Hi all, its such a long time since ive been on but i need the expertise of the people of this forum:
My basset is now 2 and is really good and well behaved. She is totally housetrained but the only thing is when she needs the loo the signs are so subtle that i can miss them i.e. she just walks about. - i would like her to go to the door or better still bark - that way if im upstairs or whatever i will know. She responds really well to training, but i am just unsure how to put it together - i can get her to bark on command. Any ideas anyone?

Thanks Deb

Be careful what you wish for, as dogs are obedient to the laws of learning you may end up with a dog that, once it learns the connection between cause and effect, will become an extremely efficient attention seeker.............

im sorry i dont understand?

I think Tohme means that if your dog learns that barking when she wants to go to the toilet, then she could just as easily learn that, she barks - you come running to her/to let her out either way she has your attention on command, if like you say she's a clever girl and likes your attention then it may become a bit of a game :-)

i see what she means but i dont think so. I just want to find a way for her to let me know as her way now is not noticeable enough if im not in the same room as her.

i see what she means but i dont think so. I just want to find a straight forward way for her to let me know as her way now is not noticeable enough if im not in the same room as her. My old dog just used to do this by herself.

My dog doesn't bark to go out either.  She will go to the door and just sit there but this doesn't necessarily mean she wants to go out either.  I used to open the door everytime I thought she wanted to go out and end up opening the door for her just to stick her head out and have a sniff :rolleyes: Now I let her out straight away when I come down inthe morning, when I come in from being out for a couple of hours or so.  Other than that I don't worry about it because I let her out regularly and on the occasions she has really 'needed' to go out she will let me know by whining.  I don't expect my dog to be ok one moment and busting for a pee the next in the little time I am not in the same room as her (which is rarely anyway) :)

yes i know what you mean - but at least you get a whine! if i dont see her getting up to get restless she will just do it. Im not walyas with her - i.e cud be tidying upstairs or in laundry room etc.

Oh, I misunderstood, I thought when you said totally housetrained that meant she never messed in the house. Sorry

Hi,

I think maybe rather than training for her to bark when she wants out, maybe you need to go back to basics for house training, if she goes when you are no there then she isn't totally house trained.  Make sure your letting her out very regularly to start with so she doesn't get the chance to go indoors - train her to go on command so that you can know she's emptied her bladder.  Do this by introducing a word when she's a about to go and then lots of praise when she's finished.  If she has an accident indoors, ignore it and make sure it is completely clean so there are no traces of smell left.

Karen

I have an older dog that does as yours does and simply stands by the door waiting to go out and I wanted her to bark to let me know,but she never got the idea. So... when we got a new puppy  a few weeks ago, I patiently taught her to ask at the back door which she does by barking. The problem is now she barks at any door that is shut and when we put her in her playpen. We can't be sure if she wants to go out or is simply demanding attention. She is now barking far too often and I've got to decide whether to untrain her!!

At 7 months, Nips is totally reliable and but even though he likes the sound of his own voice he doesn't bark every time he wants to go out and to be honest I don't want him to since Jack Russells don't need any extra encouragement to give it some yap! His bladder control is perfectly good enough for him to hold on between the regular intervals when he does get let out and he saves the barking for first thing in the morning when he wakes up and wants to remind me, upstairs, that there's a small dog in the kitchen that wants a widdle and wants one NOW!  The only other time he barks to go out is if he's downstairs, hasn't been out for a while and doesn't see why he should climb the stairs to come and get me.

agree with tohme ...my 15m old beardie comes to me taps me I say "toilet" she barks then runs to door ....great .....but now she is older same routine tap--toilet--bark ....but occasionally she just wants to go out cause she has heard a cat bell in the garden !!  so now we have to judge it by the last time she went out to toilet ...then distract he with something else  otherwise ...it possibly could become attention seeking .

~Roni

Hiya Deb. I have a bell positioned where my basset can reach at the bottom of the door   & trained her very easily to 'paw' it when she wants to go out. Yes, she will paw it when she wants to go out for a play, sniff about etc - and that's great, but she does also do it for attention sometimes :rolleyes: But if it solves your problem, then its worth a try!
The training process was basically asking her to paw the bell while I rang it myself & held a treat up by it for her to paw. After sticking to this for 2-3 days, she just started to do it by herself. Even if she gets lazy & nudges it with her nose, we won't respond - its has to be the full 'paw' to get the full effect of the bell so we too can hear her if we're upstairs etc
Good Luck
xxxx

Jo-Bassett - I absolutely love that.  An 'Upstairs, Downstairs' (remember the TV series) dog situation "You rang M'lady?" :D :D

My Weimaraner bitch always jingles the keys in the lock on the door with her nose if she wants to go out.  If for any reason the keys aren't there she walks back and forward to the door looking very puzzled!  We have now hung a couple of cat collar bells on the handle so she can always summon us to open the door for her ladyship!!!

My Westie just scratches his claws on the glass panel of the door when he wants to go out (i don't ever remember training him to do that), we have also installed a dog door, so he goes in and out of the garden as he pleases.
Jackie

hi im having same promblem i have a yorkie which is 7 months she some times lets me no if she wants to go out but most of the time she does it on carpet i do take her out as much as i can but if its wet outside she just wont go out there dont no how sort this one out

I'd put her on a lead and drag her out.  Once out she'll learn that the quickest way back inside is to wee.  don't forget to praise her when she does it. :)

If you drag her out your also teaching her that being on the lead isn't a nice experience and she may well try to avoid even being caught to have the lead put on :(

Far better to set a cooker timer or similar so you take her out every hour, and give her a chance to go and there fore get a reward (while she is in the process of going, don't wait until she's finished or back inside ;))

Many thanks to all the replys however i feel some people may have misunderstood me! It is actually a very rare that my dog pees indoors and that is only when its my fault and ive left her too long i.e come in after a long spell out and not took her out etc . What i wanted was her to notify me rather than me perodically taking her out. She is fully toilet trained but thanks to all the advice anyway!

Hi Jo!! - hope you and Rosie is ok - your reply made me laff! My father in law actually solved the problem for us - he said instead of having the back door key in the lock put it on a longer dangly chain and get her to paw it so it dangles (i s'pose like your Rosie does with the bell) anyway i took her to it a few times and "pawed it" for her, then took her outside and told her to "pee pee" ( her command). i did this several times for one day and since last week she's been doing this. its just handy isnt it? incase we are engrossed on the phone or busy upstairs etc.

Thanks again everyone
Deb

Yes this is what we have decided to do - see my link below: