How does your dog signal they have to go potty?

[LeroyJethro]

Right now all Jethro does is sit by the nearest door or door way. Which is great if he is in the same room with us and right now that is the case as he is with me 24/7 but I want him to have some freedom in the near future and he is not quite 100% there on the potty training as we have had a few urination accidents.

I am teaching him to ring a bell, eventually. Right now - we are learning Touch. He will touch my hand with his nose, then I will put a bell there where my hand is - like a Christmas bell you wear around your neck - and eventually associate ringing the bell and going outside.

That seems like a long process to me - so if you have any suggestions - i'm open!

Now I have to brag about my pup - tonight was the first time we'd practiced the hand touch; and he successfully performed about 8 to 10 out of 15 touches! One SMART pooch!

Would he get the association more quickly if I just rang the bell evertime he went outside instead of this whole touch Business?

There is a nice site for some positive reinforcement training tips and this is where I got this idea from too (sometimes the site is a little hinky and as a disclaimer i am not responsible for the content or website in any way) Dog Tricks! Shake, Crawl, Beg, Kiss, Roll Over, Bow, and more!

 

[dora]

My girl also sits by the door, the one downstairs to the back yard. I would be interested in suggestions too on how to get her to tell me better that she has to go!

She has some freedom now when I am home and will be playing with her toys and then sneak off and sit by the door ... then pee by the door if I don't let her out. Problem is I have a 3 story town home, so I don't always notice in time if she goes down to sit by door.

The bell idea is great! Would love to know best way to teach that too, as maybe I would 'hear' the bell from upstairs! Or maybe teach her some trick to tell me? Such as paw/high five me if she needs to go out?

How does other people's boxer let them know?

 

[Jan]

Just hang the bell by the door and have them ring it everything you take them out. They will soon figure it out. They will probably ring it excessively to start with and you should take them out every time.

Good luck!

 

[Cami]

My pup is now 4.5 months old. She rings the bell to alert me that she needs to go potty. She is my 2nd that I have trained using this method.
Quite simple really (I don't mean it will catch on in a day). Hang a bell on the handle of the door they use to gain access to the outside. Every time you open the door, just prior to opening it (a split second), ring the bell....open door.
Since you are teaching the "touch" command with your hand you can easily transition it to touching the bell. A paw or their nose will work. As soon as they touch the bell (again within a split second--almost as if in one motion) open the door. They will soon start to recognize that the sound of the bell equates to the door opening.
With my first girl she picked it up in one afternoon. She was about 5 months old when I decided to try. Potty training was already going really well and she had a bit more maturity. With Raine I started the day we brought her home. It took her a bit longer to associate the ringing with the door opening but again, she was 8 weeks old at the time she first heard the bell. She has been ringing it consistently for about a month and 1/2 or 3 months of age.
Be prepared for the bell to sound..... A LOT. Once they learn it opens the door they will ring it just to gain access outside...potty or no potty....so you still have to go outside with them to praise the actual potty!
During the first stages of bell training when you are not in the room but hear the bell it helps to vocalize a response. I just say "coming" and when I enter the room where the door is Raine is sitting nicely and waiting. Helps to keep her from continuing to ring the bell while waiting.
I also taught "touch" but for different reasons. It is a great command for them to know.

 

[dora]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing, I am going to get a bell next time I'm at the store and start that right away! I think my Dora should pick it up pretty quick, and I am guessing she will love the idea that ringing gets the door open and a free trip outside, so I expect alot of ringing once it clicks with her hahaha.

 

[rrboxer]

Our puppy is 5 mos and she sits by the front door and gives a tiny whine, or she just sits at the door and stares at us. I recognize her sound & we haven't had any accidents in many, many weeks can't remember last time she had an accident.

 

[Lizzie]

I had to smile at your post as her entire life all Diva (now 11.5 years) has ever done is just stand in front of me and stare - like I'm supposed to 'know' that this particular stare means "I need to go out"!! At least Monty (when he was alive) would give a bit of whine so I got the gist of what he wanted, but not Diva - just stands and stares like I can read her mind :D

 

[jzaun]

Lizzie, I had to chuckle when I read your post. Betty does the same exact thing. She will stare at me with those big brown eyes, and ever so slightly, move her eyes toward the door without moving her head! It's pretty darn cute. At least I know what she wants. When she wants a treat, all she has to do is look at the counter, look at me...look at the counter...look at me. I guess you could say we communicate non-verbally quite well...or...she has me trained quite well!
Julie
Mom to Betty, flashy fawn, cropped, docked

 

[whiskers]

Juno just stands by the door quietly. Works for us! We tried the bell when Lucy was a puppy but mostly our cat just played with it, so we quickly gave that up.

 

[RileyandMax]

Max just starts to prance around a whine... going to the back door and coming back to us. Sometimes I think that he just wants to go run a few laps around the yard .

Our other doggie never give any indication that she needs to go to the bathroom, she just holds it.... I'm pretty sure she's part camel. She grew up on the sorta bathroom routine of out when we wake up, out before we go to work, after work, and before bed, so she never really had to learn to tell us. We got our boxer last year and now they seem to get out again in to run around in the evening.