I can’t cope with my dog anymore

[ItWasntMeantToBe]

I’ve namechanged as I expect that people will be unkind, but here goes.

We have a dachshund who will just not stop loudly barking unless we stay with him.
I feel like a prisoner to him. I struggle with even cleaning the house without him barking and disturbing the neighbours, because he doesn’t like the sound of the hoover, but also doesn’t like being alone. He also is not completely house trained so he pees on things. If he has spent time in the garden it gets worse because he then thinks he can pee where he likes when he comes back in. He has a strong prey drive and if he sees a cat or bird through the window he barks and then pees underneath the window to mark his territory. We have tried all of the training, but he’s a very stubborn dog. He’s 3, so I don’t think this is going to get any better.

Ive realised too late in the game that we are just not dog people. We grew up with pet dogs (not dachshunds), so thought we knew what we were doing and letting ourselves in for.
I don’t know what to do. My DC would be heartbroken to have him rehomed. We love him too, but it’s no life for any of us. He has even barked and snapped at us at times when we have needed to leave the room he is in.

I think in an ideal situation our dog needs someone who is retired without any young DC at home. He needs that level of time spent with him, without the chaos of children around him.

I know all of this makes us bad people, so I don’t need a pile-on. I’m very aware we have failed him. I just would like to know what would you do in our position?

So I started by getting her attention and getting her to do a touch - bumping her nose against my closed fist. Then I would immediately treat her. We would then do some tricks sit, paws up, in the box, on the box etc. just to distract her from what she had found to bark at. If I kept her distracted for at least a minute she generally forgot about whatever it was she was shouting about.
I also make sure if she needs me I'm available. I don't have kids which helps here but for example today we had a big thunderstorm. She was scared and started barking and needed my help calming down. And she now comes to me so I can help her because she knows that I'm there when she needs reassurance. So she starting to recognise that she doesn't have to have my full attention all the time because she always has it when she really needs it.

She will just come in and sit and push her nose in for a fuss if she wants a cuddle now. Or she will pounce at me if she want to play 🙄

Treating as pp has said does need to be as quick as possible. Within 3 seconds. Have a treat pouch in you at all times. When we were in the thick of it I had a bum bag on me from the moment I got up! It's reduced a lot now but I still have great tubs in most rooms!

She is never going to be a quiet dog but I'd say we have reduced the barking by 80% in a year!

"Pet Corrector Dog Training Spray - Stops Barking, Jumping Up, Food Stealing, Furniture Deterrent, Dog Fights & Dog Attacks. Help Control Your Pets Unwanted Behaviour. Humane, Safe & Effective (50ml) : Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corrector-Furniture-Deterrent-Behaviour-Effective/dp/B09K4JCZND/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.QgwX0WDJLchDdinv0oO56t9Q0_7e_g2LcaHxiog5-TD1lFWkOrebwDtGTWgSYgxfstCOC5oSYK0VenT1zWOqskfosAP2D5xEqNezrOB22QzolrL-8Ji3KtU6C8eRDWwO8z4rixCPWBqnNihvveioEHmyoudWHLu7x43hcUTXkvDJFjJLkGDcLAtftEgCF6YGex1fde4fAk9_dTHgXtwR9A.vjNEQqKjJLAcV1UPZWg6zYQWSgkMXZeQfaYBHTdZU-g&dib_tag=se&keywords=pet+corrector+spray+for+dogs&qid=1716329889&sr=8-3

My friends mother has a dachshund, spaying cured the weeing. But aigh the barking. It was relentless. Then she bought the corrector spray. It stopped him in his tracks every time. He's now so much better.

Before no-one would have him in their home because of the peeing and barking.

Please please please do not do this!!!

Quickest way to destroy the relationship between you and your dog!

Yes you might make the behaviour stop in the moment but it seldom works long term.

And it's bloody cruel!

This 👆

OH FFS. It's a dog not a human. You'll be telling us next dog whistles are cruel.

No wonder there's so many neurotic dogs that don't know their place in the pack.

It's not what you think. The action you describe will lead to displacement behaviours where the dog will hide what it was doing, or do something different in order to avoid punishment. So it could well pee somewhere you can't see it. For barking and other similar behaviours, it could end up biting without warning as its other outlets have been denied.

@justasking111 there's so many neurotic dogs as a direct consequence of abusive training techniques such as you describe!

Why the hell is ok to go around terrifying animals!!!

We used a remote vibration collar on one of ours (not the dachshund surprisingly!) And it worked very well, all i had to do was put in on and she wouldnt bark, i hadnt even realised it needed charging at one point and was actually flat because just wearing it was enough

I've got a Dachshund/Jack Russel mix so I can sympathise with the barking issue. And the stubbornness and contempt for any rules.

You're not bad people.
Bad people abandon their dogs on the sides of roads.
If you can't give that doggy the life it deserves then it deserves a home that will.
Rescue centres will help with this.

I have a naughty male daschund who is quarter jack Russell. What your describing is partly a training issue and partly that daschunds are yappy with small man syndrome. It took two years to have him 100% toilet trained. He is a velcro boy who really struggled to separate. He's up to 3 to 4 hours at a push. Barking is a massive work in progress. Puppy class and neutering helped as did lots of food based rewards training him to do the quiet command. He was partly so hard to train as we weren't consistent enough. If he barks out the house he goes on short leash or we turn around. Indoor we do holding a high value treat in one hand hide it and do the command with another. It's doable but work and you might need a trainer. He hates the vacuum. That's never going to change. We tray and vacuum while he's out 🤣 I would say a young dachshund without health issues will be easy to re-home through a breed specific rescue but it does seem a shame when these are resolvable issues. On and he's our first dog we didn't really have any idea what we were getting into either despite doing research

oh for goodness sake ! you now have the amateur dog trainers giving misinformation.

just rehome the dog, you have been given details of reputable rescues.

We have a 9 month old female long haired dachshund. She was very hard the first 7 months, we trained and trained her and she has calmed down a lot. They aren't an easy breed as most people expect, due to their size. She barks a lot, and we got her a vibrating dog collar off amazon which works WONDERS. Unfortunately, it's in the hound in them that makes them have a very sharp loud bark for such a small thing. Having a dog isn't easy and it takes time to adjust

What would I do? See through with the 15 year commitment I made when I decided to get a dog.

1. Is he getting enough exercise?
2. You could to try a dog behaviourist before putting him in rescue? Or Google ‘dogfather’ for less expensive insights on causes and solutions. Almost always it’s something you can do or change in your own behaviours or responses.

The problem with getting advice online is that apart from getting random bad advice, is that you could be working from a completely false impression of what’s going on.

There are lots of comments about barking being rewarding or attention seeking… to me, he sounds quite anxious and stressed.

I’m not saying I’m right because I also don’t know your dog, but if he is then you’d want very different training than for a dog that’s attention seeking and different again for a dog that’s finding barking rewarding.

You’d be much better getting real life in person professional help.

Check his insurance, a lot of policies cover a referral

With respect, yes it was a great post, but it's also 'Teaching your dog not to bark 101'. If you haven't been doing these things since day 1, I think maybe you haven't been doing all the training you think you have?

I'm not trying to have a go at you, because you've acknowledged that you were underprepared for this job and are now trying to do everything you can.

But I hope this helps another family considering a puppy, there seems to be a train of thought that puppies are the best choice because you can mould them. As you've discovered, tiny puppies are a lottery and moulding them is a skill. IMO, adoption is a better way to go for the inexperienced - mature dogs that are already in foster care in a family setting so you can see exactly what you're getting.

The problem with dachshunds is that they are proper, hardy little working dogs trapped in a very cute, appealing body and unfortunately, so many people don't realise that until it's too late. They were bred to fight badgers so they are naturally tenacious, feisty and headstrong.

If you want to give it one last shot, then I suggest speaking to your vet and get in touch with a proper, qualified behaviourist who can come and work with you in person. I would also speak to them about neutering - but be aware that dachshunds are notorious for toileting in the house anyway so it may not be a solution.

Oh, and I also agree with the poster who said about rewards needing to be instant - you can't reward for something they did five or ten seconds ago. Dogs live in the moment.

And in some instances, professional, qualified trainers giving good information.

your dog might benefit from being with people who have existing well behaved dogs

We have dog bells which we used for toilet training- our dash rings the bell to go outside now. Though she learnt this very quickly she still had accidents inside for sometime.

Dachshunds are one of the most stubborn dogs to own, I have one and he barks constantly, he very rarely wees in the house and he does have a high prey drive he's caught 3 pigeons (just this past week), how many times a day do you walk him? And for how long ? I think it would be good to see a dog trainer to see if they suggest anything, is he create trained ? Has he got his own safe space ?

How many walks per day does the dog get? Can't see the answer to that anywhere.

To the people asking about walks - he has 3. One around the block (about 15-20 mins) before the school run, one slightly longer at lunch (because WFH), and then a longer one in the evening after school.
He is generally good on his walks and interacts fine with other dogs outside. He does sometimes bark at people though (not consistently, just occasionally), there’s not much of a pattern to it. Sometimes it’s because they are pushing something noisy like a crate of stock into a shop, sometimes there is nothing about the person that’s obvious that could have spooked him.
He has huge issues with people coming into the house though. When he was a puppy he was fine with it, but as he has got older it has got worse. No event has happened with a visitor to trigger it. When he has barked at people coming into the house, it’s really bad. We don’t have visitors anymore I’m ashamed to say.
I honestly don’t know what to do.
I think seeing the vet is probably the best idea, but I’ve heard of dogs being PTS for behaviour issues, and I wouldn’t want that for him.
I feel so sad about it today. Aside of some of his difficult behaviour he is a lovely dog. I feel we have failed him, I know we have.

He needs help from a qualified veterinary behaviourist.