Missing the subtle signs

[Bonnies mum]

How does your pooch tell you they want to wee? I am missing my pooches signs and she is weeing in the house. She is 7 months old and generally good as will wee on demand but occasionally we miss the subtle sign when door is closed (great when hot and leave bank door open) and I find a wee in the house.

 

[JoanneF]

At 7 months I wouldn't wait for her to tell you - I would take her out every hour or so and cue her to toilet, then immediate praise and reward.

A lot of people with summer puppies find they have a similar problem because dogs struggle with the distinction between indoors and outdoors when a door is left open for free access so that's another good reason to proactively take her out.

 

[Bonnies mum]

At 7 months I wouldn't wait for her to tell you - I would take her out every hour or so and cue her to toilet, then immediate praise and reward.

A lot of people with summer puppies find they have a similar problem because dogs struggle with the distinction between indoors and outdoors when a door is left open for free access so that's another good reason to proactively take her out.

Thank you Joanne. I have been doing this since I had her in March so can’t understand why she hasn’t got it. Although yes, the summer issues have delayed things some what. I would have thought by now she would ask to go out. At what point do they normally stop? Thanks

 

[JoanneF]

At what point do they normally stop

Good question - every dog is different but the more she practises outdoor toilets and gets immediately rewarded (so she knows the reward is for toileting and not for anything else) the faster it will be. Toilet training happens when the ABILITY to hold the toilet comes together with the DESIRE to hold it in order to earn the lovely reward she gets for doing so.

If she has an accident inside don't react at all. If you get annoyed she may learn to fear your reaction and avoid you if she needs to toilet - the opposite of what you want. This is because dogs sometimes think we are cross at them for toileting as opposed to toileting in the house. Just clean the area with an enzymatic cleaner to remove any trace of smell that might attract her back to the spot - leave it down for 10 minutes or so to give it time to work properly.

 

[Michele83]

Hi. Can I ask where your back door is situated in your house? This may not be suitable for you, but I found the biggest thing that helped my pup become fully toilet trained was this: my back door is in my living room, and so I kept my puppy in the living room with the door shut (between the living room and the rest of the house) for *most* of the time, apart from when she ate/drank in the kitchen etc. The living room is where I spend most of my time so this was fine for me. The point of it was that my pup could easily see the back door to the garden and therefore she knew which direction to head in. I found that it was mostly when she was in other parts of the house that she used to go to wee inside, almost as if she forgot where the garden was.

Of course, you also need the pup to become used to the *whole* house being as a no-toilet zone. However, confining to the area where the back door is did really help me with the initial conditioning phase of making sure she goes in the garden every single time. Then when she's more used to that, you could let her wander into other parts of the house more often.

If your back door is e.g. in the kitchen however, this might not work for you unless you love spending time in the kitchen!