House-training the dog that doesn't have a potty "tell"

[cllane1]

My husband and I are at a loss. Snoops is a 9 month old pit mix (adopted him in February at 6 Mos. old). At first he was really good in the house and crate…a few puppy accidents that we attributed to new environment. But in the last 6 weeks or so he has had repeated poop and pee accidents in the house (on tile floor, thank goodness!).

I think he doesn’t have a bathroom “tell” where he whimpers or barks or goes to the door. We praise him extravagantly when we take him outside and he potties, but maybe we haven’t associated potty with praise or treats enough? If it were uncharacteristic peeing in the house, I would think possible UTI, but it’s both, sometimes after he’s already been outside for a while.

So, we’re a little stumped. I hate to leave them (we also have a 3 y.o. German shepherd; both she and Snoops are neutered) outside more than needed. We are in central Alabama and the temps have been rough (we do have a covered patio, fenced yard, two Oaks for shade, multiple water buckets).

Thoughts?

[Simkie]

I don’t find my dogs to have a tell or ask to go outside until well into adult hood. If he’s having accidents, it sounds like he just needs to be out more on a schedule. If he’s sneaking away to potty, he needs your eyeballs on him more–tether him to you, or crate him when your attention is elsewhere.

So much of housebreaking is just never giving them the opportunity to go in the house.

[luvmyhackney]

My dogs don’t have a tell… they are just used to going outside every couple hours at minimal.

[Texarkana]

I hear you because my puppy also has no tells. She’s quite a bit younger, though.

The most annoying part is when she has an accident inside mere minutes after we come in from being outside. Otherwise she’s been doing really fabulous with it.

[Dr_Doolittle]

The fix for that is to put them in the crate immediately after bringing them in; dogs get distracted when they’re outside and want to sniff and poke around - and forget they have to go!

When you bring them in the house, all of a sudden there’s no stimulation and they realize their bladder is full. Hence the peeing inside! If you crate them, they have no opportunity to pee, remember that they have to, then if you uncrate them five minutes later and take them outside immediately, they will usually go

[S1969]

@cllane1

So, we’re a little stumped. I hate to leave them (we also have a 3 y.o. German shepherd; both she and Snoops are neutered) outside more than needed. We are in central Alabama and the temps have been rough (we do have a covered patio, fenced yard, two Oaks for shade, multiple water buckets).

Thoughts?

What is your potty routine - and is it possible that you’re just not letting him be outside long enough to do his business? (And/or you don’t want to be outside with him, so you go in and he wants to go where you are?)

When you put him out, does he actually go? If you’re not sure, I think you’ll need to go out with him every time to make sure business is done before bringing him back in.

[Texarkana]

@Dr_Doolittle

The fix for that is to put them in the crate immediately after bringing them in; dogs get distracted when they’re outside and want to sniff and poke around - and forget they have to go!

When you bring them in the house, all of a sudden there’s no stimulation and they realize their bladder is full. Hence the peeing inside! If you crate them, they have no opportunity to pee, remember that they have to, then if you uncrate them five minutes later and take them outside immediately, they will usually go

Yes thank you. That is what I try to do but sometimes, ya know, it doesn’t happen as planned.

She has been such a good puppy.

[Simkie]

@S1969

(And/or you don’t want to be outside with him, so you go in and he wants to go where you are?)

Oh yeah, SUCH a good point. You gotta go out with them!

[lenapesadie]

Are you conditioning the doggo to go potty on cue? I use “better go now” for my dog. I started immediately once bringing her home as a pup and it’s still a useful cue when I’m short on time or she would rather not get her paws wet.

[MissusS]

My old gal didn’t have a potty “tell” until I realized that her getting very still and staring at me intensely was exactly that. She was using her jedi mind powers to convey the Very Important Message.

I have also found that teaching a cue to potty was very helpful for housebreaking her. I used “hurry up” and would chant it while she was doing her business outside and then would basically throw a party when she was done.

My boy dog’s tell is to get very antsy if we are not near the door to the backyard… if we are near it he will just go stand there and wait.

He was very hard to housebreak because he didn’t have full control of his bladder until he was more than 4 years old. He knew too potty outside but he would get excited or startled or scared and the pee would just come out. He never really picked up on “hurry up” but he always had to pee on top of his sister’s pee so that basically allowed me to get both of them to potty on cue.

[trubandloki]

You should still be taking this dog out on a schedule. Like it was a puppy. Every time it gets up from a nap, every time it plays, every time it eats outside it goes. Praise for potty outside.

Going out to potty is not going outside to play, that is a separate trip out.

Inside, supervision always.

Don’t wait for the dog to ask.

[Angela_Freda]

@MissusS

My old gal didn’t have a potty “tell” until I realized that her getting very still and staring at me intensely was exactly that. She was using her jedi mind powers to convey the Very Important Message.

Agree.
Current Beagle “didn’t have a tell”, until tethered to me and voila, I was forced to pay better attention so that I actually noticed her tell. It may not be a loud tell, but the longer, closer you observe, it’s there.

And I believe routine is key, for the dog and people involved too. It helps us notice patterns and them establish them as well.

[MunchingonHay]

I would put Snoops back on a leash for potty breaks. He is old enough to hold it a few hours, but a routine needs to be reestablished like above posters mentioned.

I would have Snoops leashed and repeatedly say, pee pee, go poops or what ever phrase you use to signal to go to the bathroom. Keep him moving he is not allowed to sniff for more than a second or so while he is finding a place to go. Say nothing but your phrase to go to the bathroom. Then when he does, have a party, good boy and maybe even a treat… and then he gets to go off leash to be a dog.

My 11 month old female is still leashed at night time walks (and my yard is fenced) There are too many sounds, smells, rabbits, fireflies, etc to distract her. We walk to her “potty area” and I have a poopy/pee pee song I sing.

We are in and out in less than 3 mins.

Is Snoops on restricted water/food access? Are they out all day? He should have a schedule on his poops. My older female poops once a day, my younger dog goes twice and my previous male dogs when am and pm.

Is Snoops holding it in all night? Is he crated at all?

[cllane1]

Thanks so much for all the replies!

To answer a few questions: he is crated at night (starting around 9:30 or 10). I get up about 5:30 when he starts stirring around and let him out. He almost always poops, often pees during this time, and does so right away (from holding it overnight). Then we both hop back into bed to doze for another hour or so before I have to get up for real.

He is fed twice a day, but has water available at all times. He tends to poop right after eating, so we put him out after food. We also take him out (accompanied) to potty before bed. Sometimes he goes, sometimes not, if he’s been out earlier and pottied.

Putting him on a leash may be a good option. He does pee and poop on leash during walks. When it’s raining steadily (not that there’s been much of that lately, sigh) we often leash him and Alice and take them to another part of the yard where the grass is shorter and doesn’t hold as much water. He’s a bit of a prince about not liking to get wet.

[Leather]

Agree with others that being on a leash and ensuring they actual GO while they are out is key.

We don’t have a fenced yard and our dogs are hunting breeds that follow their nose so we always had to take them out on a line. This forced us to be diligent with them. If they went out during times when we knew they should have go and there was no action they came back in the house and went in their kennels for 5-10 mins and we tried again.

Now that they are grown and can be outside unsupervised (for short periods of time), in the evening we often let them outside separately because they will just play/mess around instead of go potty. I’ll bring them inside and 5 mins later one asks to go back out to actually do their business.

We used some tips from McCann Dog Training to get them to alert us that they needed to go out. Murphy’s tell became scratching at the floor grate by the back door, and Gordy will come stare us down/put his head on our lap when he needs to go out.

Since your boy is older you won’t need to carry him in the morning.
How to teach your dog to ask to go outside

[TatteredDaydreamer]

This thread is a great reminder for tips and tricks for housebreaking, as we’ll be looking to adopt a puppy in September. Thank you everyone!

[sophie]

I’m in the midst of house training my 3 months old puppy, so I am reading this thread with interest. She has been doing great, only a handful of accidents, when we first got her, and once recently when I missed the “tell”.
Her “tell” can be obvious, or subtle, it’s funny. Sometimes she goes straight to the back door (to the fenced-in yard) and sits against it, looking at us. But sometimes, she just wanders to it, but doesn’t stay there, and that’s when we can miss it.
We always go with her when it’s potty time, I use “go pee!” repeatedly, and “go poop!” as well. Once she starts peeing or pooping, she gets a lot of praise.
I haven’t been crating her other than the very first few days at night, and always in the car. She sleeps on her bed in our bedroom. The first week or so, we took her out once a night, around 3am, but now she holds it between 11 pm and 6 am.
During the day, I take her out after she eats, when she wakes up from her naps, or generally when she’s been inside for 2 hours (max).

I read somewhere that a dog isn’t considered fully house trained before he is 1 year old.

Puppies are a lot of work! I am so lucky both DH and I work from home on flexible schedules.

[sophie]

Aaand of course, after writing the above post, I had a work video call but puppy was sleeping so I went into my office…and the video call lasted a long time. When I got out, there were 2 pee spots on the mat by the front door…

[Angela_Freda]

It sounds like yours could easily learn to ring a bell

[sophie]

I have a friend who trained her mini schnauzer to ring a bell and regretted it big time, as the dog was ringing the bell constantly