Need some help/advice.....

[L.West]

This past June a little mixed breed dog (dachshund/terrier) wandered into our yard. After an extensive search for his owners - we decided to just keep him.

Well, that is where the nightmare begins. He is just over a year old and continues to pee in the house. We have a doggie door that he has access to 24/7 so there is no reason for him to pee in the house. We started closing off doors and escorting him out to potty but he still managed to have an accident in the house. He was neutered when we found him.

We went as far as to buy him a "real" fire hydrant to put in the yard as an enticement - that worked for a few days but then another accident in the house.

What can we do to fix this problem. Its getting to the point where we don't know if we can keep him and that would just break my heart to have to give him up.

I have the option of tearing up our carpet and utilizing the hardwood floors underneath but what a waste of $5,000 on carpet. I own a steam cleaner which has been getting a workout since we got this little devil.

I've always raised my dogs from puppies and have never had a problem with any of them peeing in the house - I don't know this dogs history so I am at a loss right now.

Any helpful advise would be greatly appreciated.

[dogdayofsummer]

Treat and praise like crazy when he goes. Trying to catch him in the act with a stern no, then put out doors. Make sure all vergetation is low enough not to rub his jewels, that is a common issue with shorter legged breeds. Crate training, in addition to helping to house train, if you dog ever needs to spend an extenended time at the vet, or traveling it will be allot less stressed if comfortable in a crate.

Oh my Boston was a pain to train, I used to keep him leashed to me during training. That way he couldn't sneak off to pee, its my favorite trick works liek a charm.

[mainbutter]

Great tips above.

I CANNOT emphasize enough the "treat and praise like crazy" when he does it right.

Ditto on crate training too. We've been having a problem with our dog using the carpet in the dining room, so instead of letting him have free roam of the house while we're gone, in the crate he goes (for short periods of time).

[L.West]

I agree and am a strong advocate of crate training. Since I didn't raise this dog I wasn't sure if crating him at this point would cause additional stress on him thus evoking more bad behavior.

We always confine them to a room that leads out to their doggie door when we aren't home so they are never without access to the yard.

Unfortunately, I work during the day but my husband is home all day with them but its not the most comforting thought to leave a "man" lol in charge of something like this - something that needs your undivided attention.

My thoughts were - we crate him until he goes out to potty and only then is he allowed access to the house for short periods of time. I just hate to see him live his life in a crate especially since our other dog has free roam.

If I only knew what I was getting myself into the day that this little stinker entered our lives. At first I thought he was lost - but now that I see what a problem he is - I would bet that he was dumped off by someone.

[Anatopism]

+1 in support of crate training. It needs to be a small crate where they can't potty on one side and then go sleep on the other side. Dog stays in the crate when you're not home or can't be there to watch him. This doesn't have to be permanent... just until we are consistently going to the bathroom outside with no accidents. It is not punishment, it's providing proper boundaries, so your dog understands what is expected of him, without setting him up to fail at the start (such as free roam of the house).

+1 with praise when he does it right (wait for him to finish so you don't accidentally interrupt and then he goes inside afterwards). Treat/praise before you walk in the house - you are treating for going to the bathroom, not for walking inside with you.

If he's not already on a feeding schedule, or if you free feed him, control food intake so you have a better idea of when he needs to go (which is more of a poo control than pee, but it will still give you an opportunity to praise going to the bathroom outside). As Dogday said, keep him on a leash or in your sights at all times while in the house. If you notice excess sniffing (which admittedly can be difficult with a short dog), take him outside for an opportunity to pee. Take him outside whenever the thought comes into your mind. The point is to try and produce as many opportunities as possible to catch him going outside and to reward the good behavior.

Get a good enzymatic cleaner to clean up accidents, and don't yell at your dog or rub his face in it when he goes in the house (not saying you would, just throwing it out there). By treating/praising when he does the behavior we want, and ignoring the behavior we don't want, we encourage the dog to do the right thing by giving him direction. By making a big fuss about messes in the house, we teach the dog to hide it better next time they have to go to the bathroom, and you'll end up with a more difficult problem =) Certainly if you catch him in the act inside the house, try to interrupt him and usher him outside (praise if he potties outside - he will not associate treats with 'oh I went half inside and half outside!' but will associate the treat with his most recent action... that of going pee out in the yard).

Good luck!

[Homegrownscales]

I'm another crate trainer. it worked wonders with my dog. But it's not the end all. The praise and a daily schedule is extremely important. Something else that worked really well with my dog is I used an umbilical leash. At all times while the dog is out of the crate the dog should be on the umbilical leash. This is a leash that hooks to the dog and then hooks to a belt loop. That way. The dog is with you at all times. This way the second you see the dog sniffing around or making a move to pee you both walk outside and he goes out there. Then praise praise praise. It's a good thing to keep treats by the door to bring outside with you. I cut hotdogs into tiny peices and kept them in a plastic bag by the door during the day and in the fridge at night. Make Sure the first thing you do each time he comes out of the crate is go potty outside. it just sounds like your pup needs a more structured schedule. Make sure he goes for a walk every day at the same time. Put him in the crate and take him out the same time daily. Make sure he's supervised at all times and attached to you unless he's in the crate. If he's food driven this will be a short process. Especially if you are very consistent.
Hope this helps.
Good luck.


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[dogdayofsummer]

My boston was a bit a of pill to house train. The leashing him to me I picked up from teh Monks of new skeet, training books. That was huge with this bugger, I had never had quite the piddler that he was. He truly took six months to be fully trained, but pretty much mostly in a few weeks. The few accidents after he got the door was me not getting to to the door in time when he barked to go out.
The treats really got his attention and he will potty in pretty much a down pour to get one.

Good luck and you might try asking someone that works in rescue for some advice, since they deal with retraining dogs, you may get some additional support. I have not worked with a dog that was older.