# How does your dog let you know he needs to go outside?



## retrieverbear (Jan 19, 2014)

I'm thinking of getting a doorbell or something for Riley to let us know when he needs to go outside. Right now he goes to the front door, but the way our house is situated, it's hard to see when he's there. A sound would be helpful.
How does your dog let you know that he/she has to go?


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

My 8 month old puppy has taken to jumping up and grabbing the door handle with his paws in an attempt to let himself out. Childproof door locks may be in our future.


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## Marcus (Aug 24, 2014)

retrieverbear said:


> I'm thinking of getting a doorbell or something for Riley to let us know when he needs to go outside. Right now he goes to the front door, but the way our house is situated, it's hard to see when he's there. A sound would be helpful.
> How does your dog let you know that he/she has to go?



Good question. Currently we just leave the back door open so he comes and goes when he needs to and lock him in the kitchen at night. I've been thinking about closing the door and see what happens. He is about 4 and a bit months. I'm weary of a bell system. As I think he'll ring it all the time


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## DJdogman (Apr 23, 2013)

Derek walks back and forth between me and the door, and if I'm ignoring him he'll do it a bit quicker. Then when I say "you want to go out?", he tilts his head if he does. He doesn't tilt his head if he doesn't want to go out.

I haven't picked up on Charlie's method yet, as he has just got into our routine and goes when I open the door at certain times!

I really like your bell idea though!!


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## CharlieBear80 (Oct 13, 2013)

Huck, our GSD, does a little dance around the room. It's very distinct and he only does it when he needs to go pee. Will, our Golden, will find you and sit down a few feet from you and just stare at you until you take him out.


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## janababy (Jan 2, 2012)

Buddy sits at the back door. He never barks, but somehow we always know when he is there.


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## Wendy427 (Apr 4, 2009)

CharlieBear80 said:


> .... Will, our Golden, will find you and sit down a few feet from you and just stare at you until you take him out.


This is what Maxi does. I'd be laying on the sofa and she comes and sits sideways to me on the floor. I don't say anything for a minute or so, then I say "you wanna go out?" She looks at me and moves her eyes to the right, and acts just a wee bit excited. And out we go.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

I have a pet door, my girl Roxy uses the Pet door and goes in and out whenever she wants. 

My boy Remy won't use the pet door, when he has to go out, he stands by the door and usually hits the door knob with his nose.


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## Jeepfisher (Nov 3, 2014)

Odie knocks at the door to come in and go out..... basically just paws it. Has always done it.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

Ben and Dachsi let me know that they want to go out by going to the door.


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## brendadavis44 (May 6, 2014)

We started out with the bell BUT its become more of Kiner goes to the back door and sits every now and again we get his singing voice


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## cazzy (Jan 7, 2014)

Tessie sits in front of me and makes weird noises kinda sounds like chewbacca from star wars until I get up ... Lol Poppy just waits for someone to get up and runs to the door at the moment she comes out with me and pups most of the time


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## jaina8851 (Apr 19, 2014)

The bell was what made Toby really turn the corner in terms of house training. Once he figured out the bell, we didn't have any more accidents. We were very strict that ringing the bell meant "we go outside on leash, and you potty, and if you don't, you go back inside immediately." He only was fresh with the bell (repeatedly ringing) a few times, and we would put him in his pen for timeout. At this point, he is almost eight months, and he rarely uses it anymore. If we hear him ring the bell it means "I need to go out NOW". Otherwise, we just kind of know when he needs to go out (when he wakes up, after eating, etc).


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

Duke learned at daycare to scratch at the door. He just started doing it when he was between 4-5 months old. Before that, we always took him out at scheduled intervals so it was never an issue.

Charlie learned from Duke, but he doesn't always scratch. A lot of times he just sits there patiently until we notice he needs to go out.


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## Susan: w/ Summit we climb (Jun 12, 2014)

Summit uses a TellBell when he wants to go out. I like it because it's not obtrusive, but we can hear it from any of the rooms we're usually in. There's another one outside, but it frequently gets pushed aside, so he paws at the screen door to come back in, or just waits. I'm sure we can find a way to keep the outdoor TellBell in place when we have time.

He's never used it when he wasn't serious about going outside--for some purpose or other. He likes to know what's going on outside, and where people are going, and what the neighbors are doing, etc, etc.


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## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

Max opens the back door and lets himself out into the backyard. He taught himself this behavior a couple of years ago. It is very convenient for the humans.  Our yard is completely fenced and secure. Here is a short video.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

The guys come up to let me know. Jacks stares and squeaks at me. Bertie will come up and nose bump me. 

But we also take them out anyway at various times - whether they want to go out or not.


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## Marcus (Aug 24, 2014)

Did you train them to come up to you or was it just instinctive?
And how old before they started doing that?


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Marcus said:


> Did you train them to come up to you or was it just instinctive?
> And how old before they started doing that?


It's basic dog training. When a dog offers a behavior that you want to encourage - you have to mark it and reward it.

So when they were little puppies and came up to us - we were popping up like toast to rush them outside. Over time, the dogs learned that doing X created X reaction from us - and that is how the dogs learn. 

It's a similar mentality that goes into using bells on doors, etc.... except, I'd rather the dogs come find us to communicate that they have to go out.


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## KiwiD (Jan 14, 2008)

Kiwi will usually make a lap around the dining room table and then stand and look at us


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Toby uses the dog door with ease. 

Yogi knows the dog door and uses it if one of us isn't home or we don't come downstairs when he rings the potty bell. We used a potty bell to train him and he still likes to summon us to open the door, even though he can use the dog door easily! We sometimes close our utility room door and he will open that door himself to get to the dog door if he needs to go.


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## Rkaymay (May 12, 2014)

Zelda paces by the door and between me and the door, pausing at the door to stare at me for a few seconds each time. If I don't move fast enough, she'll jump on the door. We used to use a bell, but she only rang it when she wanted to play. She preferred to just pace if she needed to pee. The bell was what really helped her grasp potty training though, even though she hardly used it to signal she needed to potty.


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## thorbreafortuna (Jun 9, 2013)

Thor stands by the Thor and waits. If no one comes after a moment he barks once or whines if he's feeling more urgency. Lately he has taken to coming to me and placing a paw on my lap. This is also how he asks me to get out of bed in the morning. This last thing I didn't train him to do, he just did one day, and since it does get my attention it has been self rewarding.


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## pb2b (Nov 8, 2013)

Henry will lift his head up and bark. Then he will walk over to me and look at me.


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## HollyDog (Sep 23, 2014)

It's so cute to hear about all the potty dances! Holly will sit by the door and whine, if we don't let her out after a while she'll bark a bit and then whine again.


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## Marcus (Aug 24, 2014)

Has anyone's dog actually given up trying and gone. Couldn't wait?


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## cazzy (Jan 7, 2014)

Marcus said:


> Has anyone's dog actually given up trying and gone. Couldn't wait?


Mine never have once they have been over a set age. Tessie is the worse if we don't take her out within 5 mins of her making noises and coming and sitting near us. she will step it up and start dancing with her front paws while sat and then comes the barking and she won't stop till we do.
she else does this for her food as well if we are late with it.its a real pain when the clocks change because it takes her a couple of days to catch on and until she does we end up listening to her barking for an hr


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## valita (Apr 23, 2014)

reba does the going to the door, if that doesn't get our attention, then she come over and lay her head on our lap,


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## GinnyinPA (Oct 31, 2010)

Ben is very regular - he pees on our morning walk, late afternoon, after dinner and on our evening walks. It is very unusual for him to ask to go out at other times. Usually when he does, he just wants to go out to sniff the air, eat grass or say hello to the neighbors' dogs. 

When he does want to go out, Ben will just stare at us. If we don't pay attention, and he really needs to go he'll put his paw on us or lick our hands or nudge our elbows. Mostly he just looks, hard. Since we spend a lot of time in the den at the computers, and the door is in the dining room, going to the door doesn't work. 

We tried bells when we first brought him home. He got it immediately, and for two days would ring the bell when he wanted out. Then he stopped doing it and never did it again. 

The only time he ever peed on the floor was the first week we got him. He sat at the door to the den and looked at us. We didn't notice. So he went to the living room and peed. We learned that we needed to pay more attention and he learned that he needed to be more insistent. We also worked out a schedule that works. No more problems.


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## Kodiac-Bear (Jan 20, 2014)

This with very loud and wet nose snort!! 

Next its paws in the groin, no ignoring him then !!!


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## b10mac (Mar 23, 2012)

Originally, we bell trained him which worked great. Until he hit about 6-7 months and just decided ringing the bell was great all the time, especially to try and eat sticks.

Since we've taken the bells off the door, he comes and finds us to go out. Usually a hard stare, and occasionally a paw in the lap or arm. A "you need to go potty? outside?" from me…he'll cock him head and jump up towards the door


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## Bozema (Nov 23, 2009)

We bell-trained Boo too and he picked it up fast. We used a cow bell, like the ones they use at bicycle races. He too began to ring it all time because he loved the quick attention he got from us. Now he just stands by the back door and stares at us. Much quieter and we know the look. Our female just whines. She has a cast iron bladder, so a couple times a day is fine with her anyway and I usually let her out more often than she asks.


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## Ruby13 (Dec 28, 2013)

All four of mine come close and sit and stare at me until I catch on. If I don't react within a few minutes, all of them will give me the whine, and as soon as I move, they do the dance!


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## Dave92 (Jul 31, 2015)

sits by door and barks a couple times


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## KW812 (Aug 5, 2015)

Mine go stand at the door and if no one's paying attention, they give a little bark (and one stomps his feet!)


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## Jessie&Mom (Oct 3, 2014)

We bell-trained Jessie. She picked it up in the matter of 2 or 3 days. She still uses the bell, even now at a year and a half. She never barks so using the bell is her way of letting us know she needs to go outside.


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## elway (Jan 23, 2015)

My guy goes to the door and stares at it, then at us. If necessary he barks once. My last dog also issued one quick bark to indicate a need to go out.

I get the appeal of the bell system but I have chosen not to use it because I want to avoid as many "extras" as possible. That is, I don't like any training that requires more than just me and my dog. That's why I don't clicker-train. I figure the only two things I can rely on being there 100% of the time are me and my dog, so I'd like to make sure we're equipped to get by like that.


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## G-bear (Oct 6, 2015)

Bailey spins in tight circles by the door. The more he needs to go out the faster the circle spin.


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## BuddyinFrance (May 20, 2015)

Buddy does not really have a distinct way of telling me he needs to go because he actually will wait and then go potty on demand. So he waits for me to take him out and tell him to go. In fact sometimes we go on a long walk for a couple of hours when I get home I remember that I forgot to tell him "go pee" and then he does a huge one over our lawn having held it for the entire walk! It has it's advantages and disadvantages. If ever he has not been for a long time and I have forgotten to remind him to go he just gets kind of "antsy".. roaming around the house.


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## rabernet (Feb 24, 2015)

I chose other, because he does more than one. He rings the bells hanging on the door. If he has to do more than just a wee, he'll add a woof to it. If we don't respond immediately, he steps back, cocks his head and looks at us like "hello - I know "I" heard the bell when I rang it, but did YOU hear it? Is it broken? Are YOU broken??"


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## BuddyinFrance (May 20, 2015)

rabernet said:


> I chose other, because he does more than one. He rings the bells hanging on the door. If he has to do more than just a wee, he'll add a woof to it. If we don't respond immediately, he steps back, cocks his head and looks at us like "hello - I know "I" heard the bell when I rang it, but did YOU hear it? Is it broken? Are YOU broken??"


"Is it broken? Are you broken? Woops".. looks down.. "Sorry too late"!


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## RobDGO (Oct 4, 2012)

I trained Geordie to ring a bell I hung from the backdoor doorknob.


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## AngelCoopersMom (Oct 15, 2015)

Cooper just came to us or stood by the door. If we ignored him he would just come back, MOM!!! Tanner hasn't let us know at all yet.


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## MarcWinkman (Oct 28, 2015)

Riley just stops what she's doing and goes and sits down next to the door.


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## Momyof3grlygrls (Feb 27, 2014)

She gets serious letting us know...she barks at the door, then runs around looking for someone to get eye contact with and barks at them. We ask her what she wants and she runs to the door if she needs to go out....


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## Jessie&Mom (Oct 3, 2014)

We trained Jessie to ring a bell that's attached to the door.

Sievers Pet Care Potty Time Chimes & The Perfect Potty Training Solution DVD | Potty Training | PetSmart

^^ That's the actual bell that we use (but we bought the pink one)


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

Brooks is 10 1/2 yrs old. He has always just gone to the door and waited.
That is until a few months ago. He has developed an idiopathic thirst, which then results in more frequency/urgency about urinating. So he now not only goes to the door but will give a single short bark ("hey you guys, get up off the sofa and help me out here, Im an old guy now!")


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