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I am a big believer in not letting your doxie go out to potty late at night unless they are on a leash. I will let her go out off leash when I go outside to work in the latter part of the day. I keep a close eye on her and she knows that I don't allow her out of my sight.
Sometimes though at night we have gotten tired of putting clothes on and going out in the cold. Dolly absolutely refuses to potty inside the house. In her mind no proper dachshund does such a lowlife thing and her outside territory must be marked to let trespassers know that our home is protected by a fierce and mighty dachshund.
Very early this morning it was still dark and none of us felt like going out with her. So we did something we almost never do now and that is let her go out on her own to potty. Since it was cold we figured she'd go out and do her business and come right back. Well... she came back alright but it was with the lesson that this will not happen again.
She'd been out maybe 10 minutes. She was not barking or showing any sign of distress. Gretchen went to check on her. When she did she found a very scared little dog who wanted her to pick her up and put her in her arms. This is a big deviation in her behavior. She does not like being carried into the house. Her routine is to bark to be let back in and when the door is open she comes strutting in occasionally giving you the "Thank You!" look. Then we are supposed to strut to my recliner and jump up on me or we go directly to the bedroom and tunnel under the blanket. This morning Gretchen sat her down and she went blasting by me then leapt on the bed immediately burying under the covers as if to hide.
She acted scared the rest of the morning. I don't know what she saw. I have seen her scare big dogs away with a look. There was one time she would not get in the truck with me and decided to go down to Missy's to Potty and to see if the Thomas family had processed more deer meat. On the way back two pit bulls spotted her and ran at her. instead of running she stood and stared at them. They backed off walked off a way but then came running back at her. That time all she did was sit down and glare at them. If your hind end is on the ground you don't have to worry about the second dog sneaking in behind you and biting your butt. By that time I was down there with the truck. I yelled at the pit bulls, they ran off and Dolly came strutting to the truck like "Thank you but I had them covered."
I figure that she came across either a coyote or maybe even a mountain lion. There has been a few of them killed close by on the roads in the last several years. Usually when we are out with her at night we have a big walking stick or hiking staff. Animals, dogs especially, seem to be afraid of humans carrying sticks. Dolly seems to know that we have the stick for defensive purposes.
We love our little dog. We will no longer be lazy with her at nighttime. We owe it to her to protect her because for one she'd do the same for us.
Sometimes though at night we have gotten tired of putting clothes on and going out in the cold. Dolly absolutely refuses to potty inside the house. In her mind no proper dachshund does such a lowlife thing and her outside territory must be marked to let trespassers know that our home is protected by a fierce and mighty dachshund.
Very early this morning it was still dark and none of us felt like going out with her. So we did something we almost never do now and that is let her go out on her own to potty. Since it was cold we figured she'd go out and do her business and come right back. Well... she came back alright but it was with the lesson that this will not happen again.
She'd been out maybe 10 minutes. She was not barking or showing any sign of distress. Gretchen went to check on her. When she did she found a very scared little dog who wanted her to pick her up and put her in her arms. This is a big deviation in her behavior. She does not like being carried into the house. Her routine is to bark to be let back in and when the door is open she comes strutting in occasionally giving you the "Thank You!" look. Then we are supposed to strut to my recliner and jump up on me or we go directly to the bedroom and tunnel under the blanket. This morning Gretchen sat her down and she went blasting by me then leapt on the bed immediately burying under the covers as if to hide.
She acted scared the rest of the morning. I don't know what she saw. I have seen her scare big dogs away with a look. There was one time she would not get in the truck with me and decided to go down to Missy's to Potty and to see if the Thomas family had processed more deer meat. On the way back two pit bulls spotted her and ran at her. instead of running she stood and stared at them. They backed off walked off a way but then came running back at her. That time all she did was sit down and glare at them. If your hind end is on the ground you don't have to worry about the second dog sneaking in behind you and biting your butt. By that time I was down there with the truck. I yelled at the pit bulls, they ran off and Dolly came strutting to the truck like "Thank you but I had them covered."
I figure that she came across either a coyote or maybe even a mountain lion. There has been a few of them killed close by on the roads in the last several years. Usually when we are out with her at night we have a big walking stick or hiking staff. Animals, dogs especially, seem to be afraid of humans carrying sticks. Dolly seems to know that we have the stick for defensive purposes.
We love our little dog. We will no longer be lazy with her at nighttime. We owe it to her to protect her because for one she'd do the same for us.
I live 200 feet from the road and in the country, so I just go out in my skivvies after dark. Our little Dachshund is NEVER off leash outdoors - just too many coyotes in our area.
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