So we helped my great grandma to adopt a dachshund from the shelter about a year ago now ever since we got him, he has peed and pooped on the rug inside the house since my great grandparents are older (early to mid 80s) and they cant get down to clean it or really be able to see when/where it happens, for a while they were only finding it based on smell or by that accidental "why is my foot wet?" moments BUT ANYWAYS I really need some help with this guys nothing seems to be working a trainer she hired to ask about it said to keep him on a leash all day around the house and take him outside every hour or so to see if he needs to use the bathroom but he refuses to go out into the grass when I take him back there and yet within a minute or 2 of him getting off of the leash he goes and pees on the pee pads that are now all over the house or poops on the rug, not even caring if its on a training pad guuuuuuuys we really need your help she refuses to consider giving him back to the shelter but its really just ruining her life :/ ANYTHING you could possibly share to help would be so great!!!

Hmm, I would recommend utilizing the same methods for training puppies, essentially starting at the very beginning. Take the dog outside to potty every hour. If the dog goes potty outside reward it with treats and generous praise. If the dog goes potty inside, rebuke it with a firm tone. Simple commands are best, so I would use "go potty" for outside and "bad, no potty" for inside accidents. If this isn't working well you can always take baby steps, begin rewarding the dog as previously stated when it uses the potty patch and rebuke it when it goes on the rug (again, do not use any physical contact or yelling). Once the dog is only using the potty patches begin putting them outside and walking the dog around outdoors near them. The dog will begin to go on the patch outside (as long as you continue with the praise and rewards) and eventually you will be able to stop putting the patches out at all. Sometimes the effectiveness of these methods depends on what your dog is motivated by. If your dog is motivated by treats or praise this will work great, if you need something else to help you can try to see how motivated your dog is by company. Because one of my dogs is highly motivated by our company we were able to use time-outs as a training tool (a negative reinforcer). If the dog goes potty inside rebuke it with a firm "bad, no potty" and then move it to a place that it can't reach you (a hall out of view blocked with a baby gate, a dog crate that it can lay down in) or relocate yourself (go into the bedroom and close the door) for a few minutes. The dog will be positively reinforced by treats and praise when it does the right thing and negatively reinforced by the lack of your company when it does the wrong thing. This training method will help to guide your dog, teaching it what is good and bad without damaging your relationship. :)

I know some people also train their dogs to ring bells or bark at the back door when they need to go out. I haven't trained this behavior personally but it would be made up of similar principals to those that I just mentioned and I'm sure you could google some good, positive-reinforcement methods to do it.

I know dogs can be huge frustrations, but understanding their psychology and how to communicate with them can fix almost any problem. I hope this helps! Good luck :)

Faune has said most of the advice I could give already. I just wanted to add that I have had experience with bell training a dog. My previous dog, a Shih Tzu, did very well with it. Though, she got to where she rang the bell just when she wanted out to sun too. So that's a problem to consider. This current one is a mini dachshund. I've heard they're notoriously hard to house break. We've had the hardest time getting her to not pee in the house. She's about 6months old now and usually only pees if she's super excited. (Or extremely scared in the case of meeting a big dog suddenly. Accidentally let in the house, he surprised her and she climbed up my grandmother, yelping and peeing all the way. Oops. >A>; ). Anyway, she doesn't do as well with the bell as my previous dog, but it has helped greatly! We use a service bell (like a hotel one) with a penny glued to the top. She was having a hard time hitting the mark to make it ring. And she has a bad habit of just tapping her nails to it--thinking that is good enough. She heard it, so why shouldn't we? (Yeah...not happening, pup.) The method to get them ringing the bell varies by personality, I've found. What worked for my old dog, did not work for this one. A treat just under the edge to get them to touch and paw at it worked for one. The other, I had to take her paw and help her ring it while saying things such as "ring the bell" and praising once it was done. And, of course, letting her out whenever it was rung. If there was no time to get her to ring it, I would some times just ring it myself with my foot as I carried her out the door.

I hope my two cents can help you some. I wish you much luck!

Inadvertently, this dog has been trained to go in the house. That's why it doesn't go outside and then runs inside and goes on the rug right away. It thinks that's where it's supposed to go. The dog can be retrained, but it is going to be a very long and arduous process and it is going to require constant vigilance and work until the dog is fully housetrained, and it will require consistency after that. I'll write it in steps so it's easier to read.

1. First of all, dogs can smell where they have already been to the bathroom, and they use that as a cue as to where their potty is. This is trues even after the area has been 'cleaned' because enzymes they can smell (but you can't) remain. So the first step is to un-toilet-ify the house. That rug he pees and poops on? It goes in the garbage. Same goes for all of the piddle pads (seriously the way they market these is a crime, they should ONLY be used for elderly dogs with medical conditions who can't 'hold it' a normal amount of time). Save one piddle pad that is full of pee and poop in a plastic bag or something, but get rid of all of them. No more piddle pads in the house. Ever.

2. Cleaning. You can't just clean this up with soap and water. Everywhere the dog has gone and everywhere you suspect he may have gone needs a thorough scrubbing (including under where the rugs and piddle pads are, under furniture, on furniture legs, up walls as high as he may be able to reach with a pee stream, etc.) followed by a cleaning with an enzymatic pet stain remover like this one. This will get up all traces of his previous pees and poos from the house, which is the key step in getting this dog trained. If you do not clean properly, he will always view the home as his bathroom. It must be cleaned. If you have carpeting, get it steam cleaned with a pet odor remover added to the water, either professionally or by renting a rug-doctor type unit. People always like to think they can skip or skimp on the cleaning, but I promise you that it is one of 2 major keys to getting this dog to go outside.

3. How is the dog fed? Is he free-fed? Meaning a bowl of food gets sat down for him and he can just eat whenever, all day? If so, stop it. The dog now gets 2-3 meals at specific times. If you haven't been measuring his food before, I suggest you start doing so. Doxies are prone to getting fat and it's terrible for them even more so than other dogs because of the strain it puts on their backs. After the dog eats, he gets taken out at half-hour intervals after meals until he goes. Once he goes you should be able to stop taking him out until his next meal. If he pees at night, take up his water about an hour before bed, and walk him right before bed. If the dog is intact, have him fixed, otherwise he will always pee everywhere (and he still might mark regardless, but it helps in many cases). The dog might throw a fit about being fed meals instead of eating whenever he wants at first. He might refuse to eat, maybe even for a few days. He might whine and cry and beg for food all the time. You must have a heart of iron, and I know it's hard, but no snacks, no unscheduled meals, and no sneaking him food in between. He will be fine. He will not starve himself to death. He will get used to it and eat on a schedule just fine, and this is the second major key to getting him potty trained. If you know when he ate, then you know when he should have to go the bathroom. Just put the food down and take it up after a half hour whether he's eaten or not, and he'll eventually get on board.

4. Hey, we're finally at the part about actually taking him to do his business! Remember that one dirty piddle pad from step 2? Good! That goes out on the lawn, in the area you want him to start doing his business. This will do two things. First, it 'seeds' the area with the smell of his waste, which helps tell him that it's the place to do his thing. Secondly, it gives him the familiarity of the piddle pad, which he is used to going on. If he pees outside on the piddle pad? Well, he peed outside! Lots of praise, treats, good boys, playing, general celebration. I recommend having an extra-special extra-smelly treat he ONLY gets for going outside. Chicken, hotdog, cheese, beef liver, something like that. Always reinforce him positively for going outside.

5. Accidents. There will be some. I personally don't recommend scolding for accidents, because you aren't reinforcing him not to go inside, just teaching him not to get caught going inside. If the accident is already done, ignore it. If he looks like he is about to have an accident, or starts going inside but is still in the process of going, rush him quickly outside to his spot and praise him for going outside. In either case, cleaning procedures from step 2 will need to be employed on the accident.

Ping if you have questions. I would also recommend a visit to www.dogforum.com -- Lots of friendly and super-knowledgeable and helpful people.

My parents were taught in the doggy training to watch for when the dog starts sniffing around (this is the tell-tale sign of when they have to go to the bathroom). If you see him starting to sniff around or even beginning to go potty in the house, promptly pick him up and take him outside and say "go potty" as previously stated. Yes, you might get a little pee on you if he's already begun, but usually you can get them outside before that happens. Then once he's finished his business outside, give him a treat and bring him back inside. With this, you already know he needs to pee or whatever so DO NOT bring him back inside until he has done so and just hang around until he gives in. It takes time, but it will work.