How to Housebreak your Dachshund Puppy

Dachshund puppies are adorable tiny creatures with soft dark eyes and a ferocious bark. While a dachshund will quickly bond with his owners and enjoy their company, he may also be difficult to train, according to the “Howell Book of Dogs,” perhaps as a result of a strong stubborn streak and fierce independence. Patience and persistence are necessary when housetraining your dachshund puppy.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Small dog crate Low-fiber dog food

1. Establish a “potty zone” outdoors as soon as your new puppy arrives. This can be any corner of your yard where you would like your puppy to use the bathroom. By using only a section of your yard, you reinforce your intent that your puppy goes potty when she is in this spot. Set her down and tell her to “go potty.” At first, the words may mean little to her, but praise your puppy when she uses the bathroom in her potty zone.

2. Begin active potty training by placing your dachshund puppy in her potty zone numerous times during the day and telling her to “go potty.” While puppies must use the bathroom often, there are some times when they are very likely to go, including just after they eat or drink, when they awaken from a nap or when they smell the residual urine odor from previous dogs. Carry your puppy to her potty zone immediately after she eats or awakens. Avoid letting a very young puppy walk outside, as she may not make it to the door.

3. Start crate-training your dachshund puppy by the time he is two or three months old. Choose a crate that is big enough for him to stretch out comfortably but not one so big that he can run from one end to the other. A dog’s natural instinct is to avoid soiling his bed but to be effective, his bladder must be mature enough for him to hold his urine for a couple of hours.

4. Place your puppy’s crate in a place where she can see household activity yet still have a little bit of privacy. Put soft bedding and a soft toy in her crate to make it very comfortable, and leave the door open so she can go in and out as she pleases. When she becomes accustomed to her crate, close the door and let her sleep there for an hour or so, carrying her immediately to her potty zone when she comes out.

5. Reduce your dachshund puppy’s need to defecate frequently by feeding him a high-quality, low-fiber dog food for small-breed dogs. These commercial dog foods, like Science Diet, reduce the amount of non-digestible fiber, effectively reducing the number of times your puppy must move his bowels.

6. Feed your puppy no sooner than two hours before you put her to bed. Take her to her potty zone right before you retire for the night.

7. Move “accidents” to the potty zone. House training a dachshund puppy takes persistence and you will benefit from using her natural instinct to go where the scent exists. Wipe up a bit of urine on a small bit of paper towel and place it in the potty zone. Once she begins using the zone, you can remove the paper towels since the smell will then be on the ground.

Tips & Warnings

• Create an additional indoor potty zone for puppies under two months of age by using commercial piddle pads, infused with the scent of dog urine, on a layer of newspapers on the floor. Puppies this young cannot be expected to hold their bladders for any length of time. Praise your puppy for successes but do not scold her for accidents. Dachshunds are naturally stubborn and if housebreaking becomes a chore, they may resist your efforts to train them.

[missflorence]

on 8/15/2009 Great. I love my little "Dox" Dachshund but they are hard to housebreak.

[halfbakedchef]

on 6/30/2009 Thanks my Daschund is a yr old Im still having potty training issues. I will try this thanks

[Mindee94]

on 6/30/2009 These great tips could be accommodated to fit any breed. Most accidents are not so much the pups fault as the owner not being trained to watch for the signals. thanks for the great ideas, Mindee