house breaking....

Question
This may be a little long, sorry.

I have a miniture dachshund that is two years and 7 months old.  She has been through a lot so far.  She got parvo at 3 months from the pet store where we bought her. For about the first 2 years of her life she was always with my wifes grandmother at home 24/7. At first she was getting trained to go to the bathroom outside until her grandmother broke her arm and then wasnt able to take her out anymore.  My wife and her mother worked long hours so she got into the habit of going to the bathroom inside wherever she wanted because the grandmother couldnt take her outside anymore.  I did not agree with this but she wasnt my dog yet and I couldnt do anything about it because I didnt live there.  

We got married in January and we brought her to our home and I have been working with her since.  It has been very tough to break her out of old habits.  I have gotten her to tell me when she needs to go to the bathroom while someone is home but when no-one is home, she goes wherever she wants.  I have tried a few times to get her to go on newspaper but she thinks its a game and starts playing and/or chewing the paper.  How do I get her to stop this and/or hold it until someone gets home?  This is not everday but almost everyday where she will pee and poop once during the hours when me and my wife are at work.  

FYI, I take her out right before we leave the house in the morning and as soon as I get home and then a few other times during the night until we go to bed.  I give her two small treats in the morning and then feed her, her food when I get home from work.

Thank you so much for your help.

Mike

Answer
Hi Michael;
It sounds like you feed her once a day.
I disagree with this as I feel 24 hours is a long time to go between meals. Dogs that are fed only once a day tend to overeat at mealtime, and it just seems to work better to feed them twice a day after they are 1 year old, for the rest of their life. Of course, uinder one year they need to be fed more often.
I feed puppies 4 times per day until they are 4 to 5 months old, then three times a day till 1 year, then twice a day for the rst of their life.
Giving her treats in the morning is setting up her bowels to have to move. After dogs eta, sometimes it is 5 minutes, sometimes longer, their bowels have to move. So you are setting that one up, and when she DOESN'T go in the house, she has exercised a LOT iof control.
Feed her as soon as ou get up, then see that she has been taken outside until she has gone well. She may go, and run around for 30 minutes or so, and have to go some more.
Then as soon as you get home, take her outside. After feeding her her dinner, take her out again, and a walk would help make her bowels move very well.
Some alternatives would be a doggy litter box.
They are now making them for dogs, and there is a special litter for dogs to go in them.
After feeding her, watch until she starts to sqwat to go or goes around in circles loking for a place to go, and take her to the litter box and put her in it. If you can catch her at a time when she can't hold it any longer, and actually starts to go, and could set her in the litter box, and after she goes in there, praise her and make a big deal about what a good girl she is, how smart she is, etc, etc.
To show a lot of enthusiasm so she knows she has pleased you.
That will show her not only is it ok, for her to go there, but that is what you want.
When you come home and she has gone there, praise her and throw a big appreciation fit again.
If it is possible to install a doggy door that opens into a safe, fenced yard, that would be a big help to you.
My doggy door saves me many steps during to day to open a door for mine, or to get up at night. They go and come as they please.
It must be a safe place that they cannot get out of and get lost or run over, but also where nobody can gain access to steal them.
Charlotte