Two Questions

[bbjordan]

I have 2 dogs outside and when it gets cold I put blankest & hay in their dog house but they pull it out and sleep out in the open. Why are they doing this? Also I have a 2 yr old mini dachshaund in the house who USE to be pad trained, but last week he started going on the floor. Why is he doing this?

[jiena_drakon]

Well the pulling of hay and blankets out of there house is normal.. I went thru that with my golden every winter.. I wouldn't even bother putting them in there .. instead just nail some old carpet like a flap over the dog hole to prevent the wind from going in and then when they get cold that will be good enough..

as for your other problem I don't know what to tell you other than to re train your dog as if he didn't know any better and then train hiim to go into a litter box for dogs this will make it more convient ..he may be lacking in attention as well and be wanting some..

[Karen]

What has changed in the household? Dogs are pretty sensitive to change, and that can set back their training. Also, could it be medically-caused?

[Pit Chick]

My suggestion for the first question would be to bring the outside dogs inside, then you wouldn't have to worry about them getting cold, or wet, or overheated. Houston weather is so unpredictable and miserable at times (most of the time) that I, for one second, wouldn't want to live out in it. Would you trade places with your dogs? IMO it's really not fair that they have to live outside while the mini Dachshund gets to live inside with you.

As for the mini Dachshund, I agree with Karen. You should have him vet checked to rule out a medical problem. If he's not neutered, that could be causing a problem because now he's at that sexually mature age where marking becomes a big problem. Like jiena said, try retraining him and get him a litter box. By paper training him you've taught him it's ok to go potty in the house, on the floor. The only difference is there is a pad under him, which doesn't seem to matter now.