# Training to alert to go outside



## Marian (Oct 20, 2009)

OK, so Teddy is doing well with being housebroken, but part of that is because I never let him stay indoors for too long without a potty break. A few times I've noticed him sitting by the back door, apparently waiting for me to notice and take him outside. Fortunately, he does not have a weak bladder and will hold it until I do.

How do I get him to make a noise or paw at my arm or _something_, to let me know he needs to go?


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

Marian said:


> OK, so Teddy is doing well with being housebroken, but part of that is because I never let him stay indoors for too long without a potty break. A few times I've noticed him sitting by the back door, apparently waiting for me to notice and take him outside. Fortunately, he does not have a weak bladder and will hold it until I do.
> 
> How do I get him to make a noise or paw at my arm or _something_, to let me know he needs to go?


GOOD LUCK! 

We have been very attentive with all our potty training and my older dogs are just now going and slapping at the door. (after a year) 

Olie will just sit at the door --- its sweet though. And then he will sweep around the house which is a sign for us he is looking for a spot. Suri just does circles to the door. I have tried hanning bells from the door and they ignor it.


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## Marian (Oct 20, 2009)

Maybe I should set up a motion-sensing alarm by the door. LOL


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## plumcrazy (Sep 11, 2009)

Marian said:


> Maybe I should set up a motion-sensing alarm by the door. LOL


Oh, yeah... THAT'D be good... Little Teddy going to sit patiently by the door and all of the sudden WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA an ALARM goes off and scares the [email protected] right out of him! :scared: :lol: Maybe it can be a motion-sensing LIGHT that goes off or something...


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## DoubleG (Jan 11, 2010)

*Exactly the same situation!*

This is exactly what my wife and I are going through right now - although truth be told we are at the _very_ early stages as Sasha is only 10 weeks old.

We are constantly watching her while inside and have her a strict schedule (after play, after food, after "x" amount of time). We keep wondering how/when/if we should introduce a method of notification to us. 

We really don't want to teach her to "speak" as this can be troublesome later down the line.

I'd be curious to get other's thoughts on the matter.


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## *tina* (Jan 3, 2010)

Can you hang a bell off the door at his height and teach him how to use it? I don't remember how we taught our dog to tell us when she had to go potty. Obviously, the code word is potty and she barks or yips in affirmative, but it was forever ago :lol:


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## Carson (Aug 6, 2008)

This may sound silly but, maybe you can use a type of buzzer (like from the game Taboo) and use velcro to adhere it to the floor by the door...easily accessible. Before he goes out, place his paw on the buzzer (buzz it) and at the same time...treat him and use your "potty word" open the door and let him out. You may have to teach him to buzz the buzzer first though before adding the door. 
If the buzzer gets annoying and your poo is trying to boss you around...you can always just remove it because it's only velcroed.
For new pups (if the alert thing isn't working) I just set a timer for every 2 hours to remind me to let the pup out.
hope this helps!


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## DoubleG (Jan 11, 2010)

*Yes!*



Carson said:


> This may sound silly but, maybe you can use a type of buzzer (like from the game Taboo) and use velcro to adhere it to the floor by the door...easily accessible. Before he goes out, place his paw on the buzzer (buzz it) and at the same time...treat him and use your "potty word" open the door and let him out. You may have to teach him to buzz the buzzer first though before adding the door.
> If the buzzer gets annoying and your poo is trying to boss you around...you can always just remove it because it's only velcroed.
> For new pups (if the alert thing isn't working) I just set a timer for every 2 hours to remind me to let the pup out.
> hope this helps!


Perfect...thanks for the suggestion/confirmation. We were thinking of possibly getting one of those "Desk bells" at Staples (or somewhere similar) and keep it near the door and just consistently have her press it with her paw each time we take her out.

I've only taught my dogs to bark/speak in the past so it should be interesting to see the results and how it catches on.

Thanks for the tip (and more are certainly welcome).


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

DoubleG said:


> Perfect...thanks for the suggestion/confirmation. We were thinking of possibly getting one of those "Desk bells" at Staples (or somewhere similar) and keep it near the door and just consistently have her press it with her paw each time we take her out.
> 
> I've only taught my dogs to bark/speak in the past so it should be interesting to see the results and how it catches on.
> 
> Thanks for the tip (and more are certainly welcome).


Mine would be playing tug of war with those things lol!!


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## bigpoodleperson (Jul 14, 2009)

I used the bell method with Riley. It worked Great! Really tied everything together for him. I tied a jingle bell to a ribbon and hung it nose height from the back door we wanted him to use. Every time i took him outside to potty i took his face in my hands and gently rung with bell with his nose. After ONE day of doing this he was going to the door all my himself and ringing it to go outside! I will use this method with all my puppies!
Now we dont have the bell and he will just bark at the door if we dont notice him.


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## cerulia (Jan 7, 2010)

Marian said:


> OK, so Teddy is doing well with being housebroken, but part of that is because I never let him stay indoors for too long without a potty break. A few times I've noticed him sitting by the back door, apparently waiting for me to notice and take him outside. Fortunately, he does not have a weak bladder and will hold it until I do.
> 
> How do I get him to make a noise or paw at my arm or _something_, to let me know he needs to go?


 Vilka learned to use a bell in a day. We just rang it and said "outside" everytime we took her on scheduled breaks. Then at one point we just pointed to it and said "outside" and she rang it on her own. It's a 5$ bell I got from amazon and hung it from twine


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## Marian (Oct 20, 2009)

Thanks for all the replies.

I already have a sisal scratching thingy hanging off the doorknob for the cat. It has a little jingle bell attached to it, so tonight I made Teddy touch his paw to it as I said "outside". I'll let you know if it catches on.


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## poodleholic (Jan 6, 2010)

All 3 of mine have a variation with the Poodle Stare. Maddy stares at me until I give her eye contact, then she rolls her eyes toward the patio door, gives direct eye contact again, and rolls her eyes toward the door. It's really funny to watch, because she doesn't move her head in the direction of the door, she just rolls her eyes that way! She's a hoot.

Beau stands in front of me and stares. If I (tease him) and ask him if he's hungry, he keeps staring. I keep asking dumb questions! He will then climb on me to try and French kiss (which he knows I don't like!), to get me to get off my butt and let him out! lol He's a good sport.

Lucia gently taps my leg and stares. If that doesn't get an immediate response, she climbs into my lap, stares into my eyes and gives me little kisses! She is soooo sweet!


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