Going Outside

[Claudiabehr 3]

Do you have a regular schedule to take your little ones out by? I'm asking because I bring Panda to work and this enables me to take her out frequently, i.e. every hour if I choose. So she tells me she has to go at least 20 times a day and at least 15, she does nothing. The thing is she has a particular growl that means "it's time, I really have to go" and she does this at other times also. I don't dare not pay attention. She's only 11 months old and fully housetrained but I don't want to push my luck. She tends to drink quite a bit so I feel she does have to urinate more often than two times a day.

Ideas?

[NickyPhyl 1]

We get up at 4 and Max, the Schnoodle goes out immediately. Nick, the Shih Tzu waits until I make him go. Then they have breakfast and Max needs to go again. I leave for work at 6:45 and take them both out just before. I come home around 11:30 and out they go again. Then I am home between 4 and 5 and they go out then. Most nights they don't go again until bedtime, around 9. So that is their schedule. Not sure this helps you, though :dede:

[tzuhouse 4]

Awe Claudia, I feel your pain....Maddy is my "bell ringer", just because he loves being outside.....But like you, I often feel it is a wrong message when he tells me he wants to go out and I don't allow him to. It is funny, cause he normally only does this in the evening....but what I think with him, he has poo urges, but not quite ready, so he thinks it is and rings the bell, he will almost always tinkle....but once the poo finally happens (yep, back to our favorite topic), then he quits ringing the bell....it took me a while to figure that out. Probably if I would just stay out with him longer earlier in the evening, he would go and then settle for the evening. BUT, if we are gone during the evening, he is just fine...no problems at all...he just KNOWS momma will be a yo-yo and get up and down and play his game....LOL

I am SURE that didn't help you a bit...but I think you will "get her drift" as time goes on and she will also settle more in to a schedule.

[Claudiabehr 3]

Both of you were helpful..............I do believe if I weren't always "handy" little P would make do with not going and would get on more of an enforced schedule. But as it is, I had to remove the bells as she was driving me crazy.........every 20 minutes running outside.....to do what? PLAY!!!

Here's her current schedule: we wake up at 5:00 a.m., and immediately go outside where she pees and poops (there it is again). We come in and she gets a treat so her stomach is not totally empty until breakfast at 6:00 a.m. She eats and then likes to nap, preferably on me. We go out again at 7:00 and she pees, then I shower and get ready for work and off we go. When I get to work, I take her for a walk there and she usually poops again. Then throughout the day, as I see clients, in between I will take her out for a quick pee break..........................Get home a little after 6:00 p.m. and it's dinner time and usually in good weather a long walk. We might take pee breaks another 3 times during the evening. I think it's a bit much myself. I have a feeling when the new puppy comes, after he's training, there'll be less in and outgoing.

[luvinpreciousntoby 0]

Claudia. I think they are able to adjust their schedule somewhat.. on weekends when we're home.. they go out at 9:00 am, then around 1,4,8 and 11... However,, when we're at work during the week, they go out at 7, 4:30, 8 & 11. during the week, they are able to hold it but I think they reduce their water intake when we aren't home.. Once in a great while we'll have an accident,, but it's few and far between at this point. And, much like yours.. anytime we say the word "out",, they both run to the door like they've got to go soooo bad... LOL it's funny,, we now spell it first..

[mr.coffee 364]

Hmm, I somehow overlooked this one...not that I really would've had much to contribute before. LOL...

Anyway, I've been dealing with a little bit of the same, Harley knows perfectly well all he has to do is go to the door and grumble and we'll do the routine. Get the harness, get the leash, get the flip-flops, off down the stairs, make the rounds, yadda yadda yadda. So recently, I'd started noticing an increase in "false alarms," if you will. We get down there and what does he do? Wander the yard, sniffing about, strutting around, looking to see if there's a cat under the car, poking his nose at the fence to check out what the neighbors are up to, but never going. Yay. Mind you, he gets plenty of play inside and I try to give him some outside time too, but at MY convenience.

Well, I got to thinking, wouldn't it be nice if...

So I started taking him down off leash and armed with a cookie. He goes outside, does what he's gotta do and comes right back, he gets the cookie. He goes out and makes me try to catch him, no cookie. Remember, he's food motivated. Extremely. He has a food lust like no other. Cookies are high on his list. I guess for about a week, we had some ups and downs, sometimes he'd get to the bottom of the stairs, pee, turn around and come right back. Other times, he'd get there, pee, then look at me & bolt. Well, my persistence has paid off. I'm no longer getting "false alarms," and I can step outside and send him off to do his thing and not even have to go down the stairs with him!

I was actually going to gloat and beam about that in a new thread, until I saw this thread...

BTW, most of the time, I think it'd be safe to say he goes out roughly every three or four hours, but the only trips that are close to regularly scheduled would be 1. first pee, usually around 6:45, 2. poop immediately following breakfast, about 8:45, 3. after dinner around 7:00, and 4. last out before bed, between 9:30 and 10:30. There's usually one or two during the day, and sometimes the poop comes around on an oddball schedule. In a pinch, I've seen him hold it for hours on end...

-m

[Luna 8,676]

Just saw this!

A dog that is dependable at home by 11 months is playing you. Really. Of course, Jack is 4 years old and can still play my (wussy) DH so it isn't that unusual. Set potty times and don't budge: you will be glad you did in the long run, although it can drive you crazy at first.

When we are home on weekends or holidays and the weather is halfway decent, one or another of the gang is always at the back door doing the pee-pee dance. Let out, they run around for a minute or two and then want back in. A friend of mine put it this way:

"Let the dogs out. Let the dogs in. Let the dogs out. Let the dogs in. Let the dogs out. Let the...oh, ferchrissakes, just leave the door open!!!"

Mostly, I just leave the door open. When it's too hot or too cold they don't want to run in and out, anyway.

Obviously this only works for those who have a fenced yard and can keep an eye on the little angels while they are out, and for those who don't have multiple small-dog predators to worry about. Having a big dog along with the little ones helps, btw. I am a firm believer that every big-dog person should have 1 small dog, and that every small-dog person should have 1 big dog. Balances things out.

[Claudiabehr 3]

Well, Pam, I'd love to leave the door open, but Panda is really not safe here outside for a minute without being watched. I live on reserve wetland where eagles are common as are the moose and between the two, she wouldn't have a chance. But when I've told her no, she's just gone and used the floor because I can't tell what's a real pee-dance and what's the phony one. The poop dance I've got down....but she drinks a lot and seems to want to go soon after........drives me crazy!!!!