[FMak]

Hi all,

This is my first post and appreciate any advice you might like to share. We have a 15week old black labrador puppy who we have had since he was 7 weeks old. Since we got him he has always been quite unpredictable with his toileting; most books say puppies will need to go within 20 minutes of eating; he could seemingly go for hours but then other times would go three times within the hour. However in general he has been pretty good; we are crate training him and unless he is sick he will never go to toilet in his crate.
We have got to a stage where he is definitely learning that going outside brings treats and going indoors brings nothing so I do feel as though we are making progress as we are having less accidents indoors. I read in one post that by 3months old most puppies learn to go to the door when they need to go. We live on a 2nd floor apartment so toileting means rushing the puppy out the door, waiting for the lift (I don't want to take the stairs as I hear its not good for their hips), and rushing them outside and across the road. Does anyone have any advice for teaching my pup how to let me know when he wants to go when you don't have a garden door for them to wait at? I'm not sure he associates the front door with going to the toilet especially as we keep the door to the living room closed most of the time so he doesn't have free access to the front door.

Sorry for the really long post! Any advice most appreciated!

Thanks

[linnealand]

Hi there! I have more or less the same problem. We live in an apartment in an old palazzo with a ton of very heavy doors to get through before we can actually meet the street, much less open up our studio and get into the large back garden. We have a 4 1/2 month english cocker, and he doesn't give us signals that he wants to be let out. Not only does going out involve those steps, but if you're going to be seen by all of your neighbors in the street, you also need to be dressed and at least semi-presentable. We're handling the issue with regular walks (at about the same time everyday), plus wee wee pads. The combination has been working out rather well for the most part. I don't know if they work for large dogs, too, but it's something to consider. We'll probably keep using the wee wee pads for as long as they're necessary.

About the signals I want to get from him, I have even followed the advice of a trainer by getting on my knees and imitating my pup's voice and so on, but other than making me feel a bit ridiculous, it hasn't produced any effect in him yet. Now my pup knows that if I make that noise, we'll be going out, but he's not replicating the behavior. I have heard of people who have the dog bat at a bell by the door. We're going to try that soon.

I hope more people have some words of wisdom to share about it!

[McDina]

Hi, Fmak I have a 5 month old rottie I got her when she was only 8weeks old,, first of you should'nt be taking your dog outside yet due to risk of catching Parvo too young. You should speak to your vet and he will advice when its OK for your puppy to be walked outside in the grass... try puppy peepads it work great for me until my dog was fully vaccinated.. but personally my dog never till this day I do not take her to eliminate in the grass its either concrete or street (never off leash as she is in tranning)