Bark to Go Outside
by Julie & Katie
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
Katie is already potty trained to go outside. She is so cute, she likes to potty on the grass and stinky on the pinestraw in the flower beds. She's somewhat modest because she doesn't like for you to watch her when she goes stinky. What I would like to know is how can I train her to bark at the door? Right now I just watch her very closely and when she starts sniffing and acting a little antsy, I say lets go potty, and she goes out the door with me. She went to the door this weekend and I was watching her so I knew she wanted to go outside. As she gets older will she bark at the door? Katie will be ten weeks on Friday.
DISCUSSION:
Katie sounds very cute!! Taffy is a little over two years old and has never barked to go out. She comes and stares at me, and I have been trained to know what that means. She has a "look" for all of her wants, desires, and needs! The only thing she barks at is when people pull up in cars or come to the door, and I could do with a little less of that! Really, though, I shouldn't ever complain about her, she is very good, never messes in the house or gets into too much. I have also been trained on what to keep up from her. Some people here have trained their dogs to ring a bell when they need out. Maybe look that up in the archives. Sounds like you have a sweet baby!
Robin M. & Taffy
Katie, I wish I could help. But Buster started barking to go out on his own. I was washing dishes one evening and he came up to me and barked once. I asked him what he wanted and he barked again. I said what do you want. He then went to the kitchen door. Ever since then he just comes up to me and barks to go out. Now I say "wanna go potty?" and he heads to the door. I did nothing to train him. Smart boy.
Libby & Buster
Angel doesn't bark to go outside, either. She paws at the door a couple of times and then waits. If we don't let her out after a few minutes, she does it again. It is a glass patio door so it doesn't hurt anything. I doubt if it would scratch even a regular door. She doesn't do it very hard. Anyway, when we here the click click on the door, we are trained to let Angel out. This isn't something we taught her, she came up with this on her own. I'm sure Katie will find her own way of letting you know when she wants to go outside. They are very resourceful and smart as I'm sure you already know.
Sandee
My little guy is just like Taffy. At 23 months, he's never barked to go out (just at noises outside) but merely runs to the bottom of the stairs (my house is on the side of a mountain so the back door is actually on the second floor) and looks at me expectantly. I suspect that is because so much time was spent focusing on him and responding immediately that he's never felt the need to bark to get my attention. I always know where the little rascal is!
siobhan
Jack is 2 and has never barked to go outside. He stands and scratches at the back door or will nudge the blind. Anything to get my attention to the fact that he is standing there very patiently to do his business. Sometimes he will give a little woof if he really has to go. But, for the most part he will just stand there and stare at me as if to say "Hey, I gotta go".
Good Luck.Chris Joanne and Jack
Chris and Jack
Just hand several bells from the doorknob of the door you use to take her out. Everytime you take her out make a habit of ringing the bell BEFORE you open the door. Ater a few days or less, she should have been conditioned to hear the bell. Now start letting her ring it by not being so available to do it for her. Or just stand there and she'll get the idea, esp. if she gets a treat afterwards the first few times. BTW, use the treat for LEARNING, not for always!
anneh
Hi Julie, my Bianca started pawing at my glass door to go outside. If that doesn't catch my attention she will come and "talk" to me by barking. I didn't teach her to do this at all, she did it on her own. Her barking behavior began when she was 5 months old and she is a year and a half now. I think it just depends on your dog's personality on whether or not she will bark at the door to go outside. Our Maltese babies are very smart darlings and they learn a lot on their own. Perhaps in time your baby will do some "talking" to you one day.
Malinda
Malinda, you probably encouraged her to do that, possibly w/o realizing it. You can teach them to speak or bark at appropriate times (to them) and then transfer it to appropriate times for you!
anneh
Hi Anneh....I do encourage her to bark a lot now but not just for the purpose of going outside. She has always been a very "verbal" dog. She loves to bark. I can get her to bark on command now but she really did bark to go outside on her own. I encouraged her to keep doing it though because I love to watch her "talk" to me. She looks straight up in the air and barks. She can't bark without tilting her head back. It is quite comical.
Malinda
I know what you mean, Malinda. Sometimes I look at them and wonder when they're going to SAY it! They're just so d*** cute!!
anneh
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