Hello everyone. I'm a new member to this forum. So, hi. 
I'm also in need of some advice. After two years of deliberation, I finally got a dachshund puppy. His name is Peter and he is wonderful most of the time. He has some bad habits I'm trying to work out of him though, but one is getting worse rather than better, so I wanted to actively seek out some advice. He is a small puppy, about three pounds currently, and will be ten weeks old on Tuesday, which will also mark two weeks of him living with me. I work from home so he is with me all day. It only took him a few days to get used to my schedule, and then for a week we had a very good schedule going -- potty training has been going very well, with only an occasional accident.
What I'm having trouble with is his biting. He did bite very, very hard when he first came home, enough to draw blood, but I have managed to get his biting when it comes to hands down to some very tolerable mouthing by pretending to yelp and pulling away from him when he bites harder than I want him to (at first these were serious cries of pain lol). He has learned this lesson very well...for hands, like I said. When it comes to feet and ankles, however, he is as violent as ever. He will go crazy very suddenly and bite and hold onto my shoe, or sock, or even the bare flesh of my ankle (he's left marks) while growling and shaking his head back and forth. Inside the house I have immediate recourse, a plastic crate with no toys in it where he goes immediately for a five minute time-out when he does this. So it has reduced in frequency while inside. I do not, unfortunately, have this recourse while outside. Today was really the day from he** when it comes to this. He bit my ankle so hard while we were outside just now that I reflexively kicked him away because it startled me so much, and he got knocked over and yelped and I felt like the worst person in the world. Sometimes he is perfect outside, following next to me and behind me without incident. I've tried to pinpoint what gets him into these moods, and they seem to happen when he smells something that excites him, and he comes right at me.
This problem has only been getting worse, more frequent, and more worrisome outside. For the first week he was here he did not bite my ankles so much, and I think the reason is that he was exercising with me. The vet he's seeing told me not to take him out of our yard for eight more weeks, not until his vaccinations were complete. Well, that was no problem when he was running around outside with me in the yard; for the first week we ran around the house five or six times twice a day, and he was so exhausted that he barely even wanted to play with his toys. But then he stopped running with me. He prefers to dig and sniff and lie in the shade now, and I'm lucky now if I can get him around the house two or three times. He's been like this for the past five days now. I guess he got bored of the exercise routine, because now he is hyper all the time inside the house, and bored or violent outside the house. I haven't been able to train him on a leash yet because I'm on my third attempt to find a collar (I've also tried one harness) that fits him. All the other ones have been too big for him; he's gotten them all stuck in between his jaws even when pulled as tight as they go. Do any of you have a recommendation for a brand of collar that will fit a puppy his size, even one that I could buy online? I'm sure his acting out has a lot to do with the fact that he's not getting enough exercise anymore, but if I can get him trained on a leash I think I can get him running with me around the house in the yard again (and also a way to hold him back from biting my ankles). Also, do any of you have any advice on what I should do when he bites my ankle or grabs hold of my shoe and won't let go while outside? Inside I have recourse, but outside I have no place to put him for his time-out when he acts this way. Most of the time telling him no works, but today it did not, and he was not listening to me at all and just attacking and growling. If I crouch down and try to shield my shoes and ankles with my hands, he runs around them and grabs hold and won't let go.
Than you for reading this long post. I wanted to include all the information I could. Thanks again.
I'm also in need of some advice. After two years of deliberation, I finally got a dachshund puppy. His name is Peter and he is wonderful most of the time. He has some bad habits I'm trying to work out of him though, but one is getting worse rather than better, so I wanted to actively seek out some advice. He is a small puppy, about three pounds currently, and will be ten weeks old on Tuesday, which will also mark two weeks of him living with me. I work from home so he is with me all day. It only took him a few days to get used to my schedule, and then for a week we had a very good schedule going -- potty training has been going very well, with only an occasional accident. What I'm having trouble with is his biting. He did bite very, very hard when he first came home, enough to draw blood, but I have managed to get his biting when it comes to hands down to some very tolerable mouthing by pretending to yelp and pulling away from him when he bites harder than I want him to (at first these were serious cries of pain lol). He has learned this lesson very well...for hands, like I said. When it comes to feet and ankles, however, he is as violent as ever. He will go crazy very suddenly and bite and hold onto my shoe, or sock, or even the bare flesh of my ankle (he's left marks) while growling and shaking his head back and forth. Inside the house I have immediate recourse, a plastic crate with no toys in it where he goes immediately for a five minute time-out when he does this. So it has reduced in frequency while inside. I do not, unfortunately, have this recourse while outside. Today was really the day from he** when it comes to this. He bit my ankle so hard while we were outside just now that I reflexively kicked him away because it startled me so much, and he got knocked over and yelped and I felt like the worst person in the world. Sometimes he is perfect outside, following next to me and behind me without incident. I've tried to pinpoint what gets him into these moods, and they seem to happen when he smells something that excites him, and he comes right at me.
This problem has only been getting worse, more frequent, and more worrisome outside. For the first week he was here he did not bite my ankles so much, and I think the reason is that he was exercising with me. The vet he's seeing told me not to take him out of our yard for eight more weeks, not until his vaccinations were complete. Well, that was no problem when he was running around outside with me in the yard; for the first week we ran around the house five or six times twice a day, and he was so exhausted that he barely even wanted to play with his toys. But then he stopped running with me. He prefers to dig and sniff and lie in the shade now, and I'm lucky now if I can get him around the house two or three times. He's been like this for the past five days now. I guess he got bored of the exercise routine, because now he is hyper all the time inside the house, and bored or violent outside the house. I haven't been able to train him on a leash yet because I'm on my third attempt to find a collar (I've also tried one harness) that fits him. All the other ones have been too big for him; he's gotten them all stuck in between his jaws even when pulled as tight as they go. Do any of you have a recommendation for a brand of collar that will fit a puppy his size, even one that I could buy online? I'm sure his acting out has a lot to do with the fact that he's not getting enough exercise anymore, but if I can get him trained on a leash I think I can get him running with me around the house in the yard again (and also a way to hold him back from biting my ankles). Also, do any of you have any advice on what I should do when he bites my ankle or grabs hold of my shoe and won't let go while outside? Inside I have recourse, but outside I have no place to put him for his time-out when he acts this way. Most of the time telling him no works, but today it did not, and he was not listening to me at all and just attacking and growling. If I crouch down and try to shield my shoes and ankles with my hands, he runs around them and grabs hold and won't let go.
Than you for reading this long post. I wanted to include all the information I could. Thanks again.
