Episodes > 110 > Pet Trainer

Wiener Dog Double Trouble

When a couple of empty nesters decide to take in a pair of cute
little Dachshunds, they think they'll get a double dose of love.
What they really get is duo on a mission of destruction!

Back when Mark and Iris Kraemer decided to get a pair of dogs to fill the void of their empty nest, they figured that getting two little dogs would be easy to manage...not so. In just a couple months sweet little Bo and Honey Bun, a pair of miniature Dachshunds simply managed to tear up their home, eat their carpet, walls, clothing and more. In Iris's own words, "...their mischief quickly turned into expensive damage!"

Aside from the destruction, the pair barked at virtually everyone making it almost impossible for the Kraemer's to have guests at their home. Bo climbed on all the furniture and even on tables looking to steal food. All this bad behavior and none of the endearing qualities they originally hoped for convinced Mark and Iris it was time to bring in a pet trainer...Pet Trainer 911 that is!

According to Coach Ronald White, "...these are not bad dogs...they're just spoiled dogs!" Coach said they had never been taught the structure a dog needs to behave ...from sleeping in the bed, to never being house trained. They were under the impression that they ran the house...and they did! Coach took the pair to his home "Boot Camp" for training.

Their main problem is chewing and eating things, so Coach Ron knew he had to use the big guns...hamburgers! "If you can get a dog to not go after a hamburger that is right in front of him, then you can teach him to drop anything. " said Coach Ronald. By using repetitive "leave it" and "time out" commands, Ronald began teach the pups that they were to chew on only what was allowed.

After training Bo and Honey Bun, Coach Ron had to equally train Mark and Iris to stick with the training. The lesson the Kraemer's took from Pet Trainer 911 is dogs aren't born with knowing how to obey...it takes time and patience, and that combination is what turned this one time gruesome twosome into a pair of ideal companions!

HERE’S THE POOP

The last time we checked, the AKC ranked the Dachshund number six, just after Beagles in popularity. Their name literally means "badger dog" in German as they were originally bred to hunt badgers. German foresters, in the 18th and 19th centuries, mixed a variety of breeds together, aiming for a fearless, elongated dog that could dig the earth from a badger burrow, and fight to the death with the vicious badgers that were unlucky enough to inhabit that burrow. Their barrel chests give them lasting lung capacity.