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Potty break: How do your Poos let you know?

4K views 32 replies 32 participants last post by  Mel 
#1 ·
I think I've finally got it... Finley's just over 4 months old now and I've been trying really hard to read her cues for when she needs to go outside for a potty break. We're on the 11th floor of a high-rise so I'm trying to avoid the unnecessary back-and-forths that comes with having a dog in an apartment.

The no-brainers are first thing in the morning out of the crate, after meals, and right before bed. But it's the between meal breaks that needed closer observation.

So, onto her bathroom break signal... she stops whatever she's doing, and I mean whatever, and comes over to us and sits really, really pretty... like, hello-I-need-to-continue-to-look-this-cute-and-pretty-so-please-don't-make-me-soil-myself-indoors-pretty. No whining (except in the car when she's in the backseat and we're not in her direct line of sight), no theatrics... Just. Pretty.

(Side-note: you ever write a word so many times it starts to look incorrect and foreign? Yeah, "pretty" looks like that right now)

So, what do all y'alls Poos do to let you know "I gotta go now! Let me out or I will unleash my bowels and bladder all over the house!"
 
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#3 ·
Oooh, nice post and well timed for me! I am working on this too. I am just at the stage of giving Ziva more house-freedom, and trying to make sure I decipher her signals. Ziva is 4 months. She has made a few goofs that I've caught her in, so we've had a "NO" opportunity a couple of times, and I am not sure, but I think she has the idea, as she has not had a goof in something like 2-3 weeks.

I am lucky in that I have a ground-floor door situation, so I just need to be watching for any signals toward the door. I don't envy you your 11-storey travel time!

As you say, it's those in-between times that are the challenge. I am still working on anticipation rather than strong signal, which is a slower method, since she definitely needs to learn a strong signal. If she is confined in her large playpen-area-walled-off-section-of-the-family-room, she will give me a bark, first a whine, then if I don't respond escalating to a bark, and gives me plenty of forewarning. I ignored that forewarning to my (and her) detriment 3 weeks ago and I finally got the hang of that.

When she is on her increasingly long periods of time with roam of most of the house (only when I can watch her, still), I have to be vigilant. Her only signal so far is to look toward and move closer to the door. It's a little subtle and quick, and if I did not have my eyes right on her, not sure I would have caught it. But since I know that if she's loose I have to watch, so I've been able to see it, and give her the outing and tons of praise.

Since she was 7 weeks old, I use the "get busy" cue to associate with her pottying. I never knew whether it was really working or not, was just trying to create the association. But now, more and more, I say "get busy" when we are in an opportune pottying place, like just before a drive, and she IS peeing "on command" to that tune.
 
#6 ·
Rufus goes to the door and either scratches the door till we obey or gives a couple of barks. Russell goes to the door and tries a quiet sit first, and if that doesn't work he hits the bell that is tied to the door handle.
 
#8 ·
Ralph will go to the back door and look outside. If he's just there to spy on the outside he will just walk away when he is done looking, but if he is there because he wants outside he will look for a bit, sit next to the door, then when that doesn't work he will come over to me, then back to the door. Now when I ask if he wants "outside" his eyes light up if he does want out. This didn't really happen until he was 6 months though. BEfore then I was clueless and always just let him out even if I was in doubt.
 
#9 ·
Kohl comes up to me, and gives me a poke with his nose. 50/50, it's a request for attention rather than for a potty break.

To tell the difference, I can either ask "Do you have to go outside?" which gets an immediate and enthusiastic bark if he needs to go, and silence if he doesn't, or I can ignore him. If I've ignored him, he'll eventually sit in front of me and bark once if he needs to go. I always ask him "Do you have to go outside?" and have him bark again anyway - I want that to be the cue for him that I've understood and am coming to let him out.

I've had trouble with my last dog who didn't give a clear signal. All he did was intensify his stare, which was hard to tell, since he stared at me ALL the time. I want Kohl to keep trying to get my attention if he's been too subtle or I'm too distracted to get it the first time. It seems to be working ...
 
#10 ·
Delphi hasn't really perfected the signal... Or I haven't perfected noticing them! I take her out at all the 'obvious' times, and besides for that, I ask her if she needs to go and if she runs to the door I know. But I have to ask!

I really want to teach her to use the bell on the door handle...
 
#13 ·
Panda normally just goes on our walks and doesnt need to go out other than on walks but if he does he will sit by the door looking at the handle, if that doesnt work (i.e. I am not in sight of the door) he comes trotting over but stops half way, stands there and looks at me then goes back to the door.
 
#15 ·
During the day, Trev is in and out so much that he rarely needs to actually ask. At night, he's learning that whining and scratching on my bedroom door wakes me up. So he will whine and scratch until I wake up, then lead me to whatever he wants...whether that be a trip outside or a drink of water. Slightly annoying, but I'd rather he do that then potty inside. ;)
 
#16 ·
Interesting thread..

Stella will go to the patio door with a toy in her mouth and stand wagging her tail..

I dont know about Madonna yet. I am still letting her out almost every time she gets on the move! She has lived in a home and in a kennel with indoor/outdoor access. Im told she is house broken and she does seem to be for the most part..(had 3 accidents inside in the first 3 days! but none since...) but she likes to potty on my cement outside..:argh:
I hope she will learn that grass is ok too!
 
#17 ·
I bell trained our first mini, Ruby and our 4 month old Rosie is doing pretty good with it so far.

I use a couple of those large jingle bell necklaces. They hang low so there is no need to jump up to reach them.

Everytime we went outside we would ask "Do you want to go out? Ring the bell." We would repeat "Ring the bell" a few times until she does and then we praise and let her out. At first we would ring the bell and see if we could get her to ring with her nose or paw. If not we would hold her paws and make her ring the bell, praise and open the door.

Most of the time Rosie will ring the bell. Sometimes with vigor! She has also learned that ringing the bell will get her out to hang out on the deck. She frustrates us sometimes with the constant in and out. I just can't say no to her right now. I really want her to know that we will let her out every time the bell rings.

It's funny, she has had a couple of #2 accidents where I don't think she rang the bell. I had just put her breakfast down and went upstairs to wake my daughter up, then I was going to go back down and let her out. By the time I came out of her room I see Rosie high tailing it out of our bedroom. I did not even see her come up, it was less than a minute. Our master bath is totally gutted, just plywood and studs right now. Well, Rosie went into the master bath and pooped on the brand new plywood. She did that twice before I changed the timing on how I fed her and waking up my daughter. I could not believe she could have wolfed down her breakfast, ran upstairs and pooed in the time it took me to go upstairs and wake my daughter, whose room is at the top of the stairs. I think it is funny that when she did go, she did it in the bathroom.

Rosie is very stealthy. I am constantly looking for her, only to discover she has been behind me the whole time! I call her the invisible dog.

When we traveled when Ruby was young, I just brought the jingle bells with us and showed her where they were. Did an orientation training, ring the bell, praise, and let her out. We did not really have a problem. When Ruby was older, we did not have to bring the bells while traveling. She just went to the door, or we let her out frequently or she looked at me and spoke with mental telepathy. Ruby NEVER barked unless there was someone at the door and then only 1-2 under her breath barks. I always wanted her to bark to be let out, but that was just not her. The bells worked perfectly.

We will do the same thing with Rosie when we travel. Rosie, however, IS a barker. Occasionally, she will bark to be let out, if we are not fast enough on her bell signal, but usually it is because she sees a squirrel, bird or a piece of bark she wants to chew.

Hope this helps.
 
#21 ·
I think it is funny that when she did go, she did it in the bathroom.
Guinness is now 8 months old, and hasn't had an accident since about 5 months. The only time he did was about a month ago, we heard him barking in the night and didn't get up, since he had gone outside about 3 hours before. Anyways, we woke up in the morning, stepped into the shower, and right into his nice big poo he had left for us.

I couldn't even be mad, I was so impressed he had thought to go in the bathtub.

On a side note, the only time he goes in the bath is "bathtime" which he doesn't really enjoy. So I'm doubly impressed. I love this breed!
 
#19 ·
Neither of my poos give any signal, but that's probably because I'm taking them out every hour. Gracie needs a little extra leash training and socialization around outside noises (she barks at EVERYTHING) so I just take them around to different things. I would like to teach them to wait by the door, but since we live in an apartment I think they see their leashes as their cue more so than the door. Very confusing!
 
#23 ·
If Jet is in his crate he will whine quietly. A nice polite little whine. :) When he is loose (it has only happened once) he started pacing. I need to get around training the bell. (My fiance took the dog bells to work last year and never brought them home!)

A few years ago I was really sick and had a dog pee in the shower when I couldn't get up. I thought it was brilliant and "litter trained" her to go in the shower. The shower was super easy to clean compared to a litter box. Like one of the fake grass pads, minus fake grass that is hard to clean. I have a service dog client with a lab and she trained him to go in the shower because her wheelchair couldn't get out to his potty area with all the snow.
 
#25 ·
Here's a funny potty story about my Wilby. When he was about 9 weeks old, he did his first and only poopy in his crate during the night. At the time, I lined his crate with newspaper just in case. When I heard him crying, I got up to check on him and found he had rolled his poo neatly in newspaper and pushed it into the far corner of the crate. What a clever boy!

Wilby's almost 4 months old now and he's mostly potty trained. He knows how to use the doggy door to let himself out into the fully fenced backyard and does his business there. He gets a bit confused when other people come to visit, though, or if we're in a part of the house that's further away from the doggy door. His cues are extremely subtle then. He'll just stop what he's doing a look at me, waiting for me to notice and take him outside.
 
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