To Cold??

jenclerm

Experienced Member
Hey everyone... after taking Luke my mini dachshund with me to my bestfriends place.. she really told me I should potty train Luke outside... I do agree with her.

Currenly he is going inside on a ugodog see the image at ugodog.com its an indoor potty system.. he does go on it... but only when its under the bed... *sighs*

While I was at her place we did start to take Luke out side, and all he did was shiver. and cry cause of the cold..... he did pee but only when his pad were out side... and that was on 2 out 8 atemps or so.. other then that he just cried! I was staying out with him too...

At my place we don't have a deck like my friend..... and also the fence is not safe... its nearly falling over, with huge gaps at the bottom.. I don't feel safe letting him out in yard in that!!

I do want to train him outside, my bedroom is stating to smell like a barn!

I am going to be on holidays starting on Dec 13 to 22... I will be able to give Luke my full attention... I just hope its not too late.. he is 4 months already...
Thanks
Jen
 

fickla

Experienced Member
If you are concerned about the cold, I would get Luke some booties for his feet and a jacket. If you don't want booties, then at least keep his pads trimmed so ice doesn't form on them.

But as for potty training, you shouldn't be standing outside that long anyway. Basically if you're dog has to go he's going to go within 5min anyway, so standing out there longer then that will just lead to shivering or playing and forgetting to pee. I would take him out for 5 mn, if he goes great reward him, if he doens't go then he goes back inside to his kennel for 15mn to rebuild his bladder. I put him in his kennel just cause that is a safe spot where he won't pee. Eventually he will get the hang of it. If you are going to go the outside route, I would personally get rid of the potty pads all together so the new rules are more clear to him.
 

snooks

Experienced Member
I've always trained to go potty outside since it can be much harder later when you don't have provisions to go inside to convince them that inside is NOT okay. Esp with small dogs this seems to be a bigger problem. Plus if he's only going when this place is under the bed he may develop a fear or inability to go other places. what if you travel and he has to potty on concrete or grass or dirt. If you don't expose him to those surfaces it may be really hard when you need him to go elsewhere.

It's not often that it's really too cold for a dog's feet to potty outside if they only stay out a few minutes. What is the temperature where you are? A coat might be a real necessity but the paws can stand a little cold as long as it's not 30 below. I have a friend that used to live in Alaska that had to dig out a tunnel for her dogs to go.

Flickla's advice is good. Esp since we have snow here this morning I let the dogs out and go with them. Wait 1-2 minutes and if they don't go they come back inside for 15-30 minutes. If it's a puppy, puppy goes back in crate. If it's a potty trained adult then they stay in sight and I watch. Rarely do my adult dogs or puppies not go first thing in the morning. I train all of them to ask to go out and to go on command. No dog that isn't potty trained is allowed out of sight unless crated.

Doxies are tough little dogs bred to dig into tight places after fierce rodents and kill them. So while he may need a coat I def would potty train him outside and use a leash. A leash makes it all easier anyway fence or not b/c he can't run off and get distracted.
 

jenclerm

Experienced Member
thanks Fickla and Snooks... I am going to start this tonight... better sooner then laster I guess. I do have a sweather for him... its not to cold yet right now in Qucbec its about 2 to -6 hasn't been colder then that yet. The leash is a good idea not sure why I didn't think of that.. booties is a cute idea but struggling to get them on a puuppy that needs to pee sounds trickly.. lol.. with a sweater I can keep that on him all the time.

thanks for thr tips and the modavation!
 

jenclerm

Experienced Member
Potty Training has Began!

Alrighty!

The hardwood floor has been washed with Nature's Miracle, all of the pee pads have been removed and Luke is on a harness and leash! With a sweater on underneath the harness...

very cute sight!

lol he is not liking the leash dragging behind him much... but it really makes it easier to control him especially if he goes under my bed to do is duties...

I have taken him out twice so far and he has not gone... :( so I am watching him like a hawk...and will try again once he wakes up from his nap...

Everyone at my place thinks I am crazy making such a small dog go outside to pee...

Yeah well... they aren't the ones that have to sleep in his bathroom!!!! :msnsick: Also If I am going to start taking Luke over to my friends once a month for a few days he is going to need to be potty trained...

Luke is crate trained and when I can't watch him, I will put him in there...

This training is a little late, but better then later... lol my room already smells better! :p

well thank you to all whom offered adivce, and please let me know if I missed somthing..


Jen & Luke
 

snooks

Experienced Member
That small dog is a tough little fearless rodent killing machine bred to be sent underground in the cold muddy dark to kill vicious animals like badgers and the like. He's no light weight just because he was intentionally bred small, he comes from the same place Mastiff's do. I think you hit it on the head though. Do any of these people that are telling you that you are crazy have dogs? And as you said they are not sleeping in his bathroom.

If it makes you feel better you can put a light rub of paw wax or a very little amount of petroleum jelly on his pads to help traction and protect his pads. Just use a little of the jelly though since you don't want it all over the floor or have him eat a lot of it. An organic paraben free paw wax would be best if you search on mushing sites or organic dog supply sites you'll find some.

Walking out to potty in cold weather isn't going to hurt him for a couple of minutes. An extended hour long walk in very very cold conditions might hurt his paws. You could stand outside with no clothes for quite a long time without shivering for example if you were very warm when you went out. It does take several minutes to get uncomfortable. Plenty of time to potty. What do your neighbors think sled dogs do?? They sleep outside and though they have thicker coats they still have the same hairless pads.
 

jenclerm

Experienced Member
LOL Thanks Snooks, so far things are going well... and yeah they did have dogs in the past.. but I have learnt to stop listen to this person after they said puppies don't need to be socialized.. from my past post we all know whom I am speaking about….:dogunsure:

Luke has not had any accidents yet; he slept all night so I didn’t need to take him out…

This morning if was raining. And when I took Luke out he just looked at me as if to say “you gotta be kidding me!!” But he found a dry spot where the recycle bin was and he did his duties…
 

snooks

Experienced Member
Yay success. Hope it keeps going well. Hang in there. My dogs, being Goldens, have the opposite problem. They run out and find the iciest snowiest wettest place to romp in especially after a bath and the love peeing in the snow. They've had so much fun since moving to a snowy environment that snow wrestling has become the favorite sport. If I open the blinds and they see snow they both start immediately asking to go out.

Having a doxie would def be an advantage in having a lap dog. My two think they are but squish me a lot. :msngiggle:
 

jenclerm

Experienced Member
A little update, Luke is now scratching at my bedroom door will a little whimper when he needs to go outside..

And this only started when I took Luke to my cousins place...could it because she has a dog as well and he learned from her? LOL
 

snooks

Experienced Member
Dogs absolutely learn from other dogs. Without my big dog's help the foster I had last year wouldn't have made nearly as much progress. That's great that he's asking to go out. Great job!! Lots less cleaning eh
 

snooks

Experienced Member
I saw this and thought about you..and the other doxie owners here. Doxie freestyle on tv. Pretty cute and neat.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM6du9ZCK4M&feature=channel_page[/media]
 
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