calling all dog owners

[locked]

Need some advice,
We recently was given a dog. She is a 2 year dachshunds with long blonde hair, pretty little thing.

So the story is a couple bought her as a puppy from a dog breeder. 2 years later the couple are expecting a child and now don't want the dog anymore so they give it back to the breeders.

The breeders then ask friends of friends if anybody wanted a free dog. Thats where I come in as we were looking for a dog anyway.

She appears to be in good health, nervous at first but is coming out of her shell.

The first thing that concerns me is that she can't do stairs, she can't go up or them or down them which I thought was odd. How do I train her to?

And the second thing is she dont do walks! You put a lead on her and she goes mental. When we manged to finally put a lead on she is shit scared of everything. Yesterday a plane flew over our heads and she crapped herself. We were walking along the path towards 2 people and crapped herself again.

me and the misses have come to the conclusion that maybe she was mistreated as a puppy? We could be wrong.

Can you tell me any tricks or techniques to calm her down and make her realise the world ain't such a bad place.


This thread was typed on my phone so sorry if the structure looks abit shit.
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on the look out for my next bike....
CBT Passed - 13/09/09 Theroy Passed - 19/12/09 Mod 1 Passed 04/05/10 Mod 2 Passed 14/05/10 - Free to ride ANYTHING!
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[chris-red]

Be nice to the dog and she should learn, how would you feel in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people and no idea what is going on.
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Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
Skudd:- Perhaps she just thinks you are a window licker and is being nice just in case she becomes another Jill Dando.
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[L4Isoside]

Aww sounds like she was mis treated.

I'd say start things slow, allowing her to get used to the house, the new noises and surroundings etc first before you push her to do anything else. I'd of thought once she is settled in (plenty of love and care, to make her feel safe and comfortable around you, just dont go over the top) she then would be okay to try new things.

From there you may want to work on the stairs, try calling her up the stairs first (easier to go up than down, right?) if that doesn't work, try putting treats every few steps, the praising her once she has done it. Then you may want to work on the way down. But be warned, my dog half tripped down the stairs and messed his due claw up... is there a real need to go up and down the stairs anyway? (we never let our dog up the stairs anyway)

Also, once she is settled in her new home, try just putting the lead on her, but allow her to smell it first and get used to it. Once she is used to it on, take her for short walks, not far from the house. Maybe even just around the garden.

It's all about getting used to the surrounding, new sounds, owners and building up that trust she may never of had from her previous owner.

Hope this helped

[panrider_uk]

She's going to be confused and nervous.

Give her time and lots of affection.

Mark
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Current bikes: Honda ST1100 Pan European. Moto Guzzi V85 TT Travel

[locked]

[stinkwheel]

I suspect from what you describe she was just poorly socialised as a puppy.

Anything they haven't seen before as a young pup will be viewed with an eye of suspicion and responded to with either fear or agression.

Just a case of taking it slowly, making it fun and gradually getting her used to it.

Like the lead. Play a game with it first so she doesn't think the lead is something scary. Then put it on her for short periods and let her walk about with it on. Then move onto walking next to her holding it. Then move onto getting her to follow you on the lead (holding a high value treat in your hand to lead her along with is a good one).
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[supZ]

it'll take longer than a week for it to be fully comfortable.

with the stairs, i taught both dogs i've had to do stairs (they were/are both pretty small dogs).

normally you'll find they'll go up ok but be scared of coming down. in this sitution id sit a couple of steps down in front of them and put their front paws down a step then call/coax em down again (id normally tap the step saying 'cmon' or something similar) and keep doing that until they can do it on their own. if you have problems going up id say a similar approach would work just in reverse

treats help greatly.

remember when training to use positive re-enforcement (treats for completing the task) but dont give up halfway through or its been a complete waste and the dog will be confused.

with the lead, perhaps shes had a bad experience outside/on leads. my dog got hit by a car before we got him so he was scared shitless of any cars going passed and would literally just sit there shaking if one did go passed whilst we were out and wouldnt move.

now he's absolutely fine but it took time, slow at first, building his exposure up to the sounds. and when we were out we'd make sure he was on the inside of the path so we're between him and the road. its a confidence thing too, if you act confident when out and just get on with it the dog will feed off of that and become more confident as well. i.e. if you keep looking down, worrying, stopping at every pull of the lead you just create a nervous dog.

start slow, maybe leave the lead in her bed so she gets used to the smell/colour and makes it hers. then perhaps put the collar on and let her run around the house with the collar on, then progress slowly from there.

its all about getting them comfortable at each stage before moving on. dont try to do too much at once.

hope some of that helps

might be an idea to watch some re-runs of the dog whisperer. the guy knows what he's on about
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[pinkyfloyd]

The other half has trained a few dogs in her life and I'll just repeat what she always does.

Get some hotdog sausages and cut them into slithers and use them for training. You want the dog to heel keep the meat near. Walk a few paces and slip a little slither of meat to the dog. Up the stairs? same deal.

If the dog thinks its going to get meat just for staying beside you that dog will not move from your side.

Hotdogs are strong smelling so the dog will always smell them and follow the smell.

The other half would cut some up small and store them with garlic. The dog would follow her anywhere with the garlic smell.
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[Marmalade]

Just going to need time and gentle getting used to stuff.
When i got my dawg, it was tiny and used to take it for walks next to dual carriageways and in busy town centres etc, afraid of nothing now, not even fireworks but does look up at the helicopters flying over
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[colin1]

Dachshunds have legs too small for their bodies, and can get joint pain arthritis etc. It may be its actually painful for the dog to do exercise if its not used to it. Going down stairs, is particularly stressful on joints for a small dog.

We had a staffie and she got arthritis in her old age, and I think part of that was the way she would charge down the stairs.

If I had the problem dachshund, I'd not ask her to do anything she didnt want to, but get her used to the lead, and eventually walk her round the living room, eventually leading to taking her somewhere quiet in the car, for a short walk.

I would not encourage her to go up or down stairs.
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[Tonka]

My dog didn't do stairs either and he hadn't been mistreated, I live in a bungalow!!

It took him quite some time to build up the confidence to come down stairs, as being a nosy sort he was quite happy to go up them! The first few times he ended up upstairs at my neighbours house he had to be coaxed down and it took ages and a sly shove Now he's more than happy scooting up and down them, which I find surprising as they are wooden, steep, turn a corner and even I hate using them (only bathroom is upstairs!) My previous dogs were never allowed or encouraged to go upstairs, as it's not great for their joints, but that was ok as I lived in houses then and it wasn't necessary for them to use them, so it's not always a bad thing.

As for the lead thing I'd suggest that is quite common too. Many dogs around where I live are used to being exercised off lead so are not great on lead. Perhaps the previous owners fell for the "little dogs don't need to go out anywhere but the garden" scenario. It's much more common than you'd care to believe and leaves the dog very ill equipped to cope with everyday stuff.

Given that she's had a lot of changes and still building up her bond with you, I'd take it gently introducing new stuff a little at a time. As she learns to trust you she will become much bolder and knowing Dachshunds she'll be tough to shut up once she's found her feet!!

The rehome I took on was like a basket case when I first got him and he had not been mistreated, just neglected and not socialised. It took time and patience but was worth every single second ten times over. He took about four to six months but there is no set time frame as every dog is different obviously!

Good on you for taking on a rehome
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'The core of a man's spirit comes from new experiences'
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[locked]

Thank you all for your advice. As for the stairs thing im not trying to force her to go up and down the stairs. I just want her to know that she can go where ever she wants to.
When I am upstairs with the kids she wants to come up as well. She just sits at the bottom of the stairs yelping.

Here she is any way. This is Pippa.
https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y76/mach206/IMAG0010.jpg
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on the look out for my next bike....
CBT Passed - 13/09/09 Theroy Passed - 19/12/09 Mod 1 Passed 04/05/10 Mod 2 Passed 14/05/10 - Free to ride ANYTHING!
Motorcycles are perfectly safe as long as you remember they're dangerous.

[Tonka]

Ooooo, she's really very beautiful

If she's happy for you to do so, grooming is a great way to build up a bond. Little and often is the way to go if she's a bit sensitive, along with some bribery of course!
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'The core of a man's spirit comes from new experiences'
Suzuki SV650S (Clean); Yamaha XT250 Serow (Dirty)

[L4Isoside]

Where is the "awww how cute" rating ?