another ques about penny

[Formula86]

hello again. i have another ques that maybe you guys can help with.

penny is getting a lot better with her housetraining. the big difference was giving her the cookie RIGHT after she went outside. now she knows what she is supposed to do. i have a problem though. i don't think penny knows how to tell me when she needs to go. i just have to take her out every 2-3 hrs. how can i teach her to alert me? petsmart suggested teaching her to paw at a bell, but i know penny and she will just eat the bell (then i will have a ringing dog..haha ). should i make her sit at the door before i take her out?

facts: she is 10 months and also, she doesn't know the speak command. should i teach her to speak so i can make her bark before i take her out? is she just young?

-jane

[Bar B]

I don`t train to go to the door. I just take them out regularly and that gets them on somewhat of a schedule. We do potty breaks first thing in the morning, then depending on who is home (around noon) if no one is home they go out at 3:00 when I get home from work, and then again just before bedtime if not before. Usually 3 to 4 times a day. Sometimes they go to the door but the majority of the time they know when it is about scheduled time. It works best for me to do a schedule cause if I get busy and they are standing at the door I may not see them and then it be too late... Hope this helps but you have to do what is best for you and your pooch...

[Deja]

I'm so glad to hear that Penny is doing well in her house breaking!
You raised two really interesting questions.

i just have to take her out every 2-3 hrs. how can i teach her to alert me?

You've done so well by sticking to the 2-3 hour schedule, you deserve an award! That's not an easy thing to do and I'm sure it really helped Penny get on a good "potty" schedule. At ten months old you can start taking her out less frequently. I'm sure she "holds it" all night at this point? And that means she can go longer than 2 hours during the day.... which brings you to the question- How do you teach her to let you know?

Does she have ways of telling you what she wants or needs right now? Does she go to the door on her own at all? Does she whine or start circling or sniffing? In short- does she give you cues that you pick up on? Does she communicate with you for other things such as play, food, letting you know her water dish is empty, etc..?

The bells on the door is such an easy thing for the dog to learn. It works really well! If you are afraid she'll chew or try to eat them, she can be taught not to, and she won't, because she'll learn what they are for- communication! It becomes her way of talking to you and letting you know clearly what she needs. Also by ringing the bells she gets rewarded by being taken out. It's a win-win situation for both you and the dog.
The jingle bells used for this are very large- not ones that can be chewed easily at all. The best ones are sold around the holidays attached to a thick strip of leather- made just for the purpose of attaching them to the door to make noise!
You can easily make your own version of it by purchasing the items from your local craft store. You'll need about 5 or 6 big jingle-bells (the ones I have are around 3" in diameter). String them through some thick hemp rope or thick sisel, heavy ribbon, or whatever your imagination cooks up. Hang them from the door so that when you lift the dog's paw they easily reach the bells.

To start training her to ring the bells- every time you take her out have her sit at the door. (I give my dogs the "sit" command at the door before they are taken out, and before they are let back in- but that's another topic )
Lift her paw and ring the bell, praise her and open the door- take her out as usual. If within 10 minutes after coming back in she happens to ring the bells- take her out. If she rings them by accident even, take her out. She will quickly associate ringing the bells with the reward of being taken outside.
Amazingly, if anyone else rings the bells- it won't matter to her- because she's learning that only *she* has the power to make those doors open for her.

As for the second question regarding teaching her to bark to go out.
Teaching her to "speak" takes a lot more work. Different breeds tend to vary on their "barkiness". Some breeds are natural barkers and whiners and some breeds tend to be quiet. Sometimes, once you allow the dog to bark in the house for any reason, they can develop the bad habit of barking.
It's not a bad thing for a dog to give you a quiet "bark" at the door to let you know she needs to go out. You need to decide how much barking you can tolerate from your dog.
Usually, I've seen dogs develop the "bark" or "whine" to go out on their own, just because it's their natural way of communicating with you. To me... if you have a quiet, non-barker- count your blessings !! There is a way to teach her to "speak" for a treat... and that can then be transfered to "barking" at the door to go outside.

Penny is still a pup, yes, she is young. She's old enough to be doing basic obedience - meaning obeying the rules of your house and responding to your requests in a consistant manner. It sounds like you are doing a great job with her. I'm sure that you'll find the method that works best for you, and Penny.

*whew* I'm sorry that was so long winded! Keep updating! I'd love to know how she's doing, and what works for you.
Good Luck!!!

[Formula86]

deja - in response to your questions:
yes, she does hold it over-night, but i think this is cause she is so sleepy and plus, if she gets off of the bed and goes to the bathroom then she can't get back up (she has hip problems). also, she shows me she wants to play by bringing me a toy, but she doesn't alert me to anything else. she doesn't tell me when she's hungry, thirsty, or needs to go out. if i don't take her out every 2-3 hrs, she just goes in the house. i can tell if she has to poopy cause of the circling, but if she has to pee she just squats whereever really quickly and goes. i think she knows it's wrong now, but i don't think (and this is key) that she knows she can hold it. she doesn't understand how to hold her pee/poopy.
as far as the bells go...she's been to the ER 2 times already for eating stuff that had to be removed surgically or through induced vomiting. she would eat the bells and the string/belt because she would just expect me to replace it. trust me, she doesn't care how cool the bells are - she'd rather eat them.
i think the barking might work, but she already barks at noises outside. i like this because i live alone, but i can't take her out EVERY time she barks.
i am probably going to adopt a 5 yr old chihuahua from a foster home tomorrow and he is EXTREMELY WELL housetrained. he goes to the door to let you know, so maybe she will learn from him. do you think she will?
thanks and sorry this is sooooo long!!!! =)
-jane

[Deja]

Oh I think getting another dog - one who is already housebroken will do wonders! (I'd introduce them slowly and get them used to each other- especially since your new dog is male and there may be some dominance issues that they'll need to work out under your watchfull eye)

I have a 7 year old Golden Retriever and in May we got a 6 week old Brittany. Well Max (the brittany) is now 5 months old and about 98% reliably house broken. He adores Jack (the Golden) and wants to do *everything* that Jack does. He learned to retrieve (play fetch and retrieve right to my hand) so fast in part due to copying Jack! He also learned good puppy manners because there was always *just so much* Jack would tolerate before he rolled Max over with his nose and told him in doggy language to behave!
Just remember though, that for every good habit a dog learns from another dog - they can also learn the bad habits - so just be watchful and consistantly, and positively correct the bad ones, because it's easier to prevent a bad habit than it is to correct one.

I do know what you mean about wanting your dog to bark when people ring your bell, bark at noise outside etc... I appreciate it when Jack lets the person ringing my bell know that he's right there! I also expect him to stop the instant I say "Jack- Quiet!" Then I quickly, without much fuss at all, praise him with a pat on the head and a "good quiet, Jack". It reassures him and lets him know that all in his world is OK

ACK! I had no idea that Penny ate things to the point of needing surgery! I'd be very leary of enticing her with something dangerous too, I can't blame you one bit for that. Oh you must have been frantic both times Good grief - that's stressful.

As far as the bladder/bowel control goes- (now please don't think I am trying to be mean or sarcastic here... I'm not)...She has you very well trained! If you believe that she *holds* it overnight because she won't be able to get back up onto the bed - she has *very* good control!
I've always used the crate method with my dogs and as far as housebreaking that's the only way I know. Max sleeps in his crate and is still confined to only 2 rooms in the house- unless I am with him. Jack (at his ripe age) has free run... I stopped crating him at night when my husband started traveling for work... he'll still use his crate as *his* room though.

The only other thing I can think of is to start increasing the time between "potty outings" very slowly? Maybe by 20 minutes the first week - if that goes well , add 10 more minutes and work up from there? If it fails, back it up? I don't know- that's a tough one!

Good Luck with your new baby and don't forget to post some pictures!! He's going to be one lucky pup to have such a good mommy - forever

[Jodi]

Ohhhh! You're getting a new baby tomorrow??!!?? Pictures! Pictures! I need pictures!

Btw, my puppy has learned a lot from my older dog. He copies a lot of what she does & follows her around, etc. It might really help for tellin ya when your pup needs to go out.