So,as most of you know, we have the new pup. Housetraining is going fine................as long as I remember to take her out every 2 hours or so. The dog does NOT whine or bark. How can I get her to "tell" me she needs to go?? Right now, if I ask her, she cocks her head and starts toward the door if she needs to go. If I don't ask, I get no hints til it's about too late. She barely circles or sniffs and you have to be extra vigilent. :? My house is a two story and we spend equal amounts of time upstairs and down, is this perhaps confusing her?
How old is she? She will "tell" you once she develops bladder control! I doubt the two floors are confusing her much, unless you go out from upstairs too!?!
She was born March 30th. She's got no problem "holding it". Stays in her crate all night and hasn't messed in it, ever. Amazes me. I just can't figure out how to get her to "tell" me she needs to go out. My last dog just went to the door and whined. But that's been years ago, and I can't remember how I got her to do it.
There are a bazillion tells you could teach her. I would wait a bit longer until she has full bladder control. By that time, usually around six months, she will know when she has to go without your coaxing. Crate training is a wonderful thing, no!?!
Yes! The crate is the greatest thing since sliced bread! Put her in for bedtime and she sleeps through the night with no complaints and has since the first day. Her previous humans had taught all the puppies to be crate trained, I didn't have to do a thing. :jester: OK, will just give it some more time and keep the Spot Bot handy, LOL. Thanks LE!:cheers:
A friend of mine hung a small bell on a string at the back door and her dog paws at the bell when she needs to go out. They also have an upstairs and she can hear the bell even upstairs. I think she just used a jingle bell from Christmas. Good luck!
I forgot to mention that the dog REFUSES to go up or down the stairs. Unfortunately, she took a tumble down them the first week she was here (not hurt, thank God) but flat out will NOT go up and down on her own. Any other stairs she is fine, but the ones in the house.......not happening. I haven't forced the issue yet, as it makes it easier to know where she is. I will eventually get her to do it with treats, etc. Anytime I see her heading towards the stairs, which go right to the front door, I ask her if she needs to go.
The bell deal will work - if you don't have the "Christmas Bells' that hang - just take a piece of fabric that's long enough to be hung from your doorknob and hang to where your dog can easily reach it with it's paw. Get some big bells from the craft store and sew them on in a row so that the bottom one is in easy reach. When you go to take her out, go to the same door each time, say "Do you want to go out?" and tap the bells to ring them. After doing this for a couple of outings, ask her if she wants to go out, take her foot and help her tap it to ring them and tell her she's good and take her out. It doesn't take most dogs long before they will automatically go and hit the bell with their foot to get your attention. If you don't do the bell - just always say "Do you want to go out?" - after a while, they will just either go to the door and turn around and look at you, or they will figure out to go up to you and get your attention. Larger breeds have bigger bladders and tend to gain bladder control younger than the smaller breeds. Some breeds are more difficult to train than other breeds. It's not always possible to lay out a diagram of at what age each will do what - just like kids and potty training. Since she's small and not 5 months old yet, I'd just stick with not free feeding her - put her food down and pick it up after it's sat there for about 15 minutes. She won't starve and she will soon get the hint to eat when it goes down. This helps in potty training, keeps bugs and vermin problems from developing, eliminates the prospect of most food aggression problems, and will enable you to have more scheduled routine with her. I'd take up her water about an hour before she is crated and be sure she goes potty before she goes in her crate. If you worry about her not having water - the hamster bottle type of dispensing is probably the best option, she can't knock it over and she isn't likely to drink a ton of water while in her crate. That said, no dog ever died of thirst overnight inside a home in a crate. I've never given any of my dogs water of any sort in their crates - unless they were on 'crate rest' (my little guy had to spend two weeks in a crate about 23 hours a day after a severe back injury). At her age, take her out: when you take her out of her crate about 5 minutes AFTER she wakes up from a nap about 5 minutes AFTER she gets done playing about 10 minutes AFTER she gets done eating in another month, add 5 minutes to each of the above times, unless she's learned to let you know by going to the door, ringing a bell etc. Hope this is of some help. I'm spoiled with my doggie door - with a bunch of critters, it was my only way to remain sane and not feel like a doorman in my own home As for the stairs - if they are carpeted, or have non-skid things on them, she will most likely get curious one day and overcome her fear - or succeed easily with GENTLE coaxing. If they are wooden and slick - that may be a problem for her - maybe consider non-skid options.
Thanks for the advice Zoo, I know that took a while to type and I appreciate it!!!. Sounds like I am on the right track, but perhaps she just isn't quite old enough. I was worried I was doing something "wrong". Shes a smart dog, she'll have me trained eventually! Love the bell idea!! Thanks for that suggestion guys!!
So I wanted to take a moment to thank you all again for the good advice. I got some jingle bells a couple weeks ago and strung them on a little piece of rope, and I've been having her ring them each time we go outside. Finally, today, she actually rang the bell by herself! Woo Hoo! Making progress! My biggest problem is that if the least thing outside spooks her, I can't get her to do her to do her business until she calms down inside, then back out we go, if it's not too late. :? Ya'll know I have oodles of the chickens next door and the roosters fighting with each other really freak her out. Ugg! Anybody want some chickens?? I'll distract the neighbors while you load 'em up!!! :mrgreen: Oh, and here's an updated photo of my little monster.
I am have been having flashbacks with this one. She does use her potty pads, and the floor and the carpet and outside. I try to watch her and when she really starts sniffing around and kind of whinning, I have been taking her outside. One thing I forgot was how sharp puppy teeth are.
No....kind of broke right now. Had a lot of stuff that had to go out and have not been able to afford a crate. We do have a big box, but she doesn't like it. I think having the other dogs is going to help.
