Dachshunds are known to be hard to train! And potty training an older dachshund can feel impossible. The first older doxie hubby and I had as adults was abused by men for his first 11 months of life.
Every time hubby walked in the door he would roll over and pee all over the floor. He wasn’t fixed so he would then go around and highlight his previous pee spots.
We had Toby for close to 15 years, and we did eventually train him. But it took trial and error to figure out what worked.
In this post I’m going to share the method that I have used with 5 dachshunds since Toby. This method works!
Step 1 – Create a Potty Training Schedule you can live with!
In this step you need to figure out when you can consistently take you dog out. And I mean down to the minute… eventually they will remind you, but you need to decide up front.
I chose to take my latest girls out every 2 hours to start. We went out at 7:00 am – 8PM every 2 hours like clock work, rain, snow, sleet and 300 degree weather did not matter.
However our latest rescue was a boy, and I found that I had to take him out the minute he hopped out of bed and base the schedule for the day on his wake up time.
Potty training has to be a little flexible and based on the dachshun you have.
I work from home so this schedule worked for me. If this doesn’t work for you, realize that doxie’s have small bladders and you may have more accidents.
I have found that 2-4 hour increments work the best.
Step 2 – Know what motivates your doxi
I have had different dogs with different motivators. My current dachshund is motivated to hear she is good girl. So every-time she potty’s outside under the big tree, she is a good Bella, Bella. She pees and wags.
Heaven forbid I am talking with hubby because she turns and looks at me with “the look”.
I have also had dogs that were motivated by other things such as:
- scritches
- treats
- play
- firm voice (use with care – dachshunds have a looong memory)
Each of these motivators help you potty train your baby for many things beside the bathroom. Bella loves to sit, boing, spin left, turn right and say pretty please. These are motivated by her nightly cookie. đ
Sometimes they have different motivators for different things.
Step 3 – Don’t punish your Dachshund re-direct them
Being 70’s kids means that hubby and I grew up knowing you rub a dog’s face in it’s potty, swat the tushy and take them outside.
This potty training method almost always fails with dachshunds. It’s a hard human habit to break…LOL
If you have rescued your doxie, this method may prolong the time it takes to train your new baby.
Dachshunds are stubborn, lovey little creatures, with many opinions of their own. I found treating them like a 2 year-old child make training easier on all involved.
This is where I recommend a firm “No”, pick up the dog and take them where you want them to go and use the words “Name… go potty here“, of course substitute their name in there.
Step 4 – Use your words and your schedule
This is the easiest and hardest part all in one.
Now that you have your schedule, you know what motivates your dog, and you have your “potty spot” it’s time to put it all together.
Start now, not later.
Take them to the potty spot, and encourage them to potty or poopy. When they go make a really big deal of it and tell them or show they how good they are.
When they mess up (and they will), tell them no and take them to the spot they should go.
If this sounds like potty training a toddler – you aren’t wrong. Full grown dachshunds typically understand about as many phrases as a 2 or 3 year old.
I say this as my “doxi toddler” squeaks at my daughters feet for her breakfast. Enjoy potty training your new baby. They are the most amazing pets ever!