Mini Dachshund - 1 1/2 year old dog having frequent accidents...

by Amanda
(Toronto)

I have a one and a half year old neutered mini dachshund.

From the beginning, he was crate trained during the day while I was at work and slept in his crate at night.
Even with the crate training, he was only ever 90% housebroken - he still had an accident from time to time on the kitchen floor.

At a year old, I decided to start leaving him out of his crate while I was at work. For the next 5 months, I came home to zero accidents - I was so proud. He was however, still having the occasional accident when I WAS home.

The past month has been a nightmare. He is still having zero accidents while I am away at work but the evening is a free-for-all accident wise. He is both urinating and defecating right in front of me multiple times a night - even after he has just been outside.

The "punishment" for accidents at the beginning was for him to "go to bed" (which is located in the living room) but now he will have an accident on the floor in front of me and put himself "to bed".

I've tried both negative and positive reinforcement and we have a consistent schedule. He seems to know he is doing something wrong but doesn't care.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thank you!

Thanks so much for your question - you actually answered it yourself in the second paragraph when you said he was only 90% housebroken - that is the key to your success it needs to be much closer to 100%. My initial feeling is that you are away at work and you come home to zero accidents - but then your dog pees or poops in front of you - and guess what - he gets your attention (the attention that he has not been receiving during the day). He looks at you for advice - he is basically saying to you 'shall I go here', you respond by punishment - 'go to bed' but this is only reinforcing the behavior - there is no point to punishment unless you show your dog where to pee or poop. So say 'No' attach a leash to him and take him straight outside - you need to remind your dog where he is supposed to be peeing and pooping - when he does it outside - give lots of praise and a treat.

Hope this helps.

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