My puppy Monty 15 weeks old, is doing well. Complete nightmare but all normal puppy stuff, at least we had a full nights sleep last night! He has been really sick from giarda which he had when we got him. So finally he is going outside and is dry in the house... as long as the door is open. If the door is closed he runs around the room peeing as he goes! How do I get him to give me a sign other than going to the door. I've been told just to watch him and when he goes to the door rush to open it, but I can't be watching all day, especially as the door is off the kitchen not visible from all other rooms. Any ideas? I kind of need him to bark or maybe a doggy doorbell???? Thanks.
Some people use bells, but the thought of that sets my teeth on edge. People have also found that the puppy will start ringing the bells whether he wants to go out for a wee or just to play. That is the problem with teaching anything where the dog makes a noise to go out; you run the risk of it becoming annoying later on. @Boogie's advice of not teaching your puppy to do something you don't want an adult dog to do is very sound. The benefit with ringing bells, I suppose, is that you can take them away. But, still, the thought of that noise.... nope, it's not for me. My advice, and what I do with all my puppies, is to take him out regularly. If he doesn't go when you take him out, pop him in his crate for five minutes and try again. Using a small outdoor toileting pen can help focus the mind on the job in hand - the reward for going to the toilet is to have a play in the garden. This is only a short phase in the scheme of things, so a bit of a nuisance now, but I avoid teaching unwanted behaviours at this stage, knowing that it is just a stage.
Oh I remember this so well! And I sympathise. My boy Pongo would just walk over to the door, but if it wasn't magically open he would just pee anyway. Yes, I tried teaching Pongo to ring a bell - I got some bells on a rope that hung over the door handle, and taught him to ring them. He learned really quickly to ring them..... and then rang them non-stop. And then he found he could get the rope off the handle and he hoolied around the house at top speed trailing these bells behind him, he thought it was the best game ever. Very, very, very funny but no use at all. The bells are now hidden. I know it is frustrating but the best advice really is to keep an eye on him as much as possible. You will find that very soon his bladder control (and capacity!) improves so that he can hold it. If you have managed to get him to choose to go outside (are you treating him every time he does a wee outside?), then all you need to do is remember to let him out briefly every (say) half hour.... then one hour.... then two hours....etc. I'll try to find some of my old posts about it on this forum, I know I felt just like you but it really did pass quite quickly. The key thing was to get him to REALLY want to choose to go outside - which is where the treats come in (he is a Labrador, after all ...) Good luck!
Bailey never has to date given us a sign that he needs to go - although he has always had good bladder control. We did have a quite a few accidents for quite a while and then we clicked. Bailey used to sit and give us a "Children of the Corn" stare (and still does) when he needs to go...and if you miss it there was never any other warning! I did give a passing thought to using bells, but now that he is older I am glad I didn't - Bailey will get a squeaky toy in his mouth, sit in front of me and gently squeeze the toy till it squeaks...over and over and over and over and over (you get the idea?!) again until I can't stand it any more and I do a swap - treat from toy.
Thank at least I now know that this is something a lot of m do. We were told to see bells, you can actually buy a doggy doorbell. But as you all say I'm sure he would quickly have me running every two minutes in response to his bell just because he could! Not sure who would be training who. Thanks for the advice we are just watching for signs and letting him out every half hour. Fingers crossed! Now I just have to try to sort out all the chewing, chasing the kids and dealing with other dogs!
Sorry I did post a reply but obviously dint do it properly! Thank you all for your help. I'm getting quicker at noticing he is quiet. At the moment if he's quiet it means he's chewing something he shouldn't or needs to go out! I'm thinking the bells will be a bit like him training us, wondering if it would work on the kids too. Ring the bell and they leave the tv and x box and come running? At the moment I just switch the WiFi off, seems it's easier to train kids than dogs. Thanks for all your help.
