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Subtle Signs Puppies Give To Use Bathroom Outside?

3K views 20 replies 16 participants last post by  marshies 
#1 · (Edited)
I know the question has come up and I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to compile different ways a pup might ask to go out. Lots of people think they don't signal, but I find they do and it might not be to obvious.

Robyn would paw me, it took me a little bit to figure it out, because I thought she was trying to play.

Brennan got the zoomies, he would start darting around like he didn't know where to go.

Apollo licks his mouth. It took me a little bit to notice that one too.

There is others that are obvious--ringing bells, barking, crying at the door, etc.

What was your pups signal during the potty training process?
 
#3 · (Edited)
sniffing, circling.
It does depend on the pup, age, and how they were raised by the breeder. Some pups don't do any signal, just squat.
Karlo was house-trained when I brought him home(barely 8 weeks!) Breeder had a litterbox and then a doggy door for the pups so outside was where he wanted to go.
Onyx was fairly easy too... we luckily have a good set up with sliding doors, no stairs so the pups would naturally go to the door.
My foster would do the same thing. I just had to be on it!
 
#4 ·
Bash starts to jump up on the kitchen cabinets. He also gets exceptionally landsharky when he has to use the bathroom. We really need to get a bell and train him to ring it...

Roxy jumps off the couch and stares at us until we take her out.
 
#7 ·
My mom's Tibetan Spanial will run up to you, look at you expectantly, then run to the door. If you don't follow she will run back to you again and run in a little circle before staring you down. It's the funniest expression, like, 'Hello! HELLO! I am summoning you manservant! Potty! Now!' This is the more evolved form of her younger puppy behavior, which was running backs and forth between a human and the door.

My husky puppy I fostered would begin sniffing at the ground before going. He had terrible issues with potty training. As soon as his nose dropped I would rush to him but it was hard to be fast enough. I took him out regularly, but the poor little guy had a bacterial infection though so he had runny poops and I think they surprised even him once in awhile. The bacteria was very resistant to the meds I had him on. He was a crate messer though. He had no qualms about potting and rolling in it. I think it's becuase the breeder he came from had the pups in a smallish kennel together and they all pooped and lived in it.

Generally I would look for: agitated behavior, zoomies, sniffing, pawing at the floor, expectant looks, increased nipping. When in doubt it's outdoor potty time!
 
#8 ·
When mine was a puppy, he was exceptionally quiet when it came to his bathroom times. So I had to look for snuffling the ground, pointed interest in a particular spot on the floor, wandering away from the communal area, circling in place, staring at me, and looking from me to the door.

Lol, now that he's older, he's way more demanding. He'll stand by the door and you'll hear a little mosquito buzz start in his throat that will just grow steadily louder and louder the longer you wait. It'll graduate from the little buzz to a whimper to a whine, to a loud squeal to an all out scream. OR his other favorite thing to do is press his cold nose to my face, hold it there, and stare directly in my face until I get up and let him out.
 
#15 ·
When mine was a puppy, he was exceptionally quiet when it came to his bathroom times. So I had to look for snuffling the ground, pointed interest in a particular spot on the floor, wandering away from the communal area, circling in place, staring at me, and looking from me to the door.
That's mostly what Ruger does. If he starts sniffing the floor in circles a lot, and sometime he will go over near the door, we know to take him out. We want to eventually get him to use a bell or something to let us know.

I dream of the day he's fully house-trained, because he will still wander off and pee and you won't even notice he took the time to do it :rolleyes:


The Boston will keep walking near the door, look at you, walk around the couch, door, you, couch, door, you, couch. Occasionally will make a quiet scratch on it if that doesn't work. If the BF already left for work some mornings, she'll take the annoying liberty to leave a turd at the bottom of the stairs for me while I get dressed :mad:
 
#9 ·
Fritz 'pants'.. In the middle of the night, he will sit at my side of the bed, and all I can hear is panting...
 
#10 ·
My old lab would just give you this look and you could see it in his eyes, then he might whine really softly. My little gsd originally would come up to us and cry a little, then bark if you didn't pay attention. This was difficult because some people in my house couldn't tell the difference between the "let's play!" bark and the "I have to go!" bark. Just so that it was more clear, I recently switched him to using the bells. We've always taught the word "outside" to our dogs too, so that if they bothered you and you asked "outside? Do you have to go outside?" they would get a little more excited or talk back to you if they had to go.
 
#11 ·
Xavier used to do the zoomies thing, I called it his "gotta poop trot" :poop: Then he started doing a "lay down" and "murble growl" type thing that started sounding like he was trying to say the word "out".

Sophie whines a very vocal whine. She gets my son's attention (he's her human) by walking to the hallway, looking around the corner and whining, then walking toward the front door :)

B'Elanna started out with the circle thing. She'd go to specific spots that evidently seemed like good potty spots. She did use puppy pads at first, too. But now she actually walks toward the front door, sits, and looks at it like she's saying, "ahh there it is... there's where I need to go" She scratched the door on her own once two days ago, so there's MAJOR progress in the last few days!!
 
#12 ·
Summer uses her "GSD laser beam stare" could drill holes thru a wall. Plunks her but by the front or back door (whatever's in my line of site) and activates the stare - I swear, I can feel it in the back of my head.

Also, if she feels she didn't get quite enough food, will pick up her plate, sit in front of me with it hanging from her mouth on one edge and again - employ the laser beam stare....... she's almost got me trained but she's not totally pleased yet....
 
#13 ·
Also, if she feels she didn't get quite enough food, will pick up her plate, sit in front of me with it hanging from her mouth on one edge and again - employ the laser beam stare....... she's almost got me trained but she's not totally pleased yet....
lol that's adorable!!B'Elanna will lay down by her food bowl and place her paw in it almost like she's saying, "here... this is where the food goes."
 
#16 ·
That bell can be a pain in the butt. Apollo bangs on it when he wants out, the problem is I never know if he has to pee, eat snow because he wants water or eat some bark:(
 
#17 ·
Tesla is very subtle, he usually will start to put his nose down or sniff areas if he has to pee. If he has to poop he will start getting antsy and acting up. Sometimes it can be hard to tell if he's just being a pest or if he actually has to go out. A couple of times he just peed without giving any warning though!
 
#19 ·
With the bell you have to be super firm about it only being for potty time. When we go out I won't let him stay out for more than 3-5 minutes. And if he's not sniffing the ground, etc acting like he's trying to go then we come in after that. I have been giving like a 3 strike rule, if we come in and he immediately rings his bells again then we'll go back outside, but only for another 3 minutes or so. If he does this 3 times in a row and still doesn't go then I start ignoring him or saying no, we aren't going out. He's stopped playing around with the bells now for the most part.
 
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