Q: We are a household of 2 adults and 2 Miniature Dachshunds, both desexed males aged 30 and 26 months. The dogs spend most of the time indoors and go outside every couple of hours, hopefully to relieve themselves. When they were pups we thought we had followed all the correct housetraining techniques -- e.g., newspaper on the floor in a corner of the laundry and food rewards given when they responded when outside. The problem seems to be that they don't distinguish between being inside or outside and we still find more than the occasional wet spot inside in different parts of the house. We have had instances where the dogs have come in from being outside only to find a "wet spot" soon after. It's hard to catch them "in the act" so we rarely know who the culprit is. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

A: It sounds like what you're dealing with here is that the papers taught them it was okay to relieve themselves in the house. In addition, they didn't develop physical control to wait until the next trip outside.

You might have really good results going to crates now when you can't watch them, and take them about once per hour when you are at home and awake. Make sure you are neutralizing odor on all the spots they use. Fresh spots will respond to white vinegar, but if a spot has dried before treatment, you need a bacterial enzyme odor eliminator product such as Nature's Miracle. Either way, the product needs to soak deeply into the carpet pad.

Keep up the rewards when they relieve themselves outside. If, in your careful supervision (never have them loose in the house unless they are in the room with you watching them), you catch one of them in the act relieving inside, RUSH that dog outside. Your goal is to get the dog to finish there, so you can praise.

Since the dogs are neutered, I expect you can bring them through this. Just resign yourself to 100% supervision for the next, oh, I would plan on a few months. This is not deliberate naughtiness, just confusion and the wrong habits. Hang in there!