Dosen't tell us he has to go to the bathroom

[phillies]

Hi
Our puppy Melky has been really good with potty training, he is 4 months old and maybe had 3-4 accidents in the house and we have had him over 2 months now. The only problem is he dosen't tell us he has to go to the bathroom. The way I trained him was we always went out the back door to go to the bathroom - we never went out the front door so what he does is, he will go sit at the back door, but never tells me he has to go. I follow his every step since he is still in puppy/training stage, but i like to give him somee leway so he will walk to the back door and get real quiet so I go in there and he just sits by the back door - i take him out and he goes to the bathroom, but why won't he tell me he has to go?
I am not sure exactly how to train him to get him to tell me he has to go to the bathoom

 

[Furface]

In his own way i think he is telling you, by sitting at the door. We have 2 babies, and Storm will stand up at the door when he wants to go, so it is obvious, but Devon will walk past it and glance, that is her tell. She will also stay in the door area. Neither of mine are vocal about it.

 

[djheitz]

If he already knows to go to the door, why don't you give bell training a try? Just hang some jingly bells from the door and tap them each time you take him out (you can use his paw to do it). He should soon associate the sound of the bells with the door opening. One warning, though...they've been known to ring the bells just to get outside to play, so you will have to be diligent about taking him out every time, even if he doesn't actually go.

 

[maggiedad]

Tell tail sign to go outside

We trained Maggie to ring some bells that we have hanging from the door knob. We would ring them everytime she had to go out as a puppy and she got the message within a week. Now she's annoying and rings them everytime she sees any kids playing outside, bird in the yard or squirrel in a tree but it beats having to walk behind her to clean up.

 

[BostonGeorge]

When Boston was a puppy...he would just go sit by the door. Thats how I knew he needed to go out. All dogs have different ways of letting you know things...they dont always have to bark or whine.

 

[srennie]

Sitting at the door is 100% his way of telling you. That is what both of my dogs do. I've actually never had a dog that barked to go out and honestly, I wouldn't want a dog barking at me to let them out. I think sitting quietly at the door is a much more respectful way of 'asking' rather than barking and demanding. So, consider yourself 'asked' in the most respectful way. A bell is also certainly an option if you are afraid you won't be quick or attentive enough to notice each time he goes to the door.

 

[whiskers]

Yep, that IS his way of telling you. Both my dogs do that. They just sit and stare through you until you let them out. It can make it complicated if I'm in the kitchen or something, and don't have a view of the door... so when I see them sitting there it's like geez! How long have you been waiting! Usually though I can see the door, and if we're downstairs and they suddenly go upstairs, I usually just assume they're going to head to the door to be let out. Honestly though I prefer it. It's much easier to ignore them then when they only want to go outside to bark at the neighbor's dog.

You can teach him to ring a bell or paw at the door if you want something a little more audible. I think though, that when he's older and knows to hold it and you don't feel like you need to rush to let him out, you won't mind him quietly asking.

 

[Kilby'sMum]

Kilby just sits quietly too and if I don't know she's there she'll come find me and stare at me then head back to the door. Kona on the other hand barks to go out before she even reaches the door. I much prefer the silent, polite approach.

 

[trc4941]

Dino has NEVER let us know when he has to go potty and he's 4 yrs old. He doesn't even sit by the door. Rocco will ring the bell (he figured it out within 2 days) and we've tried to teach Dino to do the same but he just doesn't get it. We just let him (Dino) out every once in awhile. He has never had an accident so it really hasn't been an issue. He also doesn't let us know he wants to come back into the house. Rocco paws at the door and will then bark if you don't respond to the pawing. Sometimes we forget Dino is outside! When we finally go to let him in, he's just sitting there patiently waiting.

 

[gmacleod]

Definitely give bell training a go (there are tons of threads on the forums that can help you with how to go about it).

Very few dogs think of giving an audible signal when they need out - they just do what your guy is doing, head for the door and wait there in the hope that you'll notice and open it. Whilst you're still housetraining, of course, it's imperative that you DO notice and let the poor dog out Bell training is just a means of teaching the dog to make some noise (in this case, ringing a bell or any other noisy thing that you hang near the door - could be as simple as a set of noisy keys that YOU will hear and recognise as his "door bell") when he wants you to open the door. Note that that is when he wants you to open the door - it has nothing to do with WHY he wants you to open the door, so you can (especially at the beginning) expect to have the "doorbell" rung for more reasons than out for toilet. But that is fine, as long as toilet stops are amongst the reasons he asks for the door to be opened, and as long as you always open it.