potty training

[Jerry]

Its going pretty well,the only problem is Max dosent let us know when hes at the door. And if we don't see him he has an accident. How can we get him to bark or whine or something when he wants out? Thanks

[Tanya]

you can try bell training.
How do I teach my dog to ring a bell to go outside?

[smartrock]

Mine never learned to use the bells, I guess I didn't try very hard. I had to learn their "signal", which for both of mine is they come and stare at me, and if it's been a few hours since they were last out, I take them out. They don't generally stare at me to go out just because they want to be outside rather than inside, if I'm inside, that's where they want to be. They're adults now, so they can hold it longer. Your pup, at 4 months, is still at a stage where he needs to go out pretty frequently, so you should plan on taking him out every 2-3 hours during the day, just as a matter of routine, while you're trying to get him to understand what those bells are all about.

[Tanya]

I haven't really ever had a dog ask to go out to be honest. even fosters. I mean the younger fosters i could see stop mid-play and sniff so we ran out but no "ask". Except if Rocky has diarhea he has a tell if it's night (he cuddles and puts his head on my chest). I figure i just take them out enough they never realllly need to ask. The younger they are the less "freedom" they have so i use baby gates to keep them near me so I can catch any behavior that may signal a pee.

[Jerry]

Thanks for the help guys. Ill give the bell a try.

[ZoeysMommy]

you may never see a "sign" some dogs are very subtle about it. I have a 7 year old lab and a 7 month old lab and I have never seen a direct sign. With puppies you want to take him out more than he needs to go. So if he is awake and playing you will always want to supervise and take him out every 30 minutes and always take him out after any activity such as eating, sleeping, etc.

Personally I feel that successful potty training is about staying one step ahead. My youngest had one accident in the house at 10 weeks when we first brought her home and she hasn't had one since. I am constantly letting her outside and praising her. I will continue to do this until she is at least 1 years old

[Jerry]

ok , put the bell up a couple of days ago and Max rang it today for the first time on his own. Yeah! The only problem is my 2 Weiner dogs thought it was the door bell and barked like crazy.lol

[smartrock]

ok , put the bell up a couple of days ago and Max rang it today for the first time on his own. Yeah! The only problem is my 2 Weiner dogs thought it was the door bell and barked like crazy.lol

Ha ha! Ah, yes. I can see that happening. My daughter's dog is quite a barker and it's not unusual for her to bark at noises that should not require her attention. Congratulations with Max's progress! Good luck with the weiner dogs!

[Annette47]

We have a dog door, so they don’t usually need to ask for permission to go out. All of my older ones, if we were somewhere without a dog door would just go back and forth to the door until we got the idea, although they were fully trained adults by then.

The other day, we had put the panel in to close off the dog door for a bit and forgot to take it out, and I guess Sass needed to go out because she started whining and running in circles. I got the point and let her out, but she’s the first one who’s been at all vocal about it.

[SunDance]

Prior to these two, my dogs all spent a lot of time outdoors. Other than when they were puppies...and being taken out constantly...no one ever asked to go out as far as I can remember.

These two? Please...

Sunnie doesn't really go to the bathroom. Seriously...she's a poop- and pee-camel. She'll go on walks and that's almost exclusively the only time. Once in a blue moon she'll go in the backyard if I'm out there with them. Oh yes....I have to be out there or else she'll just sit at the door.

Dan goes on command. Even if he doesn't have to do anything, he'll assume postures and look at me pleadingly until I tell him "OK, good boy, you tried". Every now and then he honestly doesn't have to go at a time I think he should.

Sunnie never asks to go out.

Dan....oh, Dan....

Dan stares. Sometimes from across the room or from behind the edge of a wall. And sometimes a stare just means he wants me to get up so that he can be in the chair I'm in.

Bells didn't work for us...can't always hear the bells unless you're close enough to the door.

We've had two accidents from these dogs. Sunnie's accident was soon after we first got her and she hid behind a chair to have diarrhea (that was actually a few times the same day but I'll count that as once). Dan's accident was after I'd asked my husband to take him out and wasn't told that Dan hadn't really done anything on that trip...by the time Dan let me know he had to go out, the pee was already running out.