Sausage Stables Dachshunds
House
Training ... an Ongoing Project
of
being Observant and Consistent
Notes from
breeder Miki Perry
“I think
the main key is crate training."
At home in
a crate
I
start crate training my puppies at around 7-9 weeks as they are being slowly
weaned. I let my bitches decide when that happens.
First
I split the litter into 2 crates for a night or so, then 2 or 3 to a crate.
My
puppies don't leave until at least 12 weeks so I have 4-5 weeks to get their
crate training pretty much under control.
I
put the pups outside just before I am ready for bed, around 9:30 - 10 o'clock.
They are allowed enough time to do their thing and then they are brought inside
and put into crates with their siblings. It doesn't take but 2-3 nights and they
are holding it until I take them out between 5-6 A.M. Rarely do mine cry in the
night but if they do I get up and put them outside for a bit.
During
the day my pups are either outside in a pen (a large one) or inside in a
double-triple x-pen with papers on one side. They have a soft bed in one corner
and their water in another. And, of course, toys. And, I feed [puppies] 3-4
times a day.
They
have their play time with the family inside and outside. I never take my eyes
off of them and when the body language tells me that 'an event' is going to
happen, outside they go.
They
still wet on the papers for a long time but rarely do they do the big job as
they cry and run around telling me they 'have to go now!' Of course they get a
lot of praise for going outside.
It
takes diligence and consistency and being with them most of the time to keep up
the training. Not everyone is capable of doing this due to jobs and having a
life other than their dogs.
By
the time my pups are 12 weeks old they are sleeping in individual crates. If
their new owners would just continue to use this training with a crate it would
be so easy for them to finish their house training.
As
we who love Dachshunds know, they are never 100% house trained except for that
rare few. But they are trained, or have us trained, so we can live comfortably
with them.
I
deal with each pup as it comes. I tell my people the same thing and answer any
questions they have and stress CRATES.
When my pups leave they are all crate trained so it's easy for the new owners to follow through. The groundwork for housetraining has been laid with the crate training. It just takes being observant and consistent."
