Dont’s To Remember In Dachshund Training
September 8, 2008
Training Dachshunds requires love of the breed, patience and most of all, knowledge in proper training techniques. A mistake in your technique will have negative repercussions. This in turn will lead to an unwieldy Dachshund that displeases everybody. Here are some of the dont’s to guide you–to let you know what should be avoided.
- Do not punish your Dachshund by hitting or by yelling. If your doxie is not responding to your commands or did something wrong, let him realize his mistake by not giving him/her attention and by being silent for awhile. Since the dog’s major goal is to please and make his owner happy, in time it will dawn upon him that you do not like what he did. He will thus come to refrain from doing the unwanted behavior. Physical and harsh verbal punishment will harm your Dachshund. They are very sensitive.
- Do not use the crate or kennel as a tool to punish. Their kennel is supposed to be their sanctuary, their haven and, a happy place they can call their own. Do not turn their kennel into a jail or a place where they may be made to feel hurt.
- Do not punish the Doxie after responding to a recall. Recall commands such as “come” or “here” are important commands in training. Punishing a dog after responding to a recall will teach him that if he returns, he will be punished. He will then quickly learn to run away every time you give a recall command.
- Do not punish you dog hours after he made the mistake. Punishing him in the afternoon for the mistake he did in the morning will just confuse him. He will not understand why he is being punished. Correction should be done at the time of the mistake.
- Do not overtrain your Dachshund. Make training sessions short, at least five to fifteen minutes, to maintain your Doxie’s motivation. A five-minute rest for every fifteen minutes of training is recommended. Training activities should be enjoyable and challenging for your dog. Dachshunds are easily bored so it is important to come up with activities which keep their active bodies and intelligent minds engaged. Most Dachshunds agree that a few treats
should play a role in their training.
- Do not let your Dachshund feel he is the leader of the pack. Your dog must understand there is only one leader in the house and that is you. Set limits and let your dog acknowledge you as the leader. Failure to do this will cause your Doxie to disobey you.
Be patient, love your Doxie and, have fun! You will be rewarded!
Photo from the latter part of the 1960s
We have a dachshund named Sebastian that we love.
I am afraid I trained him improperly because has become very aggressive. At night when my husband and I are in bed, any movement we make causes Sebastian to snarl. When ever I try to move him he really gets vicious and today he lunged at my arm.. I still love him and want to try to turn this behaviour around. I know no one else would want him like this and he would be put to sleep. I cant let that happen but so you have any ideas about why this is happening and what I can go to fix it. He is a mix of dachshund and rat terrier.
Thank You,
Jan
Jan,
Hello!
If he is sleeping in your bed, I would take him out of your bed and make him sleep elsewhere. If he is sleeping with you he might think he is equal to you and he needs to learn his place…at least for now.
Try to gate him into a small room during sleep time and put whatever materials he needs in there with him i.e. bed, potty, etc. You could also shut him in there at night by shutting the door if the gate option does not work. Have a radio on for him. Turn it down low and put it on a nice soothing music station. Place all that he can get into (like the trashcan) up or in the tub, etc. in a higher place so he can’t get to it
If he behaves badly during this time he is gated or shut in you may have to go over there a few times and make a loud noise to try to quiet him like clapping your hand loud, hitting the door with your hand and saying quiet, quiet. Don’t go other there too often or he may bark just to get you to come over just because. If he is too noisy I’d shut him in by door. Hopefully he will not get so out of control that he starts to damage the walls, etc.
The room you put him in; it is preferable that it is a hard floor as opposed to a carpeted one. I have turned our 2nd bathroom into Charlie’s room. All he needs is in there. I gate him in there at night and when we are away and then let him out otherwise. He use to sleep with me when I was single…
There are calming sprays, etc for dogs. You can check them out thru my website by clicking on some of the banners. Here is a link to some.
http://pet-supplies.drsfostersmith.com/search?af=type%3Aproduct&view=grid&w=calm&visitorID=&cartcount=0&wishcount=0&subtotal=0.00
If you happen to buy pet products on line in the future please consider doing so thru my site.
As Sebastian shows improvement give him a little more leeway with these sleep problems.
When you take him to a vet also discuss this with the vet and maybe share my e mail with the vet.
This should help alot but it may take some time and patience!
Best wishes!!
Sincerely,
Link
site administrator
Jan/John,
Hello again,
Though your Doxie situation with Sebastian is unfortunate, the good news is that it can be reversed. Here is some more info for you and this will complete my advice to you. I realize a few of these things may seem a bit hard on your beloved Doxie but it is the only way to fix your situation I believe.
I am assuming your Doxie does NOT have a medical condition though a vet checkup is in order also I believe.
If you don’t have the extra room like I suggested then look into crate training. It is just as effective, takes up much less space etc. It has its pros and cons. Here is an article on crate training; this may be better for you.
http://www.thedachshundnetwork.com/cratebenefits.htm
Other articles on crate training can be found on the internet.
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A vet recommended behaviorist might also be in order.
Many speak well of a type of training for dog behavioral problems called “Nothing in Life is Free Training” Here is an article about it.
http://www.dog-pictures.co.uk/dog-care-articles/nothing-in-life-is-free.shtml
———-
Before you know it, Sebastian should be much improved.
I hope I have been helpful to you.
Please give me an update from time to time.
I love Dachshunds!!
Sincerely,
Link
site administrator
I adopted my little Shamrock (named by the worker’s at the shelter I adopted him from because he was found on their doorstep on St. Patrick’s day) in 2006. He, of course, was a bit older and already set in his ways when I adopted him. However, my husband and I have been able to teach him acceptable behaviour.
Shamrock too went through that snarling and snapping phase, usually at night. I began to pay close attention to his “triggers”, and discovered that nearly every time he behaved that way, he was either asleep or very nearly asleep.
After I realized this, I began setting him on the floor and not allowing him to get back into bed with me (or get back on my lap if we were sitting in the front room) for a while. As I would place him on the floor I would tell him gently but firmly that we don’t act that way to each other. Over the next few weeks, he gradually got better, and he hasn’t snapped or snarled in over a year now.
I believe the issues we had with Shamrock were mostly trust issues with the mix of an entirely new environment – he was an older dog, dumped off by his previous owners, living in a shelter with a St. Bernard (he fought with the little dogs his size), and then moved into a new household with other dogs, kids and cats.
But regardless of Shamrock’s background, the “training” would still apply but letting the notoriously stubborn little dachshund know that you are the “pack leader” and that such behaviour is not acceptable.
Shamrock and I are the best of buddies, but he realizes that I am the boss. He knows he can sleep with us, if he behaves himself; but he knows if he doesn’t behave he doesn’t get to do so.
Don’t give up hope and keep reinforcing the good behaviour you desire out of Sebastian. Our babies can be trying at times, but so are the two legged variety. But the dachshund is a very smart breed and will quickly catch on.
Good luck!
S. Hyder and Shamrock
Hi,
I’m the ovner of two super dachshunds Lui and Marsell. We live in Lithuania. It’s interesting, but in lithuanian this breed we named taksas, not dachshund
Thanks , for good and interesting site, and Charlies blog is amazing
good luck
Skaiva
Skaiva,
Thanks so much for visiting the site and for your kind words and information!
Please come back again soon!
Sincerely, Link
We are due to get our new puppy on the 2nd of Augast 2009 what do we do if he doesnt like his new crate? how do we intereduce him yo the crate so he learns to love it?
Hi Spangle,
Thanks for visiting the site!
That is exciting you are getting a Dachshund puppy!!
I am not a fan of leaving the doxie shut in the crate for long periods of time like some people do. It is ok to do for a few hours but some people will leave the doxie in the crate for way too long and then will wonder why he/she peed or pooped in the crate…
I think it is best to leave the door open to the crate, kennel etc. as much as possible. Not everyone has the luxury however to have the set up I have.
I use our 2nd bathroom as a giant crate. I have Charlie’s kennel in our 2nd bathroom and keep the door to the kennel and to the bathroom open. Whenever I don’t want Charlie out I gate him into the bathroom with a standard pet gate. That way the bathroom door is open, the kennel in the bathroom is open and, he is safely gated in. This is ideal. Of course I can have him out to have access to our entire home as much as possible.
A few toys, some treats, lots of patience (especially per potty training) will be needed.
The joys will far outweigh the hassles I believe. I’m so excited for you even though I don’t personally know you. Congratulations!!!
Sincerely, Link
site admin
Charlie has a potty area also in our 2nd bathroom…
Hi, I have a 7 month old miniature dachshund named Rolo. The first day we brought her home, my sister visited with her dachshund Lucy. Lucy surprised Rolo while she was sleeping in her bed and Rolo growled and snapped at Lucy. Rolo and Lucy get along very well but Rolo will get out of hand while they are playing and will growl and snap at Lucy. Lucy is the only one that Rolo does this to. I would like to know the proper way to handle her when she behaves this way. Right now I pick her up and tell her “NO” or “BAD” but it’s not getting any better. Thank you.
Tracy,
Hello and thanks for visiting the site. I think Rolo being at your home for the first time and having a visitor doxie might have been too much all at once. Also, her being awakened by Lucy and being upset….I think that is understandable also. It would be interesting to know more about Rolo’s life prior to coming to your home. The problem as I see it is the continuing behavior around Lucy. I would use some of the techniques mentioned in my potty training article here:
http://www.dachshundgifts.org/2008/indoor-potty-training-for-dachshund-puppies/
I would opt for the squirting with water as mentioned in that article. I think that will help a lot. Also, I think as Rolo spends more time with you at her new home and gets older, she will calm down. I think the squirting with water will help alot. Be sure to squirt her during or immediately after the unwanted behavior.
Here is a link to some calming agents as an after thought but I would try the water squirting for awhile first.
http://pet-supplies.drsfostersmith.com/search?af=type%3Aproduct&view=grid&w=calm&visitorID=&cartcount=0&wishcount=0&subtotal=0.00
Things will be fine here. Congrats on having Rolo in your home and as your new friend.
Happy Holidays, Link
site administrator
Thank you so much for your advice. I will definitely start the water squirting right away. We got Rolo at 7 weeks. She is a very loving and affectionate puppy, but her breeder told us that this litter was the most aggressive she had ever had. Other than that, Rolo came from a very loving environment. Both her parents were on site and they were both very affectionate as well. I will let you know how this goes. Thank you, Tracy