    Explorer II
    Mar 09, 2016
    Another vote here for the bell, and yes, they will ring it simply to go outside to play.

    But here's a thought: they like being outside - it's fun. When you whisk them back in the house after they do their business, you are sort of teaching them to stall...>LOL! Better you should give them a little treat after pottying, and maybe a short walk just to sniff and chase bugs or whatever. If the fun time comes AFTER they potty, they might hurry a bit more?
  • toedtoes's avatar
    toedtoes
    Explorer III
    Mar 09, 2016
    Charlie D. wrote:
    Fed morning and late afternoon with a dog biscuit for lunch.

    They are active even on a leash. Always pulling to smell something and chasing anything that moves.

    Think I will try the bell. The alarm system verbally tells us which door is open when we go outside. When one of us returns they recognize that and head for the door.


    The two times a day is good. Now watch and note when the bowel movements happen. When you know that, you can time your walks accordingly. After a meal, take them out to pee and play. Then at the appropriate time (that you have determined), take them out to do the full job and don't come back until they do.

    As you use a pee pad, you could take that outside when it's time to do the full job. The "problem child" is used to pooping on it, so it might speed things up a bit. Once she starts doing it on the pee pad outside, it's time to stop having one inside - that will teach her that she is expected to poop outside no exceptions. Pee pads are good for little baby puppies and dogs with continence issues, but once they hit 6 months and don't have health reasons, the pads really just tell the dog "it's OK to do your business in the house". Why go outside when there's a spot inside in the warmth.
  • Charlie_D_'s avatar
    Charlie_D_
    Explorer
    Mar 08, 2016
    Fed morning and late afternoon with a dog biscuit for lunch.

    They are active even on a leash. Always pulling to smell something and chasing anything that moves.

    Think I will try the bell. The alarm system verbally tells us which door is open when we go outside. When one of us returns they recognize that and head for the door.
  • Pawz4me's avatar
    Pawz4me
    Explorer
    Mar 08, 2016
    When you take them outside do you just amble around the yard? If so, I'd try to get in some brisk walking. Nothing gets a dog to "go" like a good brisk walk. And are they eating on a regular schedule or are they free fed? Most dogs who have scheduled meals usually eventually develop somewhat regular pooping times, so you get to know when they need to go.

    Ditto the potty bells suggestion.

    It's not uncommon for small breed dogs to take close to a year to get fully house trained. Having two at once makes it even more difficult. I'd say all in all it sounds like you're doing pretty good.
  • toedtoes's avatar
    toedtoes
    Explorer III
    Mar 08, 2016
    It's always harder to train two at once.

    Again, reduce the number of times you take them out so that they actually have to potty when they go out. Once they learn that going outside is required, they'll develop their alerts.

    Some folks assist that by hanging a bell on the door. Every time you open the door to take them outside, ring the bell first before opening it. The dog picks up on ringing the bell to open the door.
  • Charlie_D_'s avatar
    Charlie_D_
    Explorer
    Mar 08, 2016
    How would I go about teaching them to alert me when they need to go outside? They are almost always in sight but when they gotta go. A few seconds is all they need to do the deed.

    The smallest is the dominant one and she will bark and yap at the other one when she wants to play. Also has learned to bark at people on the street. The other has barked only once or twice.

    We previously had a Dachshund for 15 1/2 years and she was trained within a few weeks. Easier with her because she was not bouncing around chasing bugs, eating mud, twigs and just about anything else.
  • toedtoes's avatar
    toedtoes
    Explorer III
    Mar 08, 2016
    LJAZ wrote:
    Dachshunds are notorious for 'ignoring' their potty training.


    See now I was trying to be polite about that... :W

    Yes, it's amazing how long they can hold it so they can go inside and do in the nice dry warmth.
  • LJAZ's avatar
    LJAZ
    Explorer
    Mar 08, 2016
    Dachshunds are notorious for 'ignoring' their potty training. They are independent and can be pretty stubborn when they choose to be. But they are trainable. I remember a dachshund we had years ago. When we moved from Arizona to Tennessee she decided she didn't like going outside when it was cold or rainy. Coming from Phoenix her idea of cold was below 80. So as toedtoes said, you just have to wait them out. Once she figured out she wasn't getting back in the house until she was done she started going pretty quickly. And sticking to a routine will help too.
  • toedtoes's avatar
    toedtoes
    Explorer III
    Mar 08, 2016
    Females are more likely to have "relapses" in their potty training. With doxies (and other small dogs), they often don't like squatting in damp grass or on cold dirt.

    The main thing, though I know it's the hardest, is that you can't bring them back inside until they do their business - all of it. Remember, it takes a bit of time after eating until you get a bowel movement, so you have to give them time to get things moving inside. It could take 10 minutes. I've been out for 2 hours before with a puppy.

    With taking them out every two hours, they aren't going to poop each and every time. At 7 months, you might try reducing the trips out to every 4-6 hours.

    Also, take note of the times of day when they are pooping (whether inside or outside). Use that as your guide for when they need to go outside for potty time. Digestion times differ in dogs, so you want to determine how long after eating your dog's bladder and bowel need to be released. As they can sleep through the night, you know they can "hold it" for 8 hours. Look at when you feed them last, when their last successful potty time was (on both counts either inside or outside), and how long between those successful potty times were. Use that as your guideline for outdoor trips.

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