[DoxieMomma]

I am new here, looking for some experienced advise.

We just adopted a 4yr old dachshund, Oliver. In his previous home he was paper trained in an apartment. We want him to go outside only. I am home all day, we are working hard to teach this and I have the time to do so. But he frequently goes on the floor anyway.

Some other information that may be helpful. I am not new to this, we already have a doxie in our home. Lola is 2yrs, she is perfectly bell trained to let us know she needs to go. we have had her since a puppy.

So I am ringing the bells for Oliver and cheerily giving him my directions "go potty," and "good potty" for when he is going outside. But everything around him is new, so I don't know if he is paying attention to the bells or not.

I think I need to crate train and treat him like a new puppy to potty train him, but I'm not sure. I'm a confused doggy mommy.

 

[PoppyKenna]

Yes, crate training would probably be helpful.

Is he reliable on the pads? Another thing you could do is put the pads on your porch or right outside the door and encourage him to go on them (if that's where he acts like he wants to go) and slowly move them out into the yard and get rid of them.

 

[DoxieMomma]

Yes, crate training would probably be helpful.

Is he reliable on the pads? Another thing you could do is put the pads on your porch or right outside the door and encourage him to go on them (if that's where he acts like he wants to go) and slowly move them out into the yard and get rid of them.

I did leave an open pad right outside my door for the first 2 days, and he ignored them completely. With all the newness, I can understand why though. I will try again to leave one outside and see what happens.

I don't know how reliable he was. Was simply told, "oh he'll pick a spot in the house, and just put a pad there and that's where he'll go.

 

[dibbythedog]

I would stop using puppy pads though treat him like puppy and take him outside on a regular basis and after every meal etc .
Watch him like a hawk and be ready to take him outside at a moments notice. use a crate or pen when you cant watch him.

That's a good start if he is actually toileting outside.
He has to make the connection between the words go potty and actually going potty . You need to wait until he is in the act of weeing or pooping and then say Go potty. As soon as he has finished, you give him a treat .
You repeat this until you are sure he fully understands what Go potty means and then you can use it as a command or instruction and say it as you let him outside.
I've not used bells before, what is he expected to do . I have a vision of Lola picking up a hand bell in her mouth and ringing it .

 

[DoxieMomma]

I would stop using puppy pads though treat him like puppy and take him outside on a regular basis and after every meal etc .
Watch him like a hawk and be ready to take him outside at a moments notice. use a crate or pen when you cant watch him.

That's a good start if he is actually toileting outside.
He has to make the connection between the words go potty and actually going potty . You need to wait until he is in the act of weeing or pooping and then say Go potty. As soon as he has finished, you give him a treat .
You repeat this until you are sure he fully understands what Go potty means and then you can use it as a command or instruction and say it as you let him outside.
I've not used bells before, what is he expected to do . I have a vision of Lola picking up a hand bell in her mouth and ringing it .

We have what are called Poochie Bells. They are christmas style bell hanging on a ribbon near the door, and Lola can nudge them with her nose to let us know she needs to go out to do her business.

So yes, I am taking Oliver on the leash to the bells and ringing them in front of his nose and I say "go potty" and good boy praise as I open the door to go out. I repeat go potty outside, and once he starts going, I praise, "good go potty" very happily. He is in need of shedding a few pounds, so not looking to reward with treats if I can help it.

 

[PoppyKenna]

I don't know how reliable he was. Was simply told, "oh he'll pick a spot in the house, and just put a pad there and that's where he'll go.

In that case, I’d for sure just start treating him like a puppy and working on crate training and frequent trips outside. It doesn’t sound like he was terribly reliable, just that whomever owned him before put things down in the areas he’d already saturated in hopes it would catch what he deposited.

 

[dibbythedog]

So yes, I am taking Oliver on the leash to the bells and ringing them in front of his nose and I say "go potty" and good boy praise as I open the door to go out. I repeat go potty outside, and once he starts going, I praise, "good go potty" very happily. He is in need of shedding a few pounds, so not looking to reward with treats if I can help it.

Poochie Bells sound like a good idea. ( No pun intended! )

The Instructions on the website say
"Every time you let your dog out to potty, bring the dog to the bells to sniff, ring them, and state a command such as “Outside, ring your bells!”, "

It doesn't state how the dog is taught to ring the bell or how he knows he is supposed to ring them.
Lola picked it up but perhaps Oliver would pick it up quicker if you encourage him to ring the bell himself and then open the door immediately when he does . You dont even need to give him a command. Its not necessary. He will learn by the outcome of ringing the bell that you will open the door.

Also, to start with , only say Go potty when he is actually eliminating. He has to learn the connection between word and action. If you say it in other circumstances, it will confuse him.

 

[SnackRat]

For rewards, cut out a portion of his meals and substitute with high-quality, healthy treats (cooked chicken chopped into pieces the size of a pencil eraser, for instance -- not many calories, but far more thrilling to most dogs than simple words of encouragement!).

It sounds like you're trying to teach him a whole lot of things all at once (identify that he has to pee, alert you with bells, hold it tell he gets outside, pee outside). I would simplify, and teach him the most important thing first: potty outside. Treat him like a little puppy, with tons of opportunities to "get it right" and as few possibilities to "get it wrong" as possible. Since he's been pottying indoors for a long time, you can probably expect it to take a while to sink in, which is where really great rewards will really come in handy and help you move forward at all. It might take awhile, but I prefer to get housebreaking really, really solid before complicating it with additional steps.

Good luck!