Hi,

I have a question regarding the timescale of toilet training my 3 month old Rottweiler bitch. Obviously i know there cannot be a definite time for how long it takes but at the moment i am the instigater for every bowell/bladder movement my puppy has - i.e. it is ALWAYS me who takes her out everytime she is 'due' but when will she start to go to the door herself when she needs to toilet? At the moment she does not & it makes it much harder to predict when she is about to pee. I wonder how long this will last before she starts to 'tell' me she wants to go outside?


Mark.

 Quote: mark davies

Hi,

I have a question regarding the timescale of toilet training my 3 month old Rottweiler bitch. Obviously i know there cannot be a definite time for how long it takes but at the moment i am the instigater for every bowell/bladder movement my puppy has - i.e. it is ALWAYS me who takes her out everytime she is 'due' but when will she start to go to the door herself when she needs to toilet? At the moment she does not & it makes it much harder to predict when she is about to pee. I wonder how long this will last before she starts to 'tell' me she wants to go outside?


Mark.

About a year ago, I read on this forum about teaching a dog to ring a bell to go out. I have rescues, but the training of an adult dog who has had no training or been chained outside is very much like training a puppy.

So I looked this up on the web, and found some ideas for it.

QUOTE: Here's a neat trick to help with potty training, contributed by reader Susanne Chastain, a canine teacher in Springfield, Missouri.

Most puppies and dogs will alert their owners when they need to potty with body language, turning circles, sniffing, running to the door, whining, barking to go out. We can teach even very young puppies a smart way to let us know they "have to go" by hanging several jingle bells on a cord, then place them nose-high for the puppy or dog on the door knob of the door we routinely go out with the dog for potty time.

As you approach the door, ring the bells and say "let's go potty" or "let's go outside." Put a little peanut butter on one of the bells, so when the puppy or dog licks it off, the bells will ring. Let the puppy or dog outside, saying "let's go potty" or "let's go outside."

Before long, the puppy or dog will be ringing the bell by themselves. Sometimes it will mean "I need to potty" ... sometimes it will mean "I just want to go play and run." But always acknowledge the ring. They learn this practical trick in a short period of time. END from http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_TeachingToRingYou.php

I did do this with a recent rescue. (My other dogs just came to me and stared in my face in a very earnest way when they wanted to go out, but I wanted to try this bell idea.)

I found it pretty easy to train.

I have also trained a dog to go to the door and scratch at it when she wanted to go. And I have had dogs who did that on their own.

I think if you watch carefully, you will see signs that your dog is ready. At that point you can use your potty word and do the desired activity on the way outside. That is, you can ring the bell and say "potty," for example. You can gently lift the pup's paw (sliding down the leg to the wrist if he isn't used to having his paws handled yet) and touch it to your hanging bell.

You get the idea.

These are handy tricks, and nice to train, but so far I have not had a dog who eventually alerted me on his own when he wanted out.

Good question Mark. I have had the same question just haven't made a thread.

Basically I make sure my puppy is always in eye disatnce. Since he is going to be in my front room and if he is not in his crate, I have him either on a leash as Ed suggests or preoccupied with something like;a ball, chew toy, bone...

As soon as he begins to sniff around I know he needs to go and I say"Outside? Potty?" He acknowledges that by sitting and wagging his tail.

I myself have been trying to get him to put his paw on my leg when he needs to go. But it hasn't worked.

But Thanks Connie for the idea, I'm going to be trying it out.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

.... These are handy tricks, and nice to train, but so far I have not had a dog who eventually alerted me on his own when he wanted out.

I meant I had not had a dog so far who DID'T eventually alert on his own to go out. They have all done it in one way or another.

I already know to look out for the body language - that's not the point, yes i know when she starts sniffing, walking in circle etc she is about to pee, that is not what i need to know - i want to know when she will go to the back door herself instead of me always having to take her out myself. Surely there must be a time she will make the connection betwen toilet & going outside? She has not made any connection at all so far & just craps & pees absolutely anywhere unless i pick her up and take her outside myself.

Mark
I think it all depends on the pup but I would gave hermaybe another month.Do you scoll her when she potties in the house.Sorry to say but I have done that with my King Charles because we have a huge doggie door for our 3 GSDs' and our 5 month old K. Charles refuses to use it!
SOO I have decided to teach him to bark or make any noise to go out (through our back door) everytime he does it in the house I scoll him and so lately he has barked to go out.Finally!
Maybe you need really to let your pup know that you will not tolerate her going in the house. I had to really get mad at our K. charles.

http://s141.photobucket.com/albums/r77/cadogancna/

 Quote: Mark Davies

I already know to look out for the body language - that's not the point, yes i know when she starts sniffing, walking in circle etc she is about to pee, that is not what i need to know - i want to know when she will go to the back door herself instead of me always having to take her out myself. Surely there must be a time she will make the connection betwen toilet & going outside? She has not made any connection at all so far & just craps & pees absolutely anywhere unless i pick her up and take her outside myself.

Mark, she probably won't go to the back door herself unless she's completely housetrained, which shouldn't be too much longer, don't worry. Another month or a little more to be housetrained, then you can expect her to give you a signal, either going to the door or ringing a bell, whatever. My point is that she won't signal you intentionally unless she understands completely not to go potty in the house. Example: my pup won't go potty in the house even if I miss his signal.

Thank you both for your help on this. I think you may both have pinpointed exactly where i might be going wrong with her.

Here is how i have been toilet training her :-

Every time i take her outside to toilet, i always give her lots of praise for doing her business outside, BUT when she does it indoors i never praise her. The thing is i have never scolded her for going inside - i just don't praise her & clean it up without reacting verbally.

Is that my mistake? Should i be verbally scolding her for toileting indoors then?

Mark.

Mark,

I don't think you should be scollding for mistakes inside. You could wind up with an undesired result. The dog may begin to think the action of relieving itself will solicit a bad reaction from you and become sneakier about it; like hiding behind the couch "to go" as to avoid a correction. If a mistake does happen take the dog away and don't let her see you cleaning it, also, use a deoderizer designed for doggie accidents.

The rule of thumb is that the dog should be able to hold its water in hourly increments, the duration is measured as the dogs age in months + 1. (Three months old = 4 hours.) If you are not doing it already USE A CRATE in your housebreaking regime. But be sure it is properly sized or else it won't work the way you need it to. The dog needs to be on a srtict schedule for elimination so that it gets used to holding and eliminating in the appropriate area. As far as learned indicators like bells and barking, I personally love em, but if the dog doesn't know where it should and should not relieve itself yet then how can you expect it to alert you to those needs in such a manner. Something to remember in training is: one step at a time! Housebreaking is one of the most frustrating things to get through because, well... it's grose. But it is realatively easy to manage and train.

Mark,

I guess I didn't really give you a straight answer to your question did I? At this stage you will always have to be the one to take her out. When my pup was eight weeks she couldn't even make it to the door once I took her out of the crate so I had to run outside with her in my underwear for a few weeks. Glad it was dark outside then. But it depends on you and how efficient you are at housebreaking training with the dog until she will intentionally alert to you when she needs to go.