# Mini Dachshund Training Issues?



## Crusadedog (Mar 6, 2010)

Well, as I entertain the idea of adopting a new puppy after a devastating loss, my mind has been turning toward mini dachshunds.

I'm told by many that they are THE most difficult puppies to housebreak and are even willful. Now, I have always crate trained my puppies and have never had a problem. Even when I've gone from crate, to indoor pad (cold, rainy weather) to outdoors. 

The crate, the "command," the treat and praise to go along with appropriate doggie business in the correct place - they have all worked. But the more I read, the more I'm beginning to think that these little guys are quite resistant.

Additionally, my aunt has a doxie that she adopted and he's become SO attached to her that its almost funny....until she wants to knit and he begins biting the opposite end of the coverlet she's making. She's an older woman with her own house, another much older mixed-breed who is VERY mellow and she has the time and patience to have her doxie on her lap most of the day.

Can we even get to the barking? He barks fifteen minutes AFTER the other one stops once the UPS man leaves. Still, I adore him.

I've been reading books, doing research and this time, I want to be as informed as I possibly can be. I've had my share of rescued dogs that I've adopted along with their abuse-induced neurosis and I've always loved them without reservation and have adapted to their needs. But I don't want to enable a puppy with no pre-existing behavior to become "naughty."

Any insight or advice for raising these little guys? Thank you kindly for your input.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

We have a mini dachshund and we love him! He is almost 5 months old, and we've had him since he was 8 weeks old. He is stubborn, but, trainable! After all, most dachshunds are extremely food motivated, so we use tiny treats for training and he's done so well!
He is mostly potty trained! Part of the difficulty is that we were in an apartment when we got him and we had puppy pads. We recently moved into a house and are transitioning to outside. But, the treats work wonders!
He has learned to sit, stay, come, leave it (although he's not great at "leaving" the cat!), and down. He gets a daily walk, plus lots of play time! He loves his play time! He loves toys of all kind, and he loves having his own fleece blankets to cuddle and burrow in. When he's ready for a nap, he does love to snuggle! 
Of course, they can have back problems, so jumping is frowned on. We have puppy steps so he can be on the couch and bed. And, stairs can be tricky.
Consistency in training is the key, and with food, as well as praise!


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

Crusadedog said:


> Well, as I entertain the idea of adopting a new puppy after a devastating loss, my mind has been turning toward mini dachshunds.
> 
> I'm told by many that they are THE most difficult puppies to housebreak and are even willful. Now, I have always crate trained my puppies and have never had a problem. Even when I've gone from crate, to indoor pad (cold, rainy weather) to outdoors.
> 
> ...


No matter what the breed, or the (sometimes unfair) stigma of being labeled "stubborn", you have to find what motivates your dog and use it to your full advantage. If he's food motivated, use food. If he's toy motivated, use throwing a toy for him to chase as a reinforcer. 
I've been told that papillons are impossible to housetrain; a lot of young (year old or so) papillons you see in rescue were turned in because they "wouldn't be housebroke". I'm no expert, but I've successfully housetrained both of mine to a fault. Their signals to go outside are subtle, so if I ignore it (like I did a few nights ago), I'll have a mess on the floor (which I did). I guess I'm a pretty "stubborn" owner 
When I think of "stubborn", I think of the trainers from the 1950's who trained everything with jerking on the dogs collar and forcing them to do this or that. Some breeds were labeled "smart" because they worked hard to avoid that correction, some dogs were labeled "stupid" or "stubborn" because they had no idea what the heck their owners wanted. 
I had some wonderful teachers in high school who would try many ways of teaching me something I wasn't understanding. It would have been easier for them to label me stupid, stubborn and lazy and give me an F, but they didn't, and found a way to explain things in a way I understood (I'm thinking of algebra and trig here, lol). All their students learned geometry, trig, algebra, etc in different ways, in different times. The same goes for dogs, IMO. Auz was easy to teach with the promise of a good game of fetch; Dude would boredly watch a ball roll by. Tag will watch a toy go flying and then look to me for his food. Find what motivates your dog. Use it.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

I so agree! Find what works with your pup and use it!  And, when I say Harper is stubborn, I definitely don't think of him as stupid; quite the opposite! He is so smart, he just wants to do things his way, because his way MUST be the best!


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

doxiemommy said:


> I so agree! Find what works with your pup and use it!  And, when I say Harper is stubborn, I definitely don't think of him as stupid; quite the opposite! He is so smart, he just wants to do things his way, because his way MUST be the best!


Dogs like that are fun!  You have to make them think everything was THEIR idea  Just think though, if you were bred to go into a hole and fight head-on with a seriously PO'ed badger, you'd have to be tough, too!


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

I love dachsies. They can be amazing little dogs. I too hate the "stubborn" label given to some breeds. Puppies are not stubborn, they don't understand because the human didn't have the right skills and information to train the pup. They can be fiesty and very prey driven dogs, if I was bred to kill badgers I would be too, but they ARE scenthounds and so are very food motivated. You find what motivates your dog, reward them appropriately, communicate with them appropriately and practice practice practice and ANY dog can learn to be a great dog.


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