OY-- at wits end.

Hello-- I'm new here, but I am really at wits end.

My family and I have numerous pets, and they are all rescue pets. Two cats that were abused and abandoned (we've had for 8 years after bringing them back to health-) And abandoned dog (our buddy Skippy-- he is an outdoor dog and a very good watchdog he is very loyal and adores us all as we do him-- he brings us presents-- moles--- all the time) We adopted two horses- one an Arabian that was "too old" to be a showhorse anymore (and he is the sweetest thing) and a retired thoroughbred racehorse that was not wanted anymore (he is my baby)==

I would say 8 months ago, a friend from work all of a sudden had to get rid of her pets because she lost her home and couldn't take them with her. We adopted from her a year old mini-longhaired dachschund. She is adorable-- very sweet, and very protective of our family. When we took her, she told us she was house trained adn they had no problems with her.

We found from day one that she was NOT housetrained-- we just assumed that the lady didn't want someone to NOT take her because she wanted to find a home for her.

Sooooo-- it started off with the leash and the crate. She slept in the crate at night, and immediately we went outside in the morning to go potty-- she MIGHT go pee, but I never once saw poop. So we would to inside and feed her, and then right back outside (she still wouldn't poop), so back in the crate for half an hour-- then back outside-- she would literally be on leash for an hour adn NOT go potty-- so back inside, and we would play with her for a while-- and she would THEN pee or poop right in front of us-- so we would scoop her up and tell her NO and take her outside to the area (a shade tree) where she was to go poop-- we would pick the poop up and put it outside where she was supposed to go.

At this time I worked nights, and to be honest-- they would let her have free reign of the house when I was gone-- my mother in law would just her do whatever she wanted and randomly put her outside (we have a really long, lightweight lead that we have attached outside so she can run and play (we live near a busy farm road and have had three dogs escape the house and be run over, so we are very careful to not let her outside if she is not on her play lead or on a leash)-- Okay, now that I have changed work hours and I am at work all day and then at home in the evening-- I have notice that she pees and poops ALL OVER the house-- no matter how many times she has been taken outside-- as a matter of fact, I was so frustrated with her, i put her water and food outside while she was on her play lead and left her all day long (it was 65degrees, beautiful day)-- and then I brought her in that evening to play-- she immediately ran upstairs and pooped on the floor, not only in one place but three different places (it's like she's holding it until she gets back in) SHE HATES going out in the cold weather-- but has a FIT if I put a sweater on her to go potty-- she does not potty in her crate, but with my work schedule changing (and no one else in the house will take responsibility) that means I will get up at 5 am , put her outside to potty (I only have 45 minutes to get all this done and get my kids up for school and get to work) and then she is BACK in the kennel until my husband gets home at 3:30 pm and he can put her out on her lead (we started just leaving her on her lead because she likes to play and will NOT potty with us standing there with her) then when I get home, she comes inside for a while, we play, I feed her and then she goes back outside --- we pet her and get her crate "comfy" and then she goes to bed around 9:30 pm-- she is in her crate all night and then it starts over-- fortunately I only work three days a week-- so on my days off she is not in the crate all day, but in and out doors-- but the minute i turn my back to put a load of laundry in the washer or unload the dishwasher or take a shower, she immediately finds a place to potty.

She is also a submission wetter-- if my husband or my boys approach her to take her outside-- she pees EVERYWHERE and leaves a trail all the way out the door(which completely is beside the point)-- I even pickher poop up and put it outside where she is supposed to go--

I hate to say it, because I have numerous adopted animals-- and have housetrained three different indoor dogs (we had one stolen, one got cancer, and two escaped teh house when the door was opened carrying in groceries and got run over by passing tractors) -- so it's not that I don't think we are capable of training her, but she is not a willing participant-- and I am at a point where I am seriously considering finding her a different home a much as I hate to-- because we do love her-- But I am on CONSTANT poop and pee patrol, and that is what I do all day at work, adn with my smallest son, and I am just up to my eyeballs in feces in urine-- enough is enough--
any suggestions-- I am willing to try anything at this point-- I don't want to get rid of her but if something doesn't work, then I am going to have to-- I can't have my youngest finding "poo" treats and having them for snacks -- ugh!!! Help!

my email is Tandkchoate@alltel.net any suggestions welcome.

Oh, and by the way, she gets along fine with all the other animals-- so it's not a dominance or "marking" issue (and she has been spayed) --- she is two years old. No health problems. And I know the girl I took her from, and shes never been abused. :shrug::wall::pray::fingerscr:dog:

First thing I think of is a possible UTI if she has already been house broken. Something to look into.
By the way welcome and thank you for rescuing all your loved ones :)

are you sure the previous owners had her well houstrained? perhaps this is a habit and she does not know the right thing, and therefore has no idea what she is doing is wrong. Because of her age it will take awhile to learn.

any accident in the house she has without getting caught and corrected will reinforce the behavior and put you many steps backward. I know as you said you are trying everything, and trying so hard. But it is so important that you do not leave her unsupervised long enough to have an accident.

The submissive peeing hopfully will go away when she knows that you are gentle and will not hurt her. She must have had something happen so she has a reason to worry. I had a dog that did this, but I know her first family was too hard on her, after awhile when she trusted us it stopped completly for the rest of her life.

What kind of food are you feeding her? A high quality grain free food will make her produce less poops, also will make her very regular and you will know when to expect poop.

Back to basics, never take any eyes off her, if you must put her in a crate. Take her outside and give her a command such as "go peepee" If she pees, have a party!!!! and give her a treat, go overboard so she figures out that what she just did was AMAZING... keep eyes on her outside also so that you know what she has done. Keep a scheduale of feeding her twice a day, you will know how long after she eats to expect that poop, if you do this you should be able to stop the pooping at least for sure. If she does not poop when it is time to, then after no more than a few minutes she goes back in her crate, in half an hour try again, continue till she does, then have a party again. Don't let her outside for too long, right now she is out there to learn that this is the time to produce. period. no fun and games until she is "empty"

when you catch her peeing clap your hands say no, take her out, have a party when she pees. a high quality protiein food will also help, use the same routine for peeing.

This can be done, I know I have had dogs like this in the past, and so have many others on here, and hopefully they will come give you advice also. But hang in there, you can beat this peoblem, sometimes we have to go through things like this, and not just give up, after we have made a commitment to an animal. She has been through a lot, she just needs love and patience, I cannot imagine what sending her to another home or shelter would do to her right now. It will pay off and in return she will give you everything. Just persistance to the training...

First thing I think of is a possible UTI if she has already been house broken. Something to look into.
By the way welcome and thank you for rescuing all your loved ones :)

so much for the response-- but I did take her to the vet, and she is fine-- my vet said that mini doxies just tend to be nervous types and they are extremely hard to house train and we may never get her fully trained-- : )
I do appreciate the suggestion though-- Our oldest kitty stopped using her litter box suddenly and started urinating everywhere and she DID have a UTI. So it's not impossible, that's one of the reasons I had the vet check her out. :eek:

are you sure the previous owners had her well houstrained? perhaps this is a habit and she does not know the right thing, and therefore has no idea what she is doing is wrong. Because of her age it will take awhile to learn.

any accident in the house she has without getting caught and corrected will reinforce the behavior and put you many steps backward. I know as you said you are trying everything, and trying so hard. But it is so important that you do not leave her unsupervised long enough to have an accident.

The submissive peeing hopfully will go away when she knows that you are gentle and will not hurt her. She must have had something happen so she has a reason to worry. I had a dog that did this, but I know her first family was too hard on her, after awhile when she trusted us it stopped completly for the rest of her life.




What kind of food are you feeding her? A high quality grain free food will make her produce less poops, also will make her very regular and you will know when to expect poop.

Back to basics, never take any eyes off her, if you must put her in a crate. Take her outside and give her a command such as "go peepee" If she pees, have a party!!!! and give her a treat, go overboard so she figures out that what she just did was AMAZING... keep eyes on her outside also so that you know what she has done. Keep a scheduale of feeding her twice a day, you will know how long after she eats to expect that poop, if you do this you should be able to stop the pooping at least for sure. If she does not poop when it is time to, then after no more than a few minutes she goes back in her crate, in half an hour try again, continue till she does, then have a party again. Don't let her outside for too long, right now she is out there to learn that this is the time to produce. period. no fun and games until she is "empty"

when you catch her peeing clap your hands say no, take her out, have a party when she pees. a high quality protiein food will also help, use the same routine for peeing.

This can be done, I know I have had dogs like this in the past, and so have many others on here, and hopefully they will come give you advice also. But hang in there, you can beat this peoblem, sometimes we have to go through things like this, and not just give up, after we have made a commitment to an animal. She has been through a lot, she just needs love and patience, I cannot imagine what sending her to another home or shelter would do to her right now. It will pay off and in return she will give you everything. Just persistance to the training...



I would never send her to a shelter-- all of our pets are rescues and I would not do that. But i am looking for any suggestion that I can find, because my husband and sons are of NO help, it is completely up to me, and on the days I work, I am gone for 12 full hours-- I leave at 6am and I get home at 7:30pm-- they will let her out of the kennel and put her outside, but other than that, forget it. I am fortunate that I only work three days a week, so I will be able to try some of the suggestions you've made-- I think the food thing may help a bit--

I have had several people tell me to take her out on her leash and just stand there in her "poop" spot until she goes=-= I TRIED that for a while-- but then I ahve the other dog interrupting, and two kids yelling at me from the yard and in teh house that they need help and I can only be one place at a time-- this is where the superlightweight lead came into place-- it is long enough for her to roam just around the tree (keeps her away from the road-- we live in the country) and gives her a little privacy-- I know i can't poop or pee on command with someone watching me-- I will get some different food, and gradually mix it in with her current food until is switches over and see if that helps (she doesn't poop too big becuase she is little-) --

Thanks for the suggestions. And I agree about the submissive urination-- the home she came from had two LARGE dogs, and I think if anythying larger than her comes at her quickly, it makes her pee (and she rolls over on her back) --
Thanks again-- I'll try and see what we can do. Again, i am open to any suggestions. :dog::pawprint: