I got Magnolia about 6 weeks ago, she is a beautiful approx. 3 year old daschund mix who is really becoming a great ambassador for animal rescue dogs. She's so quiet and well behaved most of the time.

It was rough the first few days I had her because she refused to go outside to go to the bathroom, she loved being outside but would immediately go pee and poop on my area rugs after we had been outside for 2 hours.

No other animals had used the area rugs as a bathroom in the past so her behavior was really puzzling to me. I thought maybe she had been paper trained perhaps as she always goes in the same spots - so at least it limits where I find her surprises. She comes to work with me every day (I work in a dog friendly office) and she started going to the bathroom religiously outside there right away so that was a huge relief. I would let her go before coming home from work and it was always a struggle to get her to go again at home in the evening.

I started crating her overnight because she regularly would go potty in the house. I found that helped with her wanting to go in the garden first thing. If it means she has to be crated overnight forever I guess it's not the end of the world.

It took about a month for her to poop in the garden, she would hold it until we got to work so that meant if I had days off that I would have to take her to work so she could go to the bathroom properly. She will go poop outside in the garden now though.

But now I notice she will often have an "accident" when she has been left alone in the living room, she will come find me and sure enough I will go where she has been and find it. I have never caught her in the act. She is fine when I am with her.

She won't tell me when she needs to go and I am suspecting her behavior is more than not being house trained because at work she is house trained and she is given ample opportunities to go at work and at home. It doesn't seem to matter how often she is taken outside to have the opportunity to go, even when she has peed outside she still seems to have some left for when she is left alone.

She has never gone in her crate so I don't think there is anything medically wrong with her. I don't think she is marking because it's about 2 tablespoons of liquid, not a few drops or anything.


I'm wondering if she is doing it for attention? She is used to being with me most of the day and when we get home she will go to her bed and lounge so I go off and do whatever. But instead of coming to find me, she pees or poops on my area rugs, and THEN comes to find me, why???? Am I going to have to have this dog tethered to me or crated for the rest of her life so I can avoid cleaning up messes? I think I am doing all I can but please let me know if I'm not.


Edited by Connie Sutherland (08/23/2011 01:57 PM)
Edit reason: paragraphs!!! ;-)

She is NOT doing it for attention.

Have you tethered the dog to you in the house? This would nip a habit that you are right now allowing to become entrenched.

"But now I notice she will often have an "accident" when she has been left alone in the living room" ..... this dog would be tethered to me at home until we had dozens of "good potty" events (with praise) racked up.

Thank you Connie, I will do it. I just figured she needed some down time by herself at some point. I will crate her when I take a shower and over night but I will have her with me the rest of the time in the house if that's what it will take. Does this not lead to separation issues at some point though?
I had her outside for 45 minutes one morning and she would not go, brought her inside, had a shower and when I got out of the shower she had gone on the carpet. I don't get it! Why does she do this? She NEVER does it at work.

I have known several dachshunds that were euthanized for house soiling. I have a pal who has 3 that routinely do this. IMO some of them 1)have never been really taught housetraining 2) some hounds aren't just too fussy about hygiene.
I hope you can catch her peeing outside and give her super rewards. Most are very into food. This may be the reason she found herself in rescue.

Hmmmm, good point Betty. It's not worth having her put to sleep over since she is lovely in so many other ways. She is not into food, very hard to find treats she will actually eat. She lives to please though so praise seems to go a long way with her, not enough to stop going in the house though.....so far, I'm going to stay optimistic though. She gets LOTS of praise when she goes outside, I made sure of that from day 1 of having her.
I have thought about getting puppy training pads for her but I don't know if that's a long term solution for me. I don't like the idea of a dog going to the bathroom in the house.

 Quote: betty landercasp

I have known several dachshunds that were euthanized for house soiling. I have a pal who has 3 that routinely do this. IMO some of them 1)have never been really taught housetraining 2) some hounds aren't just too fussy about hygiene.
I hope you can catch her peeing outside and give her super rewards. Most are very into food. This may be the reason she found herself in rescue.

Having house-trained adopted dogs who were paper-trained and even two who had never been inside a house and had zero perception of where it was and was not appropriate to go, I'm with Betty. Some concerted effort now (and zero chance to let the bad habit become more entrenched) will pay off big in the future.

I've spent entire weekend days outside with a dog just to "capture" the act of going outdoors (eventually the dog has to!) and party down for it. At the same time, I've had the dog tethered to me whenever s/he wasn't crated, and I also made a zillion potty trips a day so there's never a time when the dog finds him/herself indoors with a need to go.

I would see the dog coming to get you after an indoor accident as 100% positive. That is, I would see it as growing awareness that this "doesn't belong."

BTW, you will find that tethering to you will very quickly increase your awareness of the dog's body language around potty, allowing you time to get the dog outside and then reward for outside potty.

"I have thought about getting puppy training pads for her but I don't know if that's a long term solution for me. "

This teaches the dog to go inside.

That's what I think about the training pads too.
It's not all bad, work days are a breeze typically, it's weekends or other days I don't work where things go off the rails. She seems to need that other dog smell. But I will try a different approach and see how that goes.

I betcha you will do fine! I know I keep harping on it, but right now is when you need to put in the time to break habits and form new ones.

I'd make it my goal for the present that the situation never arises when the dog has to go and finds herself indoors, and I'd praise like a nut for outdoor potty. I want that lightbulb to turn on, and it takes consistency.

What it takes is the perception that "this is where potty happens" .... period. That means getting the dog outside any time you see potty body language, and praising lavishly for outdoor potty even if you had to hustle the dog out there.

Of course, corrections for accidents are useless (and even counter-productive, leading to a dog who hides to potty).

I agree with everything Connie and Betty have said. NO pee pads in the house, keep her either tethered to you or in a crate when you can't tether. Don't give her the slightest opportunity to go inside. And when she goes outside, let her know she just did the greatest thing in the world.

I just want to add that six weeks is not a very long time to have had a rescue dog. A lot of them need twice that time to really get adjusted to a new home, new rules, etc. Hang in there. And thank you for giving a homeless dog a second chance.