Training "I need to go outside daddy!"

[iammike]

Charlie is doing very well these days. My most recent achievement has been to get him to leave a treat on his paw for a short period of time until I give him permission to "get it". We're working on extending the time but we just started this a couple days ago.

Now on to the reason for this post. One issue I have is that his signs for needing to go outside are extremely subtle. Much more subtle than they were when he was younger. No barking or hanging out by the door or whimpering or anything.

I read about hanging a bell from the door and I bought some made just for that reason so that the bells were made out of really strong steal so that they wouldn't bend if the dog chewed on them. Unfortunately he just sees the bell as a toy for tug, slapping around, chewing, etc.

Anyone have some suggestions on what worked for them so that Charlie can start learning to announce when he needs to go? I don't expect him to be perfect about this but I'd like him to start learning it sooner rather than later.

[Sophiesmama]

Have you taught Charlie to speak on command? We had the same problem with Sophie. She would go sit by the back door and not make a sound. We can't see the back door except when someone is in the kitchen, so we didn't know when she was waiting. We started going to where she was waiting and we would tell her to "speak". Once she did, we would open the door. We also would ask her, "Sophie Outside?" We kept doing this and before long she got it! Now, in the early mornings, she will wake us up by speaking and kind of grumbling at us if we don't wake right up! We talk to Sophie all the time. She knows and responds to many phrases. If we ask her if she's hungry and tell her to go to the kitchen, she will tilt her head and listen and head to the kitchen. At night, I will tell her, "Sophie, mama's going to bed"... she will come from wherever in the house she is, and jump on my bed and wait for me. She will respond to "Sophie, go look out the window" ...she gets in her chair and gazes out the window, or if I say Sophie, Daddy's home, she heads to the front door. We talk to her all the time. That is what we did with our last dog, and I swear, she understood just about everything we said. Labs are really smart. Good luck with Charlie.

[deidra]

I think Sophie's mom gave good advice. With Mae we taught her to paw at the door and she taught her self to whimper if we wouldn't come. Then Tank picked it up from Mae and then Bentley picked it up from both of them. But they also will come paw me and run to the door also.

[CindersMyGirl]

I would think twice about teaching the dog to paw the door because you'll end up with a scratched door.

We taught Cinder to ring a bell. We have a leather strip that has jingle bells on it. Every time we took her out we'd say 'let's go potty' in an excited voice and ring the bell. She picked up on it in no time. One of the pugs will occasionally ring the bell, but usually just comes running when Cinder rings the bell.

[Mark_J]

Sophie's mom gave great advice. I never did like the idea that a puppy (or any dog) having to ring a bell, push a button or use any other external means to signal a bathroom break was needed. Mostly because I didn't want to mount anything like that in the car or truck. A single bark is a great way to have your dog tell you they need a walk, and you can never have an 'equipment malfunction' that leads to an accident!

[CindersMyGirl]

I think as long as you find a cue that the dog and person both understand you're fine. I don't like a dog barking to tell me it's potty time, but that's just a preference. Cinder will give a little whimper if we're on a car ride and she has to potty.

My friends dog comes and stares at her, which works for her, but if she's not home her husband and kids don't pick up on this signal.

Just pick one and be consistent and your dog will learn very quickly.

[deidra]

Yes,I should have warned about the door scratches! The door they go to was already scratched up a little so we didn't really care

[SharonaZamboni]

I've been saying "Ooouuut" to Bean, and now he's trying to say "out". Cuter than a bark . But he always lets me know he needs to go out. My problem was he wanted out a hundred times a day, not just for potty, so it was hard to tell when he REALLY needed out.

[HersheyK's Dad]

HK was never a problem, probably because I took her out so frequently. But DDs dog was a different story. We all had a problem figuring it out. She , we thought, knew she shouldn't go in the house. Because when she did, she always went to the farthest corner of an unoccupied room. When she was staying with us one day, I spotted her signal. She would come over to wherever you were, sit, and stare at you. Not a sound or a motion. Just sit and stare. If you missed it, or ignored it, she then quickly marched to that hidden place to relieve herself.

I mentioned this to my DD and SIL, and a light buld went off in their heads. They had observed this sit and stare, but never put it together with a request for relief. She hasn't peed in either house since.

[CindersMyGirl]

That's what my friends dog does!! And every time she's not home the dog potties in the house because no one else is as in tune to the dog.