i have a 9 month old cairn terrier and he will not give us any signals to say he needs out, At the moment it is fine because our back door is always open and we have to put him out for his business, but i am worried when winter sets in i don,t think he will let us know when he needs out, he is very good at night, and during the day as we work shifts, scoobie is really fitting in and there are very rarely any accidents at night or during the day when we are out, but now and again there is one, which if i am honest is mostly our fault, because he is in a different routine every week.

how do we train him to let us know he needs out.
also he keeps grabbing food from my 5 year old daughter and she gets very upset, we put him in the kitchen at meal times, but i can,t put him in every time she has a snack as well as it is not really facing the problem.

please please help thanks

Food grabbing from kids is a big NO. I deal with it by making all of mine sit at the table for meals snacks whatever and the dog goes to lie down until we finish. If there was a grab, Id be right there making a loud noise and leaving him in no doubt that this is wrong and I will back the kids up. Can your little girl give him his food/groom/play with him to be more positive?

Does your dog go to the door when he wants to go out but not bark or whine? Or does he do absolutely nothing?

If he goes to the door (and hopes you notice him) when you reach the door pretend you don't know what he wants and ask him in a really excited voice "what do you want, do you want out?" and repeat your question until he starts to bark at you and then tell him he's a good boy and open the door only when he barks. Another way is to ask what he wants and for you to tap on the door low down at his level as soon as your dog joins in and touches the door tell him he's a good dog and open the door.

If you do either of these things EVERYTIME you go to the door to let your dog out he should soon learn to either bark or tap on the door to get your attention.