How does your dog let you know?

Jess041

Jess041

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... they need to go outside? I'm just curious how many people out there use bells or other noise making devices, or if their dog scratches on the door, or something else. I bought a bell, hung it on a little hook next to the door and Missy picked up on it, but then I didn't really enforce it so she doesn't ring the bell anymore.

I'm pretty good about taking Missy out on a regular basis, so she's rarely in a position where she needs to ask to go out. Her oh so clever way of letting me know is to let out a little bark and she'll stand by the door. It's a special, "I need to go!" bark, that sounds like "rrrrruph!" Like I said, I'm pretty good about taking her out maybe every 2-3 hours. On Saturday, I got really focused on working on our club website after flyball practice (where she drank a lot of water), and poor Missy had to alert me that she needed to go outside. I felt a little bad.. but hey, at least I didn't ignore the bark! Also, she doesn't take advantage of me and ask to go outside just to go outside.. thank goodness.
 
Bentley goes so infrequently that more often than not we're taking him out before he asks. But if he does have to go, he usually will stand in front of us and stare, sometimes stomp his back feet. If you go to pet him, he will run towards the door.

Lexi will jump on you and lick you, or just stare at you. Then if you ask, she goes nuts and runs to the back door.
 
Gavin was raised with a bell, but he rarely uses it. I think when he does it is for effect, when I am on the couch and am making him wait and he is telling me to hurry up! He just stands by the door, quietly. If that doesn't work after about 5 minutes, he comes and finds me and stands in front of me. After a few minutes of that, he starts whining. If I am sleeping in my bed, this whole process could take quite a while!

Cindy
 
Emmy sits in front of the door. And if I don't notice her or doing anything she starts giving sharp barks until I take action.
 
We taught both our dogs to ring the bells that hang on the door. Toby (cattle dog mix) does that religiously. Sheltie angel Trace, however would only ring it if we were not in that room with him. If we were there he would either simply stand in front of us & stare or sometimes a few tail-chasing spins preceeded the stare.

I sure miss those stares...
 
Bailey rings a bell. I even bring it with me when I go to my parents' house. I'll show her what door it's on and she'll use it. However, if I don't have the bells or if I'm in a room without the bells that has access to outside, she will jump at that door. Sometimes it's a combo of both, she'll ring the bell at the front door and if I ignore her, she'll run to the room I'm in, stare at me and whine and spin. If there's a door in that room that leads to outside, she'll jump at the door.

So she basically she has 3 signs and will use 1 or a combination of all: 1) Ring the bell. 2) Whining, staring, spinning (it is a specific whine that she only does when she really has to go out). 3) Jumping at the door. She makes it very obvious when she has to go out. She will hold it for as long as she can if I ignore her obvious and continued attempts to let me know. So if I fail to take her out after all those attempts and she has an accident, I only have myself to blame.
 
Hanna scratches at the patio door window when she wants to go out or come in.

Honestly she is pretty regular these days - we let her out to pee first thing when she wakes up in the morning ( 7:30 - 8:30 am but could be as late as 9:00 if we were up really late the night before) and then again right after she has eaten - this is usually when she has a poop although some mornings she does it before eating. After that she lets us know when she wants out by scratching at the door - that could be as many as 6 or 7 times during the day. Sometimes she has a pee but most often she just wants to be outside on the deck watching the birds & squirrels and eating snow. I make sure she goes out again right after her supper around 5:30 -6:00 pm, then she's usually good until I go to bed about 11:30 - 12 pm when I let her out for one last pee.

We hadn't had an accident indoors in months until this past Tuesday when I left her with my father in law (he's 91) all day because we had to drive to Toronto. He let her out at noon but didn't watch to see if she did anything and later she had a poop & a pee right by the door. I'm used to listening for her all the time and I figure he was probably having his afternoon nap when she needed to go and did not hear her scratching on the window.

If we have to leave her alone for a few hours I don't worry, I just take her out for a short walk and make sure she has a pee before we go. If it's going to be longer we put her in her crate - she has never gone in it.
 
We can't have a bell because our cat Zeus will ring it just to be annoying. Melli lays down in front of a door and looks pitiful. If you ignore it too long, she waddles on over and stands in front of you and barks and barks.
 
I have a pet door that my cat's and current dog use. I'm hoping that the older dog will teach the baby how to use it when she gets big enough.
 
Olive must have a huge bladder- she never developed a "I need to goooo" signal but has never had an accident, we also have her on a schedule of when the normal potty breaks are (first thing in the morning, lunch or just after, after dinner, and then right before bed).

My friend's corgi will throw herself at the door if she needs to go, or will sit on top of the coffee table. :confused2:
 
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