We seem to have created an annoying situation (for us). George, now 5 months, knows how to ask to go out to pee by scratching once at the door. We don't have an enclosed yard, so this means taking him out on the leash. Trouble is he is doing it every 15-30 minutes. Sometimes it is to pee and other times he just wants to noodle around on the lawn / sniff / watch people walk by and do nothing. We don't want to discourage the asking to go out - but any tips on how to decrease the frequency?
That's why I will never use bells. Once they know how to ask they ask for anything. ONce they get a bit older and you know they don't really have to pee or poop I just ignore. Till then I was at his mercy. Oban now has a neat trick about coming in again. I have told the OH over and over, if he wants to come in on his own it doesn't rate a treat, his reward is he got to do what he wanted, come in. I only treat for coming in when I have to call him from the back yard. So what does the dog figure out? Of course, wait for me to call him. He will actually stand where I can see him and wait for me to call. Sometimes I will wait him out and he will come on his own but it could take several minutes. Boy, did that ever backfire on me. However I have to note: I get much better recalls to come in the house than the OH does. I have one of the ones that is too smart for my own good. Sounds like you do too.
Love his name and what a cutie! This is our third lab now, and everyone of them has gone thru this stage. I agree with Snowshoe, that it's the worse when you bell train! We bell trained our second lab and right around the same age as yours, she would hit that bell all day long, mostly to go out and play, sniff or do nothing. We definitely did not do that this time around but Corona, now 6 months, went thru a stage where she would go sit at the door every 20 minutes. We also bring her out on leash, so I understand how annoying it is. I give her 5 minutes or so, and then in we go. She also has a very strong pee and poop command, so that helps. And if she JUST went, then I tell her to go lay on her bed or distract with some training or playtime. The stage didn't last all that long but a couple of weeks was long enough! This too shall pass!
Hi there, Ah as mentioned previously this is something a lot of us go through and come out the other side but it is annoying.Dexter at exactly the same age used to torture us sitting at the back door all evening asking to go out....he didn't want to toilet,he just wanted to hunt for pebbles to chew and dig up our irrigation system !!!! We had a pretty good feel for his toileting needs and how to watch for other signs besides sitting by the door so we used to either distract him with a game or ignore him! Sitting gazing into the night was preferable to 'The Prowl' though ....we had that going on at the same time too.....ie prowling round the house looking for smash and grab opportunities have you had the pleasure of that phenomenon yet? X
He'll grow out of it, the garden will lose its fascination. Meanwhile do training and games to distract him ...
I use a bell for Charlie when we rescued him as he didn't know how to ask, he used to ring it to go out and play but he soon grew out of it and just uses it when he wants to pee/poo so it works perfectly for us. Just try treating him when he comes in and only when he has toileted, that might work x
That is quite funny. And yes, I think so!! He's also figuring out that delaying peeing means he can stay out longer...
YES - he just discovered the recycling bin (ignored it entirely until now). He likes to select a different item each night, then try to get us to chase him for it. Glad to hear that he should get tired of the asking-to-go out routine.... thanks!
Thanks!! We think he's pretty cute too - I think we'll keep him Starting to see what you mean. He does seem more demanding/serious when he really *needs* to go out. Half the time it's just a half-hearted swipe at the door, so we've started to ignore those.... Cheers.
Glad that you are already seeing some change in the right direction! Archie has a great habit of just sitting at the door and staring at us. We get up to let him out, and then he will refuse to go! I think he just likes that he can get us to stop whatever we are doing and bow to his "needs." What a diva!!!
Oh gosh, yes! We have bells and Bessie's obnoxious with them. She also knows if Burke wants out and does his little "ask" bark for it (he has a special sort of bark-whine for "I need to go out") and I ignore him, she should go ring the bells for him so I get up! I will ignore if I know she's just gone pee or poop, but sometimes I don't know so I'm inclined to let her out again. @Snowshoe - I am so glad you said that about treating when they come in, because I've been doing that (treating when they come in the house when I call them but not if they want to come in on their own) so they've been waiting out there for me to get the treats out and call them before they'll even come in! I realize that now. Ack! Time to change tactics.
We have a bell for Daisy too. She will also at times just ring it to go and lie out on the grass. So if she has just recently been out and I know she can not want to go again and rings it I look at her and wait for a minute or two, when she know's I'm not moving, she goes and lies down again. I can tell now when it's real, as she won't move and then will ring again. So I think ignoring is a good idea if you know he's recently been out and really does not need to go again.
