How do you train a dog to ask to go out for a wee?

Hello again, and I wonder if anybody has an answer to this problem.

Jimmi is doing very well and is usually completely clean (as long as we don't go out and leave him!). However, this is almost entirely due to the fact that:
1. We let him out for his last wee between 11 and 12 at night, which is quite late for us oldies.

2. Due to his (still) excessive drinking, which we now know is psychological and not physical having had all the tests done, we are careful to regularly take him outside and he always does a wee. Even if he gets up after a sleep, we open the door for him.

The trouble is, he has never actually asked to go out in any shape or form, and this evening I thought that I would see if he would ask if I didn't just let him out regularly. He didn't ask, he just went to wee against the door into the kitchen and got bellowed at for his pains! I felt awful for shouting at him, because he goes sort of flat but it does stop him in his tracks. He has loads of praise when he goes for a wee outside, and tonight was the first time in ages that he piddled inside, BUT that was because we waited for a sign from him.

I have wracked my brain, but cannot come up with anything that will train him to actually tell us when he needs to go out.

My jrt is nearly 11 months now and she has been clean for quite a few months. She asks to 'go out' by sitting by the back door and looking at me, which isn't too helpful when i'm not in the room! One thing i never did when training her was to shout at any accidents she did have. I can remember thinking she would never be clean indoors, but one day she seemed to just get it.

So for Lily it was simply a case of monitoring her and taking her out every hour, after sleep and after food. Masses of praise when she piddled outside and ignoring her if she did it indoors.

i'm sure he'll get there eventually!

You haven't said how old he is....

I know I wondered the same thing when my pup was 6 mths..... But a few weeks on from that he did start to get the idea. It's part of growing up and they WILL get there eventually, some faster than others. Just carry on as you are and trust him, making sure you don't make too much fuss when it's in the wrong place but giving him loads of encouragement in the right place, as I am sure you are doing

Mine was 8 mths before he was 100% trustworthy and now at 4 years old he is totally wonderful. Patience, it works

Some of our puppies have been slow to catch on too. By the time most dogs are about 3 months old, they have figured out that if they go to the door and stand, you will let them out. The praise slowly shifts to going to the door. Some people hang a bell there for the dog to paw. If your dog doesn't figure this out, try praising it and putting it out if it even gets near the door.

You can kind of shape the behaviour
If every time your pup does something, walks to a certain bit of the floor or something then let him out right away every time
eventualy he will learn to go there to get let out

Or you can train a behaviour, I know people get a little bell and get the dog to nudge it each time before you let them out, eventualy they try ringing the bell themselves

Or they just figure something out - Mia yipps in my face and Ben sits by the door

Please dont yell at him tho - if he went to the door then in a way he was saying he wanted out, just because you didnt (couldnt) notice he still moved over to the door. He will offer different methods to comunicate with you if you dont punnish him

Hi Sally even if you teach Jimmi to use a bell you still have to get up to let him out.

I have taught this to a dog in the past and won't do so again. (first you teach the dog to 'touch' the bell on a string = treat/praise, then when the dog can do this hang the bell on the door handle and say 'touch' each time you open the door then again treat/praise so the dog learns to associate the door opening with the bell sound) .

The problem I had with teaching this is the dog continually asked to go out and not just to relieve itself and this became a real pain and you can't ignore the dogs request or this defeats the object of the exercise and is not fair to the dog.

Chloe continually asks to go out but I know this is so she can be nosey and run up and down the garden chasing the birds, she would be ringing the bell to go out all day

It is still early days and Jimmi may gradually drink less, also what food is he on, some dried kibble can make a dog drink excessively.

Is your garden secure, if so as Jimmi is an older dog and relieves himself each time he goes out (unlike a puppy who needs the owner to go out with them every time) a dog door may be the answer, I have one which I installed for one of my previous old dogs and she went in and out at will.


As Ben says please don't yell at Jimmi or he may become afraid of you or start going behind the furniture where you can't see him.

Mine sorta trained themselves

Toffee will come up and put his head on my knee and whine.
Teddy stands at the front door and barks.
and Gypsy , well madam jumps up at the keys hanging in the door and knocks them , making them jangle , then barks at you when you appear , lol

Thank you all for your replies, and as Minihaha realised, Jimmi is an older dog (we think at least 8 - so not a puppy that is learning control). I know what you are all saying about not shouting at him when he wees indoors,and you have made me feel awful, but actually this is the one thing that has got him to the nearly clean state that we have now, because when we first brought him home he was happily cocking his leg anywhere and everywhere!!! When caught in the act, a sharp "OI" followed by taking him outside has had great results, and to be honest it is all very strange because he is clearly well used to living in a house........he knows all the household machines and noises etc. and he is well aware of what glass windows are.

When I caught him weeing again after waiting to see if he would give some indication of wanting to go out, it was not by the back door Ben......it was the door through to the dining room which is in the middle of the house!!! Very casually, as if he was peeing against a tree! He has never yet wandered even remotely near to the back door to ask to be let out, nor given any other sign.

Minihaha, yes the garden is secure but actually letting him out is not a problem as one or other of us is here all the time.......if only he would ask! He is on Salmon and Potato kibble because of his skin problems, but that is well soaked. As I said on another thread, he has been cleared of having Diabetes, kidney, liver disease, tumours etc. etc., although the protein levels in his sample are a little above normal, he is concentrating his wee to an acceptable level. In other words, the amount that he is drinking is "right" for him, even though it is excessive.

Thank you all for your replies

Hi Sally, see the highlighted part, this sounds more like scent marking than urinating .

There are thought to be a number of causes for scent marking one of which is insecurity. It can be quite a difficult problem to treat.

Depending on the cause scent marking can be helped by castration but I would guess Jimmi is already castrated and if the problem is due to insecuity it won't help anyway.

Things they may help are making sure Jimmi is 'empty' before allowing him free access to the house (so there is less to mark with) and cleaning marked areas thoroughly with biological washing powder to remove the scent and rubbing any areas likely to be soiled again with a pure oil of lavender .

If you catch him scent marking you are right to distract/divert him if you can.
Hopefully it should settle down as Jimmi feels more secure and at home.

Thank you Minihaha, because you have put into words what I was thinking myself.

Yes, he was castrated by DT before we picked him up - but of course being an older dog the habit may be stronger than the hormones (or lack of them!). Whenever he has weed, then I have used a spray that I got from the Vet to cover the scent, and it does seem to work in that he never has gone in the same place twice!! As for making sure that he is empty, well that is what is sooooooo frustrating at the moment because we will come back from his walk, or he will come in from the garden, nice and empty but what is the first thing that he does? Drinks half a pint of water!! It's not funny Having ruled out 99% of medical causes, we can only continue with routine and love and hope for the best.

I am really really really hoping that both the drinking and the subsequent emptying will settle down over the next month or two, because he certainly seems to be at home in all other respects.

But oh I do wish that he would ASK to go out.