my boyfriend and i have four dachshunds - dexter (3 years in june), margot (3 years in july), max (2 years in august) and stewie (first birthday is 2/22!). we have tried everything we can think of to get them potty trained and absolutely nothing has worked plus dexter has recently developed some serious attitude problems and max, well, hes always been a big grumpy baby and on top of all of that im having our first baby at the end of july! (max and stewie are dexter + margots puppies)
first, with the potty training i read from the beginning that this breed of dogs do not respond well to negative reinforcement so i have been giving them as much positive reinforcement as i can with treats, hugs, kisses, belly rubs, "GOOD BOY/GIRL!!!", you name it, we've done it and nothing has worked. they go to the bathroom EVERYWHERE and its become impossible to keep the house clean. we tried keeping them in cages but their howling and crying is beyond obnoxious when theyre in there so we stopped that. lately we have been keeping a part of the hallway in our house blocked off with a baby gate in an attempt to keep them from running around and using the bathroom everywhere but they still go everywhere inside their area. even when we let them out of the area to take them outside they run to the nearest wall or piece of furniture and pee on it before they get to the back door. they have destroyed our living room couch by chewing it up and using the bathroom all over it to the point where we dont even go in the living room anymore and whats worse is if we leave the bedroom, even if its just for 30 seconds, we'll come back and find a huge pee spot on our bed so now every time i leave the room i have to make sure none of them are in there and close the door.
the behavioral issue is another huge thing now. if im giving max any sort of attention and any of the other weenies come anywhere near us, he starts growling all crazy and tries to fight whoever is closest. thankfully we have been able to recognize when its coming and stop the physical fights before they actually start.
dexter on the other hand was always a super nice weenie that everyone loved. lately he has been beyond annoying with begging for food when my boyfriend and i are trying to eat (we eat on the bed in the bedroom) so i started saying "no begging" and putting him on the ground. he just jumps back up and puts his face right in whatever we're eating so i have to constantly put him back on the ground or just kick him out and shut the door and listen to him bark and dig at the door until we let him back in. ever since i started doing this he has been super aggressive towards me and now when i do leave the bedroom and hes in there, ill call him to get out by asking if he wants a treat or if he wants to go outside and he doesnt listen/respond so i go to pick him up but hes gets crazy with me by growling, snapping and barking. he did this to me today and it was worse than ever-- i seriously thought i was going to lose a finger or six because he was being so psycho.
margot is the type of dog who will pee all over herself and the floor whenever you walk by her. shes the only one who is fixed but she has always done this since the day we brought her home when she was maybe four months old. (dexter and margot are from the same breeders)
my only issue with stewie is the potty training thing which he is better at than the other weenies. he was born with one back leg a wee bit shorter than the other so he cant jump on and off the bed but i havent had any issues with him going to the bathroom on the bed except for an accident or two when he was only a few months old. hes our little parvo survivor baby <3
none of the boys are fixed and i know thats a part of the issue but if there is anything else anyone can suggest to get to them to stop using the house as their giant bathroom and to get dexter to stop being psycho for no reason, i would greatly appreciate it. i understand with max its a protective thing but i dont know whats going on with dexter. now that we have a baby to think about i need to nip all of this in the bud ASAP. also, we dont have the extra cash to get the boys fixed right now. we take them to a regular veterinarian because we have heard too many horror stories about our local humane society doing things like accidentally putting the wrong dogs to sleep, adopting them out, doing surgery wrong, burning them with hot water bottles used to keep them warm during surgery, things like that. help!!
first, with the potty training i read from the beginning that this breed of dogs do not respond well to negative reinforcement so i have been giving them as much positive reinforcement as i can with treats, hugs, kisses, belly rubs, "GOOD BOY/GIRL!!!", you name it, we've done it and nothing has worked. they go to the bathroom EVERYWHERE and its become impossible to keep the house clean. we tried keeping them in cages but their howling and crying is beyond obnoxious when theyre in there so we stopped that. lately we have been keeping a part of the hallway in our house blocked off with a baby gate in an attempt to keep them from running around and using the bathroom everywhere but they still go everywhere inside their area. even when we let them out of the area to take them outside they run to the nearest wall or piece of furniture and pee on it before they get to the back door. they have destroyed our living room couch by chewing it up and using the bathroom all over it to the point where we dont even go in the living room anymore and whats worse is if we leave the bedroom, even if its just for 30 seconds, we'll come back and find a huge pee spot on our bed so now every time i leave the room i have to make sure none of them are in there and close the door.
the behavioral issue is another huge thing now. if im giving max any sort of attention and any of the other weenies come anywhere near us, he starts growling all crazy and tries to fight whoever is closest. thankfully we have been able to recognize when its coming and stop the physical fights before they actually start.
dexter on the other hand was always a super nice weenie that everyone loved. lately he has been beyond annoying with begging for food when my boyfriend and i are trying to eat (we eat on the bed in the bedroom) so i started saying "no begging" and putting him on the ground. he just jumps back up and puts his face right in whatever we're eating so i have to constantly put him back on the ground or just kick him out and shut the door and listen to him bark and dig at the door until we let him back in. ever since i started doing this he has been super aggressive towards me and now when i do leave the bedroom and hes in there, ill call him to get out by asking if he wants a treat or if he wants to go outside and he doesnt listen/respond so i go to pick him up but hes gets crazy with me by growling, snapping and barking. he did this to me today and it was worse than ever-- i seriously thought i was going to lose a finger or six because he was being so psycho.
margot is the type of dog who will pee all over herself and the floor whenever you walk by her. shes the only one who is fixed but she has always done this since the day we brought her home when she was maybe four months old. (dexter and margot are from the same breeders)
my only issue with stewie is the potty training thing which he is better at than the other weenies. he was born with one back leg a wee bit shorter than the other so he cant jump on and off the bed but i havent had any issues with him going to the bathroom on the bed except for an accident or two when he was only a few months old. hes our little parvo survivor baby <3
none of the boys are fixed and i know thats a part of the issue but if there is anything else anyone can suggest to get to them to stop using the house as their giant bathroom and to get dexter to stop being psycho for no reason, i would greatly appreciate it. i understand with max its a protective thing but i dont know whats going on with dexter. now that we have a baby to think about i need to nip all of this in the bud ASAP. also, we dont have the extra cash to get the boys fixed right now. we take them to a regular veterinarian because we have heard too many horror stories about our local humane society doing things like accidentally putting the wrong dogs to sleep, adopting them out, doing surgery wrong, burning them with hot water bottles used to keep them warm during surgery, things like that. help!!