Wendy And Max
- Thread starter woohoo
- Start date
brody_smom
Experienced Member
Many experts will tell you not to train your dog to ask to go out, but rather take him out on a schedule. Reward him whenever he does something. I have taught my dog to touch a string of jingle bells hanging from the doorknob. This is the method I used:
http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/guide/teaching-dog-ask-go-out
Very easy to do, and less annoying than a bark. They do learn to abuse this, though, and ask to go out just for the fun of it when they don't need to "go". I snap on a leash and take doggy out. If he does something, praise and/or treat. If not, back inside, no praise/treat.
southerngirl
Honored Member
Most dogs come up with there own way to let you know they need to go. My Missy whines and she'll go from me to the door until I let her out, and Chase will whine, nudge you, and even get on your lap. So your dog might come up with a way to let you know on it's own.
jackienmutts
Honored Member
My first question would be ... how old is your puppy? Is he really housetrained yet? You can't train a puppy to ask to go outside to potty until he really understands where he's supposed to go - so that's the first order at hand. Not sure if I missed a thread someplace where you've intro'd yourself and your puppy, age, etc - my apologies if I have. Is he fully housetrained? If not, that's where you start. How old is he? A regular potty schedule, often depending on age, is a good place to start, getting him outside regularly, as suggested above, and throwing a big party when he does his business outside. This takes time and patience. Young puppies have so many things to learn in this life, barking to go outside should be the last thing they need to worry about. And as suggested above too, you may want to re-think that barking idea - or you may have a dog who never shuts up. 
Bells at the door, or a dog who paws you, or comes and stares at you, something besides barking, may be a better idea. Until a dog starts to mature, it's up to the people to stick to a potty schedule and make sure they get outside lots, and as often as necessary, so hopefully accidents in the house can be avoided. If a puppy has an accident, it's OUR fault, not theirs - it means WE didn't get them out in time - so it means more attention needs to be paid to how YOUR dog tells you he needs to go outside. And as also stated above, each dog will develop their own way to tell you, you just have to learn to "listen", learn to read your own dog. It's a two-way communication between you and your dog. They learn to read us so well, but we must also learn to read them.
If you have any questions about how to housetrain, or if you're having trouobles in that area, please feel free to ask.
Bells at the door, or a dog who paws you, or comes and stares at you, something besides barking, may be a better idea. Until a dog starts to mature, it's up to the people to stick to a potty schedule and make sure they get outside lots, and as often as necessary, so hopefully accidents in the house can be avoided. If a puppy has an accident, it's OUR fault, not theirs - it means WE didn't get them out in time - so it means more attention needs to be paid to how YOUR dog tells you he needs to go outside. And as also stated above, each dog will develop their own way to tell you, you just have to learn to "listen", learn to read your own dog. It's a two-way communication between you and your dog. They learn to read us so well, but we must also learn to read them. If you have any questions about how to housetrain, or if you're having trouobles in that area, please feel free to ask.
woohoo
New Member
Thank you very much for your helpful replies. Max is 6 months old and he is housetrained. I let him out lots and most of the time, he does toilet outside. I will try the bells idea and will also watch for signs from him that he needs to go that maybe I'm missing. Thanks again.
Attachments
MaryK
Honored Member
Yes do watch the 'signs'. For example, my youngster (three years old now) has almost from the word go, after I spent hours teaching him potty training, will really 'worry' me - he jumps up then off runs a little way to the door and will 'rinse and repeat' this if necessary. My older boy (now 13 and well and truly potty trained) tends to this day to just stand by the door and 'knock' the door quite hard, fortunately I have excellent hearing and my youngster will now race in and let me know Zeus wants to go potty.
I wouldn't encourage barking though, that can develop into a real pain, for everyone. Bells are a good one to use and not hard to teach a dog but some dogs will take advantage of this and ask to 'go' all the time.
I wouldn't encourage barking though, that can develop into a real pain, for everyone. Bells are a good one to use and not hard to teach a dog but some dogs will take advantage of this and ask to 'go' all the time.
MaryK
Honored Member
Oh yes, they're both characters in their own way. It is handy with Ra Kismet letting me know Zeus wants to go potty, although LOL, I think it's also because he just wants to go out for a playHi MaryK, thank you for your response. Your two sound great characters and its so cute that the younger dog tells you when the older one wants to go.