How I Helped a Dachshund Stop Toileting Indoors and Reactive to Other Dogs By Balancing His Emotions

Why Behaviour Problems Are Really Emotional Problems

Before I could work on any of Cannolo's unwanted behaviours, I needed to understand what was driving them. Every mammal — dogs included — has seven core emotional systems: Seeking, Play, Care, Fear, Grief, Rage, and Lust. When these are out of balance, problem behaviours follow.

Cannolo's emotional assessment told me a lot. He was scoring high on positivity and arousal — bordering, in fact, on what behaviourists call a "mania" state. He was also massively over-indexed on Care (needing constant attention and affection) while being significantly underserved in Seeking and Play. That imbalance was the root of almost everything his owner was struggling with.

The fix wasn't punishment. It wasn't even really "training" in the traditional sense. It was about redesigning his daily life so his emotional needs were actually met.

Step 1: Unlocking His Inner Forager

Dachshunds were bred to go into burrows and hunt badgers. That drive to sniff, search, and find is literally written into Cannolo's DNA — and it was being suppressed entirely by a bowl of kibble placed in front of him twice a day.

The first thing I recommended changing was how he ate. His owner started using a snuffle mat (Cannolo already had one, which was a brilliant start), then introduced a Kong, then puzzle feeders, then scattered food around the flat for him to find using the cue "Find, Cannolo!" His usual portions were measured out and redistributed through these enrichment tools — same food, far greater impact.

The transition was gradual — one enrichment meal per day to start, then alternating, then fully switching over. Within a couple of weeks, mealtimes had gone from a ten-second bowl-emptying exercise to a 15–20 minute mental workout that left him genuinely satisfied and calm.

On walks, this was taken outside too. In a quiet park with no other dogs around, his owner would scatter pieces of sausage or cheese in the grass and let him sniff them out. I also encouraged letting Cannolo lead the way sometimes — following his nose rather than a predetermined route. A dog's sense of smell is over 40 times stronger than ours; the sniff-led detour he wanted to take was almost certainly more enriching for him than an efficient loop around the block.

Step 2: Play — More Than Just Fun

Cannolo's owner was putting in 30–45 minutes of play a day and assumed that was enough. It wasn't. The goal I set became a minimum of two hours of daily play, split between time with his owner, solo play, and eventually play with other dogs.

A DIY flirt pole (essentially a giant cat toy for dogs) tapped straight into his chase-and-grab instincts. Tug-of-war became a daily ritual. Ball games indoors, chasing games outside. Throughout all of it, I asked his owner to watch his arousal levels carefully — play is brilliant, but overstimulation would have pushed Cannolo closer to the mania threshold we were working hard to avoid.

The science here is compelling: play actively builds neural circuits, strengthens emotional resilience, and — crucially — acts as a buffer against the Fear system. A dog who plays enough is simply less reactive.

Step 3: Pulling Back on Care (Without Withdrawing Love)

This was the part of my recommendations that was hardest for Cannolo's owner to hear. He was getting too much affection — and it was making his separation anxiety worse. Every time he was allowed to snuggle on demand, or his attention-seeking was responded to instantly, or he was allowed to shadow his owner from room to room, it reinforced the idea that being apart was something to panic about.

Reducing Care didn't mean becoming cold. It meant becoming intentional — initiating cuddles on the owner's terms, building in short moments of independence throughout the day, and laying the groundwork for a proper separation anxiety programme further down the line. We agreed to tackle that once his Seeking and Play systems were properly balanced.

The Results: A Different Dog

Six weeks into following the plan consistently, Cannolo hasn't toileted inside the flat in over a month. The sniff-led foraging, the increased play, the regulated Care — all of it combined to lower his baseline stress and arousal to a level where he could finally read his own body's signals and communicate them properly. No more accidents. Not one.

And the reactivity to other dogs? Gone. On walks now, Cannolo notices other dogs, gives them a glance, and carries on sniffing the grass. The lunging, the barking, the frantic pulling — dissolved. Once his emotional needs were being met, there simply wasn't the surplus anxiety left over to explode at every Labrador he passed.

Cannolo is still exactly himself: curious, cheeky, and utterly obsessed with sausage. But now he's balanced. And a balanced dog is a dog who doesn't need to act out to feel okay in the world.