Hi everyone. I am new here and I've looked everywhere for some ideas on how to tell when your puppy needs to go to the bathroom but I just can't find a specific solution to my problem. My 4-month-old lab rarely has accidents indoor because I take her out very often, but I want to train her to tell me when she needs to go. I wait for her signs but she hasn't given any. If I don't take her outside in time, she would pee inside her exercise pen. Also, I have a bathroom area set up for her in the yard, and she goes every time we take her there, but occasionally when she plays in the yard, she just pees wherever she is in the yard and doesn't go to the bathroom area. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Hi Wor, Welcome to the forum! It's not unusual for the signs a puppy needs to toilet to be very subtle at 4 months old. And also probably only very brief, just before they go. So, more time observing her and getting to know her habits will help a lot. Some people teach their puppies a way of asking to to go out, such as scratching the door, or ringing a bell hung from the handle. This can be a double-edged sword - if she likes playing in the yard, and she learns a signal which makes you open the door to the yard, she might start using that signal whenever she fancies going out, and not just because she needs to pee! If you have an area of the yard you would specifically like her to toilet in, then you need to pretend to yourself that the rest of your yard is an extension of the inside of your house - supervise her closely there, take her to the 'correct' bit of yard for toileting regularly, and clean up accidents in other bits of the yard thoroughly. It can be tricky to master if it's all the same under paw (eg. all grass), and if other animals are still using the rest of the yard as a toilet at night (foxes etc) and leaving toilet smells behind! It would be interesting to hear if any of our other posters have had success with it though! Let us know ho you get on
If you want to teach them to ring a bell you can do what I do in that I have a pen area set up right outside back door, so Clover (6 month old puppy) knows to do toilet in that area and if we are going into the garden I have to open the pen door first. It's good because it makes it obvious where her toilet area is and I can let her out without fear she'll just go running into the garden and forget to toilet. I haven't taught the ring the bell to ask because if she wants to go she will just stare at me and then look at the door so I take her out. I feel like she's saying either take me out right now or I'll watch you clean up my mess
Thanks for the comment and the advice! I think it’s going to be so hard now to clean up the yard since she’s probably peed all over. I suppose I would have to stick to taking her to the bathroom area before and after play. As for ringing the bell, I think it will be a disaster now because she’s still chewing everything! I hope this chewing phase will pass and then I can try to teach that to her. s!
Unfortunately I can’t set up a pen near the bathroom area and when she stares at me, I open the door for her, but she wouldn’t budge. I think she just wants me to play with her. She’s getting very needy now when I don’t play with her. I must have been spending too much time with her she’s become reliant on me. Thanks for sharing though! I will keep trying.
Hello, I think dogs are much older when they start asking/telling you they need to go out. At 4 months their bladders are only just starting to mature and have a bit of time to go before they are totally reliable. I also think all dogs are different and they all find a way that works for them. I have had 5 dogs with different methods one sat and barked at the door, one pawed at the door, one just sat at the door, one never bothered to tell us and just managed around family coming and goings and my current lab come and asks me. She bashes me with her nose. All methods they worked out themselves. So, maybe give her time and she will find her way.
I'm curious, when you teach a dog to only toilet in a certain place in the yard, does he/she have a problem when you are away from home? Our dogs seem to pick a few places in they yard that they prefer, so it is not to hard to do poop patrol in the yard. We have no lawn, only fir needles, fir cones understory plants and gravel paths. We have had a dog door from the family room to the fenced back yard for 25 years, so once the dogs have the run of the house, we don't have to take them out, and accidents are not an issue. At our cabin, we can't really have a fence because of the snow depth, so we have to pay attention, and take them out.
I'm afraid I'm not an expert on the details! I believe it's most often used for guide dogs, and they are taught cues for peeing and pooping too, so that if their handler is away from home they can use the cues to ask their dog to toilet in an appropriate place
