Teach a dog to let you know when they have to go out.

[Snowvail]

Is there a way to teach a dog to let you know they have to go outside? I know some dogs will scratch the door or whine. But my Pitbull will not let us know, she just sits around the corner where we can't see her and then come back into the living room and potty. When she potties inside, it is as though it is nothing to her...like she can't associate the inside with the outside.

She is potty trained, and has been for 2 months now. She is a 8 month old Pitbull. We can leave her for 8 hours while we are at work, and she is fine. But she won't let us know when we are home that she has to potty. We take her out every 3 hours or so, and that is usually fine. But sometimes she will just squat down, look at us as she is peeing, and then walk off and act like nothing happened. We even tried taking the poop outside to show her that is where she needs to potty.

Any Advice???

Also, any ideas on how to get her to not pee on the floor in the mornings? We are about to take her out and as we put the leash on she will pee on the floor. We don't act excited, or say anything aggressive. We calmly walk up to her and talk nice to her to say "let's go outside", she just pees. This is only the morning. We can do this at any other time and she is fine...just not the morning.

[Fundog]

Attach a little tinkly bell to her collar, so you can hear her movements as she wanders through the house. When you notice that it has become very quiet all of a sudden, get up and peek around the corner to see if she is waiting to go out-- she must be trying to tell you, but you are not getting the message.

And if pottying in the house is really no big deal to her, then I would not classify her as "potty trained," as dogs who are potty trained do not like to potty in the house, and become greatly distressed if they are not able to get outside in time.

I think somehow you have missed a fundamental step in helping your dog to fully understand what it means to be clean in the house-- I'm not quite sure at this moment exactly what that step might be, however-- let me noodle on that some more, or maybe someone else will chime in a bit later.

When you take her out, do you 1) accompany her out and stay with her while she potties? 2) reward her with something she likes a whole lot immediately after a potty outside? Doing those two things will help to give her incentive for not only going outside, but making sure you come with her and see her potty, so she can get her reward.

[mum24dog]

I agree with Fundog.
Really, though it's no big deal if a dog doesn't tell the owner it wants to go.
Most of mine don't - they wait until I let them out - but I know when this is likely to be.
Just because this dog is able to hold on for 8 hours doesn't mean that will apply at all times. It may be sleeping a lot of that time and sleeping dogs don't need to go as often.
In the evening it is likely to be more active and to need to go more often.
Three hours between opportunities is obviously too long. I'd take her out at least once an hour for the time being so she never needs to go inside. Set her up for success.
Make sure that you clean where she has peed with white vinegar or biological washing powder to get rid of the smell. If she can smell where she has been she will be more likely to go again in the same place.
As for the morning, can you not go out into the yard and call her to you rather than put her leash on?

Pam

[Snowvail]

We have her tags on her collar that make noise. She doesn't even go around the corner now, she just pees on the floor. When we got home today, she had even peed on the couch! She escapes the kennel of a wire create and ate the plastic bottom of that kennel. We don't exactly have the funds to get a different kennel.

When we take her out, we are always with her and give her treats when she goes to the bathroom. We also say good job! Yet she still goes inside.

We have her sleep in the bedroom with us and she has to go through a hallway and around a corner to get outside, so we have to call her out of the room. We can't put a leash on her since she potties when we try to do so.

[Leigha]

Maybe for the time being you just need to go back to taking her outside every hour or so while you're at home.

[Fundog]

Could she possibly have a urinary tract infection? Check with the vet and get this ruled out, just to be sure.

[Snowvail]

I am currently a Vet Tech student and we tested her urine in class, and no UTI...so back to behavior issues.

[DogzRule1996]

I don't truly think you can actually "teach" a dog to notify you. Maybe she's just not fully housetrained yet. If a dog is fully housetrained, then notifying you to use the restroom should come naturally, such as our dogs. Everytime they went out, they would get a reward. If inside, then it would get cleaned up, put vinegar on it (prevent them from going there again), and just say no firmly but gently so they understand that this is not what we want, but no time outs or anything of the sort. They soon realized that going OUT was the right thing to do, so Buddy would sit at the door while Sam would use his little nose and nudge the blinds of the door.

[mum24dog]

If a dog is fully housetrained, then notifying you to use the restroom should come naturally

Not necessarily.
All my dogs have been houstrained the same way and only one of them tells me when he wants to go out.
All the rest wait until I choose to let them out.
I'd rather a dog was prepared to wait patiently. Saves being pestered and it means that they don't worry if I'm out. Going out is under my control not theirs, although I'm considerate about it and don't expect them to wait an unreasonable length of time. If you have a dog that asks to go out the risk is that it will ask when it just feels like going outside rather than only when it needs a pee or whatever.

Pam

[Leigha]

All three of mine go and sit or lay next to the back door when they have to go potty or want to go outside. I didn't teach them to do it, I think they just learned to do it because it's the door we always use to take them out. I don't mind their method of "telling" me because it's not annoying to me and they just wait patiently 'til I realize that they're waiting to be let out. Even if they don't actually have to potty I don't mind, but I have a backyard and am lucky in that--if Bruiser asks to go outside just because he wants to go outside I'm A-Ok with it. It means he's not eating the toilet paper, or stealing stuff from the tables and counters, or his newest trick (this morning) EATING MY LAPTOP CHARGER!

[Noobs]

Is there a way to teach a dog to let you know they have to go outside? I know some dogs will scratch the door or whine. But my Pitbull will not let us know, she just sits around the corner where we can't see her and then come back into the living room and potty. outside.

Where exactly is "around the corner"? What is around the corner, I mean? My dog used to put his nose on our keys (they hang on a lanyard next to the door) and we thought he was a genius. Then eventually he started to go to the closet where our shoes are and tap the closet door with his foot - because we would go in there for our shoes every time we took him out. Now he goes to the front door and sits in front of it. So perhaps going around the corner is your dog's way of telling you she has to go. Whenever she is out of your sight, go see where she is, and if she's around the corner, take her out.

Although I do agree that going back to basics may be a solution for you - take her out every hour so she has plenty of chances to go.

[forkin14]

When we first got Cadence she was 8 weeks old.. We bought those "training pads" (if you haven't seen them, they are just little flat paper mats u lay on the floor to teach where it is okay to go potty) and this "Potty Training Spray" that we sprayed on the pads so it would "attract" her to the spot (who knows if this stuff actually worked - we were first time dog owners so we bought into it). She learned veryyy quickly that was the spot to pee, and although she would not get it on the pad every time, it was usually directly next to it. So we moved the pads over to the door where we take her out to the yard. She learned very quickly that if she goes to the door and whines, it means she needs to potty. We can't even remember the last time she has had an accident and it's only been a year since we've gotten her!

Maybe starting from basics with your dog again is what's needed. I believe if you take your dog out the same door to use the potty every time, they learn quickly that is the spot they need to go over to.

[Sarah83]

How do you want her to let you know? My dog just goes to the back door when he needs to go out, he doesn't whine or bark or anything. You could hook up a bell (jingly type, not the doorbell type) and teach her to hit it with her paw or nose when she wants out. Not something I'd do with mine, he'd end up driving me mad with it but I know some people who use it.

If she's not bothered about going in the house I'd agree that she's not really house trained. I'd go back to basics and start all over again.

[Snowvail]

So maybe take her out every hour and give treats to potty? It recently started back up when the snow and cold weather came (we live in Minnesota). Maybe it is from her not liking to cold? We have a coat for her to wear out there, since she is always shaking from the cold.

As for around the corner, we have a living room and the doorway is where she goes around corner to a large open area by the kitchen. She potties on the wood floor in there or in the living room carpet. When going outside in the morning it is around the corner to the large open area from our bedroom, so she is often the first one out there and is peeing before we have a chance to get her out. We have started to get ready before we let her out of the bedroom in the morning, so we have our shoes and jackets on. That is working better, but it depends on the day.

It would be nice for her to let us know by: whining, looking at us/whining, pacing back and forth by the door or anything else. But she just gets off the couch, pees, and gets back onto the couch like nothing happened. No whining or any information of her need to go. It is usually right after we have gone out too.

[Nettle]

That last sentence - now we are getting there.

Dogs and especially pups don't always empty right out in one go. So now you know: stay outside with her and reward her when she goes, then back inside on a lead, about-turn and straight out again and wait like you never went out a minute ago .

Lots of dogs don't tell us the way we dim humans like to be told. They tell us by body-language, maybe a quick glance, probably telepathy - but we have to be shouted at, and some dogs don't shout.

Take her out every hour for now, and clear up any house accidents with white vinegar or enzymatic spray. Normal household cleaners have ammonia in and encourage the dog to pee there.