Yes, they are particularly stubborn. She should go out with the dog and just stand there until he does what he has to do, and then he comes back in, with effusive praise. But you stand out there until the dog actually does it period. Yes, it's a PITA and inconvenient, but she has to do that. Plus crate him when he's in the house.

Any suggestions for a particularly stubborn human? One who will sit on the potty proudly and indefinitely yet unproductively, and then wet her pants within minutes of pulling up her pants?

FOAS, your little human may not be quite ready for this particular part of growing up. :) How old is little girl human?

I trained two little humans, one girl, one boy. I used the method in "Toilet Training in Less Than One Day." It's a one day one-on-one method that helps you to teach your child all the skills associated with using the potty. It is treated as positive learning experience. But one parent must set aside a day to spend alone with your child. Most kids enjoy having a parent all to themselves all day. We read books, we played, we ate salty snack, we drank water and juice, but mostly we went to the potty and practiced pulling underpants up and down and using the potty. :) My brain shrank that day, I'm pretty sure.

The book contains a readiness assessment. It's the fast track but it works.

Maybe try moving the papers/pee pad outside?

Doxies can be stubborn, but they love to please. They are wonderful and loving companions - wish your friend the best of luck and much happiness with her new friend!

I'm watching to see if you have a solution because my very old cat

I've taken to putting down two old rubber bath mats covered in a large towel at the place where she goes, so at least it's contained to that, and I change the towel every morning. I can't put down a litter tray because the cat litter here is sand and that wouldn't do well kicked up onto our parquet floor. Poor Suzie is well over 16 years old so as well as being blind from an accident when younger, she's also now deaf and can't hear where in the room she is, so can't find her way out an open door either.

She needs love and comfort so she cuddles with me in the evening on the sofa. I couldn't just shut her alone in a bathroom at night, so she has her cushion on the sofa beside me.

Before I go to bed at night I carry her outside and put her on a corner of the lawn where she does a wee immediately. I think I'm going to have to save one of her 'sausages' (sorry) and put it outside the door on the patio in a sand tray and let her sniff that (sorry again) so she gets the message and then put her down in that tray several times a day. That might work.
But she is now senile and I guess I have to expect her not being able to know where is her toilet area as she did when younger. She's such a sweet old girl and I love her dearly.

SharonCb

Poor kitty....we do amazing things for our aging pets. Perhaps it's a time of day thing and changing her feeding time would help.

As for the human....the "diapers" we use now days are all to blame for our landfills filling up with used diapers. There is no feeling of wetness, no pee running down your leg into your shoe.
With "real" diapers...cloth ones, you could check and see and when the child was able to be dry for 2 or3 hours, you sat them on the potty, read a book with them....and it happened.
Take those super absorbent pants off of her and put her in cute big girl panties, and tell her what a shame it would be to wet them...also have some plain looking pants that are not disposable....
Then you will see how long she is able to go without wetting her pants and know if she is "ready". If she can go 2 hours, she is ready.
You don't suppose that 30 years ago our parents and grandparents put up with washing loads of diapers for 3 years do you? You don't think that people who live where there are not Pampers and Huggies and Pullups have children still wetting their pants at age 3 do you. True they need help until they are old enough to master dressing themselves, but a dog needs "help" to go outside too.
My children were potty trained well before 18 months....and my daughter's children too....just put them in plain cloth diapers about 14 months, so you and the child knows when they go.
Linda C

sharon,

I've always heard that a cat won't eat where they use the bathroom. The idea is to feed your cat there and the accidents (in that spot) will stop. But I think it may be just old age, and I'd hate to confuse your cat more.
For the doxie, you simply have to go outside, preferrably to the same spot in your yard, and say a phrase over and over, like "Hurry up". Then go overboard on the praise. Once he has the hang of it, he will use that same spot (the rest of your yard will thank you) and on walks at night or in the rain, or before trips, the cue words, ("hurry up") will often get a quick response.
for the little human, I would bribe with m&ms. If that doesn't work, try some kitchen chemistry. Add a drop of blue food coloring to a glass of water. Add yellow food coloring. Let her see the magic. Then tell her she can do the same thing in the potty. Add a drop or two of blue to the toilet bowl and see if she goes. Make it fun. And silly.

I kind of made my comment as a joke, but I appreciate the advice.

My girl will be 3 in June; there's really no excuse. My son was a lot farther along at this stage, and they say girls are easier.

Linda, I totally agree with you. I have no one to blame but the parents. Especially because rightfully I'd get blasted if I tried to lay blame on the day care teachers who were MUCH more proactive with my son ;)

FOAS, my oldest daughter potty trained herself when she was 15 months old. She was extremely prissy, didn't like to be wet or dirty and wouldn't eat lollipops because they were sticky. My secretary said she was the only child she'd ever seen that you could dress in white and she'd stay clean, LOL.

Ashley was nearly three before she was potty trained because she JUST WASN'T GOING TO. My mother asked her once when she was going to use the potty. Her response was "never, never, never, never, never". She wasn't quite three and no punishment worked.

Like Jo, we bribed her with M&Ms. It worked well. She's nearly 22 now and perfectly potty trained but she still doesn't sleep through the night...

As for the doxie, The WonderWeiner was the most stubborn animal I've ever encountered. If there ever was a dog that would flip me off, that was the one. Good thing he didn't have fingers! It took me nearly 2 years to completely housebreak him, he did well when the weather was good but just didn't see any reason to go outside when it was raining when he could stay inside where it was warm and dry and go on the floor. As for the crate, he'd go in there too, he didn't care.

Jo and I must be related, because I told him "hurry up" and he'd go on command, very convenient when we were travelling and at rest stops!

Although I finally prevailed, it took a long time and a lot of standing in the yard, waiting. One of the things I love about dachshunds IS their independent attitude, I never wanted one of those big stupid dogs that just would sit around adoringly and say "yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever you want, I'll do that". I'd rather have the dog that'll look at me and say "why the he!! do you think I'd ever do that?" (grin)

I loved him and he loved me and we finally reached a mutual agreement as to behavior. We mostly took turns being the boss, depending on who was the most stubborn at any given time, LOL.

Sharon, I know what you mean about your old cat, our old dachshund, Tammy, had Cushing's Disease. After the vet assured us that she was in no pain, we spent the last three months of her life carrying her up and down the stairs to go outside and feeding her pureed food with a spoon. She died on my lap on Christmas Eve. In January, we got the WonderWeiner. I don't have any regrets at all about the time and effort I spent with that old dog, I only regret that I didn't take her to the vet and help her on her journey about 2 days before she died, because there was no vet available on that Christmas Eve.

Annie

My friend is an experienced dog owner and has the phrase thing happening but she didn't get this dog as a tiny pup, he was 6 months old and is 7 months old now. So he had time to learn bad habits, I think. She doesn't believe in those pads so if he learned to use them inside it was with the breeder. I suggested she get some and put one outside. She says they are outside for 20 minutes at a time. Good thing he's cute.

As for toilet training little humans, I trained my children on a Saturday and sent them in underpants to day care on the following Monday. There was no transitional "training pants" period. My son was 2-1/2, my daughter was exactly 2. One the day we did it, I put them in underpants and said we are going to learn to use the potty today. Woohoo! My son was not pleased and kept bringing me a diaper until we got started with our one-on-one activities. My daughter was far more agreeable about it. Really I did nothing but hang with my child, no cooking, no housework, nothing but reading to my child, videos, teaching, snacking, drinking. Lots of drinking. It made for more learning opportunities! One thing that was helpful was the method they teach for pulling up one's own underpants. I used stickers and M&Ms as rewards. The M&Ms were for me. ;) The potty was covered in stickers.

We did use the heavy overnight pants for a while.

And even 18 years later my DGD still on occasion refers to M and M's as Pee Pee Treats!
And the boys got to sink the little paper boats.

I have a Stubborn Dachshund who I got at 3 months old from a breeder who dropped her off for a "she how you like this cutie -pie" at the beginning of a blizzard. She was crate trained & we did not have a crate (used two laundry baskets). After a few weeks She thought her name was (excuse me) G-Dam-it! yelled in a loud - running voice. When we took the Christmas Tree down (fake) there was little doxie poops under the tree ~LOL~ lots of them!
It was horrible training her to "go" outside and more disgusting -- she considered her own poop gourmet! All natural behavior and very typical for her breed, accoding to the vet. Meanwhile, I knew she was trainable, because I taught her an assortment of tricks - that she does every morning for her snacks. It took me at least an additional 6 months to train her to go outside. It took dedication, alot of praise - alot of walking on a lease (still- to find the perfect spot). All that said, she turned out to be a loving, wonderful, adorable member of our family - similar to having a 3 year old who never grows up!
tell your friend to stick with it - and show this puppy who is boss - also beg and bribe - I truly believe dachshunds are smart enough to understand.
Mine is fully, 100% trained - my neighbors' from the same litter ~not.

I passed along all of the advice and the the "stubborn" news. I'll let you know how it goes!

Jojoco...
Thanks and yes I know about cats not doing business where they eat, but I guess that would work for training a young kitten, but poor old Suzie is already so confused when she walks around trying to find her bowl of dry food and water that I think it wouldn't work. Also we would probably trip over her dishes if they were put in the middle of the floor lol.

She bumps into furniture but eventually finds her food and water, as I keep some in a corner of the living room, since she just grazes at any hour and can remember they are close to her bed. Warm weather will make it much easier as she will spend longer evening hours out in the garden.

Annie I can't imagine how sad that must have been to have your cat die at Christmas. I only carry Suzie outside at night because it's faster than waiting for her to walk around trying to find the door, and I'm usually in my pajamas by then lol. I put her down on the grass and say Pee Pee and she does that right away. But she still has to go again during the night when she's indoors. But at least she's now doing it on the old towels, which I wash daily.

SharonCb

Ok, I have to say, I've never met a dachshund in my whole life who was housebroken. E.V.E.R.

Shaun, that has been my experience with many very small dogs, especially Yorkshire Terriers. I won't tell my friend...I think I sort of talked her into this Dachshund. I've never had one but everyone I know who has thinks they are wonderful dogs. He isn't a mini, though, he is a standard.

Sharon, I'm sorry to hear about your aging kitty. It's so sad when they become mentally fragile. I am looking at the beginning of this I think with my 10 year old Lab. She is starting to have accidents in the house and seems confused. Asks to be let out over and over even though she has just been outside. She is getting stiff, too, and is having more trouble getting up and down. I occasionally give her an aspirin and massage her hips. That helps.

Odo was trained by 5 months, but I got him as a 3-month old.

With the 7-month old, make sure to feed and go out at the same times of the day, every day. Routine, routine, routine. Make sure he has enough exercise. Stay outside with the leash on in a designated spot til he goes. Then act like you just won the lottery when he goes - yell YIPPEE GOOD BOY OH MY GOD WOO-HOO!!!! and throw him a really tasty treat like a piece of bacon. Also, dogs treat pee and poo differently and may like to pee in one place and poo in another. See if you can determine where he likes to do 1 and where he likes to do 2 and keep going to the same areas.

When the dog goes in the house don't hit him, but at that very moment yell very loudly, in a deep, scary voice - NO! BAD DOG!!! and run him outside immediately. Then act normal again. (If you don't catch him in the act, don't bother with the yelling - too late).

Gina, I was hoping you'd see this, I KNEW Odo was reliably trained. I think The WonderWeiner could have been trained in a shorter period of time, had I been home instead of working daily and the kids were at school. I'd let him out in the morning, go home at lunch, go home at the end of the day, but in between there was no one there.

My first dachshund, Tammy, came to me when she was 5 so she was already housebroken and very reliable.

WonderWeiner became very reliable, even when we travelled. We stayed in motels and rental cabins and tents and sometimes slept in the pulldown bed of the conversion van. I could count on him not to chew, not to bark and not to make a mess on anyone's carpet. Ever.

Unlike Elery's chihuahua who has never been completely trained, who bites even me and who barks like the sky is falling if the refrigerator comes on or the washer starts a spin cycle. G*d forbid the neighbor's kid might walk through the yard, Pancho will carry on for half an hour. Good thing he's old and sleeps most of the time!

It does take time, patience and attention to train any dog and some are harder than others. I don't really believe that any of them are untrainable.

Annie

Annie, did you know about Pancho when Elery proposed?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, barnmom!

Sharon, I am feeling with you & your lovely Suzie. You are so patient & caring. I have had two cats who became senile, one of which also started going on the floor instead of her box. It's a hard time.

Gina, I was hoping to hear from you! I am going to send all of this wisdom to my friend. To give her heart and hope!

My daughter bought a mini dachshund in our local mall last July, he was about 4 months old when she got him. He is a joy to us. His name is Coal, he is a black and tan long haired boy. Then in Nov of last year she ordered a female piebald standard long haired dachshund from a breeder in Wisc. Her name is Sugarfoot. She was very white on the feet until her ticking spots showed up. She is now about 6 months old. Watching them play is loads of laughs and taking them for walks is showing us their stubborn side. Both of them like to bark at a man that walks to his semi truck he has park on the side of the road near the turn of the road near my crossing where I am the school crossing guard. They are barking at him to come play with them. But they both like to go next door and play with our neighbors little dog, Zach. Zach is a little bit bigger than they are since he is a Shih Tzu. Zach had gained some weight so our neighbor encouraged us to let them chase each other and Zach was losing the weight. But they still play like that. Coal doesn't bark when they are playing but Zach does.

yeah, Eileen, I knew about Pancho, but he's old, (Pancho, not Elery, LOL), so I cut him some slack. Except when he bites me, then I take my finger and flick his nose.

Annie

Okay, Annie. Just checking... ;)

When we first took our rescue Dachshund, Elvira, home she had a few accidents (mainly pee) the first couple of months here. (It was also winter and she hates, even now, to go out into the rain.) I kept taking her out on the hour to 2 hour mark until she finally got it. She hasn't had an accident inside since then, and that has been 7 years. Not even when we have gone traveling and stayed at motels and rented houses. It can be done, but you have to be determined and persistant. I wouldn't trade her independant stubborn personality for anything because when she isn't being that, she is a love bug! Best lap dog ever.
Clare