How to Potty Train Your Dachshund
Every dachshund owner knows the horror of having their cute four-legged friend soiling their home. The very thought of cleaning after your dachshund and dealing with the lingering smell is enough to make owners stressed out.
Thankfully, there’s a solution to your problem. You simply need to potty train your dachshund. Obviously, the next question would be, “How?”
That’s exactly what you will learn today. Read and discover how you can effectively and properly train your dachshund in this blog.
Understand Your Dog’s Potty Habits
Dachshunds, while intelligent and cute, are known to be one of the dog breeds that are difficult to potty train. Nevertheless, don’t lose heart. All you need to do first and foremost is to understand their natural potty schedule.
Potty training a baby dachshund is different from potty training an adult dachshund.
As a general rule, remember the 1 month is to 1 hour rule. This means that the number of months of age of your dog would be equivalent to the number of hours they can hold it in. For example, a dog who is 2 months old can hold their potty or pee for 2 hours.
Obviously, you can’t train a dog who is just a few weeks old. Most pet trainers advise to start potty training at around eight weeks.
Thankfully, puppies have a predictable time when they want to go. Take them out to go potty during any of the following situations:
1. After Waking Up
Dachshunds, being a small breed, have small bladders. Just like how humans often habitually use the restroom after taking naps or sleeping through the night, Dachshunds should be let outside to go potty after waking up in the mornings and after every nap. This habit will eventually become muscle memory and they will start getting used to going to the bathroom after waking up.
2. After Eating
Potty breaks after eating are great for helping the clockwork with potty training. So however many times your Dachshund eats a day, make sure they’re attempting to go potty as well.
3. After Playing
Maybe your Dachshund plays in your backyard. Maybe you enjoy taking them to the doggy park! Or maybe playtime even just consists of playing in the living room with their favorite toy. Whatever it may be, start the habit of leaving/ending playtime after they go potty. This will also eventually become a sign to you that they’re ready to leave or rest.
4. Before They Go To Bed
I’m sure this tip speaks for itself, but it really is so important to let your dachshund empty their bladder before bedtime. This will help ensure a good night’s sleep and also keep middle-of-the-night wake ups.
In addition to those listed events, make sure to let your dog try to go potty every 2-3 hours. There are also helpful cues that you can watch out for when determining whether your dog needs to relieve herself or not. Here are common hints our dachshunds give us to let us know they need to go potty:
- Whining or Whimpering
- Seems to be nervous
- Trying to get your attention
- Turning around in circles
- Sniffing the ground
- Acting like something is wrong
- Going/scratching/barking at the door
Look For Signs
There are various ways for your dachshund to show signs of impending bladder or bowel actions. For puppies, be extra patient with them as they still need to develop their muscular control to hold in feces and urine. Let’s talk about other helpful tips!
Designate a Potty Area
There are times when your house does not permit you to bring your dog outside such as when you’re living in a condominium or in a smaller space. In this case, you need to designate a house area instead.
Choose a place in your house where the floor can easily be cleaned. When you are still starting to potty train your pet, place puppy pads or newspapers around your designated area just in case of accidents.
By all means, if you are going to choose a designated house area for your pet, keep them away from your carpets. As you might already know, pet stain on your carpet is difficult to get rid of. Not only that, even the best cleaners out there may not even completely eliminate foul smell.
Now, if you have a yard, then that would be better. However, don’t let your dog use all your yard for her bathroom duties. Designate only a certain section.
Bring your dog to the same place all the time. This would give your dog a cue that you want her to poo when you bring her to that exact spot. You’d also be happy that you have a designated area as stepping on poo land mines can be a huge headache!
Here’s a quick tip: if you bring your puppy outside with the intention to have her eliminate urine or feces, give her 5-10 minutes. If she doesn’t go, bring her inside and watch closely. This helps your puppy to remember that you are bringing her outside potty, not play.
Punishment and Reward
Potty training can be a stressful, and sometimes, messy time for you as the owner. Thus, you might think that punishment or a quick spank here and there could help. However, time and again, most pet trainers strongly oppose punishment. According to studies, punishing your dachshund may prolong your training time and your dog may even regress to pre-training phase.
Instead of using punishment, use praise and reward. Praising your dog and rewarding her for good behavior can reinforce that behavior. Patting your pet and praising her with “good dog/girl/boy” or whichever you prefer could establish that connection between a designated potty area and proper pooping/urinating of your dog.
Get Help
No one said that you have to do potty training by yourself. Having the right support could hasten the training period of your dog. Getting help could even be necessary especially if you work full time and need to leave the house.
You can start getting help from people who already live in your house. You can involve family members in potty training your dog.
If no one is around, then you probably need to hire specialized pet sitting and walking services. Remember that keeping your puppy or dog in the crate or leased for more than four hours may lead to accidents – accidents that you have to clean when you arrive home.
Finally, if you need professional help in potty training, then don’t hesitate to call your friendly pet trainer.They have the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience to help you train your pet in no time. Not only that, you may even get a lot of pet care advice from a qualified pet trainer.
Final Words
These are just some of the important ways for you to train your dachshund puppy or dog. This is where you may apply the age-long saying, “Patience is a virtue.”
Don’t get discouraged when accidents happen. The key here is consistency. Do your best as a parent to your pet. Eventually, you will reap the fruits of your patience, persistence, and sacrifice.
Do you know any other helpful tips? Comment below any suggestions we left out or maybe your own story of potty training your Dachshund!
