Lesson 7: Teach Your Pup to Go Outside

Lesson 2: Teach Your Pup To Ask to Go Outside

Teach your pup to communicate its needs to you

Life gets much easier when you no longer have to watch your puppy like a hawk, looking for signs that it might need to go out to potty. It's a relief to you and your pup when it can communicate its needs to you. Iin fact, most puppies aren’t able to do this until 5 months of age or older. Until you have completed this training, YOU are responsible for reading the signs your pup is sending.

They might include:

• barking, whining and/or scratching when it is confined in the crate or expen
• getting distracted during play or training
• sniffing
• circling
• moving away from you
• staring at you
• going into another room
• moving toward the door you use to take it outside
• barking, whining or scratching at door

In this lesson, you are going to start by thinking through the signs your pup is sending and how well you are reading them. Then think about how you can tweak those signs to create a communication process that lets you know the pup needs to go out without you constantly observing it. However, this process can take a few months to teach so keep observing.

Long-term signals that your pup might be using are:

• barking or whining at you
• going to, barking, or scratching at the door
• coming to you and staring, nose-bumping, or pawing you
• ringing a bell at the door
• some other signal that the two of you work out

Think about your lifestyle and think which signal might work best for you. Are you watching TV or on the computer a lot so you likely won’t see your dog at the door? Do you live in an apartment where barking or whining might disturb your neighbors? Do you have an infant who might be disturbed by barking or whining? Are you renting so scratching doors might cost you your security deposit?

Although you may have preferences, the signal you and your dog will eventually use is a negotiation. Your dog will have natural or learned preferences. You can try to influence them but recognize that your dog has a say in this communication, too.

During the process of teaching your pup to ask to go out, it is essential that you continue to respond correctly when your pup asks to go out. This includes putting your pup on leash to go out and putting it back in the crate or expen if it doesn't potty when you take it out. These steps will keep you from becoming your pup’s “doorman,” letting it in and out whenever it wants to go play outside. This is particularly a risk with the bell method.

There are a number of ways that your puppy might tell you that it needs to go outside. The first step is to decide which method would be most and least effective for your living situation. Then consider which signs are most obvious in your pup now. Remember that what you have to teach your puppy is how you want your pup to ask to go out as an adult dog.

Here are three methods to choose from:

1. Have your puppy wait at the door that your pup will use to go outside to potty. For this method to work the door needs to be easily visible from the living areas where you spend most of your time. If you teach your puppy to wait at the door but you cannot see it, you will miss your pup asking to go outside. If your house is small enough, has an open floor plan and you are able to see your puppy sitting at the door, this method can work beautifully. If that does not describe your living situation, choose another option.

3. Have your puppy come to you to ask you to go outside to potty. This method will teach your puppy to come find you and communicate the need to go outside. How your pup communicates it needs to go will often depend on how closely you pay attention to your pup when it's asking. Our own dogs' communication varies from standing and staring at us to giving a quiet whimper indicating they need to go. Having a dog that is able to tell you it needs to go out to potty is invaluable. Think carefully about which method you would like to teach your puppy.

2. Have your puppy ring a bell to ask you to go out to potty. You can hang a set of bells from the doorknob and teach your puppy to ring the bell to go outside. It is quite easy to teach the puppy to ring a bell. The reason we don't love this method is that you want the puppy to ring the bell only when it needs to go potty but when it wants to go chase squirrels or play in the yard. Keeping your puppy on leash until it has gone potty every time is critical if you decide to use this method.

A few additional things to consider when making your decision:

• Will you be living in the same house for a long period of time or are you planning to move? If you do move, you will need to teach your pup which door to sit at to indicate that it needs to go outside. Thus, it will be more effective if your pup comes to you to ask to go outside.
• Will you travel a lot with your pup? There are many different doors in hotels and friends' homes, which can be confusing to a dog that knows to go to a particular door in your home. Thus, it will be more effective if your pup comes to you to ask to go outside.
• How hectic is your household? Will you notice your puppy just standing at a door or will it need to give you a more black and white indication, like the sound of bells?
• Will your puppy have the ability to get to wherever you are in the house in order to come and tell you it needs to go?

Think about what life is like in your household and then decide which way you think will be most effective for your puppy to let you know that it needs to go outside to potty.

The Training Plan So, which method did you choose to teach your puppy to ask to go outside? We trust you have given some real thought to your lifestyle and living situation before making this important decision. All of the methods to train your puppy to ask to go outside will work, so be sure you pick the one that works best for you and your family!

At this point, your puppy should be at least 5 months old and having house-training success. If your pup has been having regular accidents in the house, please wait until it has a better understanding of the house-training concept before you teach any of the behaviors below. If you are experiencing specific challenges, go back to Lesson 1 and/or reach out to us for help.

Please note that you should never work on teaching your puppy to ask to go outside:

• When it first wakes up
• When you first get home after being out of the house for more than two hours
• After it has been running and playing hard in the house

Caution: The leash is key to teaching your puppy to ask to go outside only when it has to go! If you take your puppy out when it asks and immediately let it run around and play, your pup will learn how to get you to come and play, not how to ask to go potty! To keep this from happening you must be 100% consistent in putting your puppy on leash and staying in the potty area until your pup has done its business. If your puppy does not do its business within 10-15 minutes it must go immediately back into the crate or ex-pen.

Here is how to start teaching the three methods to get your puppy to ask to go potty. Remember, as with all training, consistency is the key to success!

1. Come to you to ask to go outside

This is by far our favorite way for pups to ask to go out because it works with most lifestyles. If your dog will have access to you most of the time you are home, this method is an excellent choice. This method is also a simple, straightforward method to train.However, if you exclude your adult dog from areas of the house where you spend a lot of time, you should choose a different method.

Training Plan Here is what you will need to teach your pup to come to you to ask to go out.

• Treats in your pockets or within arm's reach.
• An idea of when your puppy needs to go out, either because of the amount of time since it was last out or by observing your pup's behavior.
• A leash right next to the door or hanging on the doorknob.

Up until now each time your puppy needs to go out you have taken it directly to the door, put its leash on, and gone outside. To begin training your pup to come to you before going outside, you are going to add a new step. Instead of taking it directly out the door, you are going to call your pup to you before taking it outside.

When you notice or think that your puppy has to potty:

1. Call your pup to you.
2. Give it a treat for coming to you.
3. Say in a calm, quiet voice, "Do you want to go outside?" You can put the leash on at this point or wait till you get to the door.
4. Walk or run with your puppy to the door.
5. With the leash on, go directly to the potty area.
6. Stay in the potty area until your pup potties. Do all the right things:

• Remain quiet except for giving the cue to go potty. Refrain from any other interaction until your pup has finished pottying.
• Say "Yes!" and give your pup a treat and praise for pottying.
• Reward its success with freedom, play, and your attention.

Repeat this process, making sure to implement each step every time you take your puppy outside to potty for the next few weeks.

Variations on this method are that the dog pokes, paws, or barks at you when it comes to you. If the method your dog chooses is acceptable to you, respond by putting it on leash and taking it out. If you'd prefer that it not do these things, watch your dog more closely and ask if it needs to go out BEFORE it pokes, paws or barks at you.

2. Wait at the door

This method is how most dogs tell their people that they have to potty. As we mentioned, the layout of your home must make it possible for you to see your puppy at the door so you are able to respond.

Some people want their dog to go to the door and bark when it needs to go out. A word of caution: This plan could be a recipe for disaster unless you control it. Teaching your puppy to bark for things it wants or needs can turn your puppy into a demand barker. If barking is rewarded dogs will learn to bark to get many things they want.

Training Plan. Here is how to train your dog to go to the door:

1. Take your puppy out the same door each time your puppy goes out to potty.
2. Put the leash on at the door (every time) but now before going out, ask your puppy..
3. When it sits, praise and open the door as its release.
4. Take your pup directly to the potty area.
5. Stay in the potty area until your pup potties. Do all the right things:

• Remain quiet except for giving the cue to go potty. Refrain from any other interaction until your pup has finished pottying.
• Say "Yes!" and give your pup a treat and praise for pottying.
• Reward its success with freedom, play, and your attention.

As your pup earns more freedom in the house, watch it carefully. Each time you see it near the door give the cue, "Do you want to go outside?" If it looks eager, go the door, put the leash on, ask for a sit, and go outside when it does. If you don't want or aren't able to watch your pup, confine it to the expen or crate so it doesn't end of pottying near the door because you didn't see it.

3. Ring the bells hanging on the door

This method of asking to go out is really fun to teach, but we want to give you another word of caution. If you reward your puppy for ringing the bell at any time other than when it needs to potty, you may be listening to bells ringing constantly. If you decide this is the method you want to use, here's how to teach it:

Training Plan

Begin by holding the bells behind your back.

Step 1:

1. Present the bells to your pup by moving them out from behind your back and showing them to your pup.
2. The moment your puppy looks at the bells say "yes."
3. Give it a treat right next to the bottom bell.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 a few times. You want your pup to begin to understand that looking at the bell caused the treats to appear.
5. Move to Step 2 when your pup is looking at the bells as soon as you present them.

Step 2:

1. Present the bells to your pup by moving them out from behind your back and showing them to your pup.
2. Wait for your puppy to begin to move toward the bells. When it moves, even just a little, say "yes."
3. Give it a treat again right next to the bottom bell
4. Repeat steps 5-7 until your pup is moving toward the bells and eventually to touch them to get a treat.

Step 3:

1. Present the bells.
2. Wait for your puppy to touch the bells and say "yes."
3. Treat again on the bottom bell.
4. Repeat steps 9 -11 until your pup is touching the bells as soon as it sees them in your hand.

Step Four:

1. Present the bells.

2. Wait for your puppy to touch the bells hard enough to make noise and say "yes."

3. Treat again on the bottom bell.

4. Repeat steps 13-15 until your puppy is making the bells ring each time it sees them in your hand.

Common mistakes:

• Rewarding in a place other than right on the bell.
• Moving the bells to get the puppy to respond.
• Moving the food toward the bells before you say "yes."
• Moving too quickly to the next step.
• Trying to get the puppy to do the complete behavior of ringing the bell before saying "yes." Remember you should break the behavior down and get each one solidly before moving to the next behavior: 1. Look at the bells 2. Move toward the bells 3. Touch the bells 4. Ring the bells

Once your puppy is deliberately ringing the bells each time you present them, present them every time immediately before taking your puppy outside.

• Put your pup on leash
• Show it the bells
• Have it ring the bells
• Reward it with a treat for ringing the bells
• Set the bells aside as you say, "Do you want to go outside?"
• Take your pup immediately through the door (on leash) directly to the potty area.
• Stay in the potty area.
• Remain quiet.
• Refrain from play and all interaction except giving your cue to go potty.
• Praise your pup for pottying.
• Give it a treat after pottying.
• Reward your puppy's success with freedom, play, and your attention.

Your goal in teaching your puppy to ring the bells to go outside is for it to ring the bell ONLY when it wants to go outside to potty. The more predictable your behavior is after your puppy rings the bells, the more likely you will only have to respond to a ringing bell when your puppy really needs to potty! So be sure to allow your pup to only potty when it rings the bells--don't let it go outside to play. Reward your pup for both ringing the bells and going potty with any or all of the following: freedom, food treats, cuddling, playing, romping, or a walk around the block!

Your puppy's ability to communicate the need to go potty will greatly increase its success in potty training. Take a little time to teach one of the above behaviors. The training experience will:

• Enhance your relationship
• Build your communication skills
• Build a wonderful bond with your puppy

Regardless of which method you choose, remember to break the behavior down, rewarding the smallest pieces, and soon you will have a puppy telling you when it has to go! And don’t worry if it feels like you aren’t making progress. Stay the course and your pup will get it.