Help needed from experienced dog owners, toilet issues with 2 yr old rescue

[doodleygirl]

We lost our gorgeous 13yr old girl last October, we had her since a pup and trained with no issues,

We rescued a Springer/Poodle cross in March, she is 2.5, she has settled in brilliantly but I now realise she isn’t toilet trained, she doesn’t verbally let us know when she needs to go out. We didn’t notice earlier as it’s been the summer and our patio doors are always open, she just went outside. She does sit by the back door when she wants to go out which is great but if we aren’t in the room we don’t notice and she doesn’t bark to tell us. She will also go on command last thing at night, we let her out, say toilet and she goes.

How do we teach her to verbally let us know when she needs to go out? Should we get a behaviourist?

What!

No you do not need a behaviourist to toilet train your dog!

Thinking about it I can not remember the last time my dogs had to ask to go out. They will if they have to but they are given frequent opportunities to go to toilet so dont need to ask.

If you have a dog they need to go out and about so just let them out regularly.

Be more observant if they are sitting by the door. If you really do need an audio sound then train to bells on the door.

However I would really be looking at why an adult dog is having to need to ask to go out and not being given the opportunity to go our regularly. How long is your dog kept indoors for at a stretch?

What a strange response, are you a dog owner.

She goes out regularly, eg, today she went out about 4. About 6 pm I went and got my coat to get ready for our walk, came back in the room she had peed on the rug.

I don’t think you are able to grasp the issue or have the knowledge to help. Maybe go and be shouty on AIBU

Is she scared of anything? Our previous dog weed if she heard a crackle from the fire or if a car with a trailer went past. As opposed to generally needing a wee.

No I don’t think so. I wonder if at some point in her previous life she has got into trouble for barking to go out, I am at a loss.

Our current ddog wasn't toilet trained when we got him but cottoned on fast. We had a behaviourist for other issues which she sorted quickly. It might be worth a try.
Ddog doesn't bark to go out. He barks to get in.

Maybe instead of training her to bark, you can bell train her.

You can buy a hanging rope type thing with bells on, hang it off your door handle, and train her to nose/paw it when she wants to go out.

Our boy ended up quickly catching on to doing it, purely because he used to sit so close to the door when he wanted to go out.
(Also a silent door sitter, had from a puppy, just not very vocal!)

We used to ring the bells ourselves then open the door for him to go out and use our toiletting words, he would go, high praise etc. sometimes we would actively lift his paw to paw them so "he made them ring" and then let him out.

Unfortunately he then used to ring them to go and sniff where a bird had been, chase a leaf, breathe some fresh air... but it helped alleviate the silence for us

That’s a really good idea, she is clever, will do some research

Neither of my dogs asks to be let out except very occasionally when they sit by the door. We chuck them out a few times a day and they get walked twice a day. This is a big improvement on our last dog who worked out that he could bark to be let out then immediately sit on the doorstep and refuse to come back in unless he got a treat 🙄

I'm not meaning to be rude but I don't understand what the problem is.

Ah sorry, didn't see that she pees on the rug.

Is it a glass door? She might think it's part of the garden?
Springer crossed with poodle must be a smart cookie.

I've had rescues for years that are ex racers so never house trained.

We encouraged regular going out to start with and would watch them to see they went to the loo.
We would then tell them well done and give them a treat before coming back in

They cotton on pretty quickly.

I have one that doesn't bark to go out but will be unsettled so up and down and wondering towards the kitchen.

You learn to read the signs op

I now say to them do they need to go out and they hear that word and will react.
They then get a well done for reacting and a treat as we let them out.

The non barker will now come and stand and stare at whoever's in the vicinity and we know that means she wants to go out.

If we are upstairs she will generally be stood waiting when we come bak down so we know she wants to go out then

It's all about learning and teaching them with other ways if they aren't verbal

Ours do have the odd indoor accident in the winter but we still open the door to let them out a few times during the evening it's just what we have always done

I agree with the bell training.
I absolutely would not be encouraging a dog to bark 😖

We have 4 toilet trained ddogs. Only 1 barks except when asked if its teatime and none bark at all unless we have someone actually enter the house and then 1 different ddog barks. Very quiet here!

I'm with @IngGenius I've owned dogs and dog sat about 10 different dogs and I've never had one that barks to be let out. They go out 4 times a day for a walk or a wee. A few I've been dog sitting since they were around 12 months.

If your dog went out at 4 then she shouldn't need to go toilet again at 6. Dogs go all night without going toilet, 2 hours should be nothing. Do you think it was excitement weeing at the prospect of going for a walk? Does she have a command so that if you let her out just to go toilet she knows that that is what is happening? Did she actually wee at 4? If she did I think I'd take her to the vets as she shouldn't need to go that often and might have a bladder infection.

Oh and what I do to train them to know that it's wee in the garden time is every time we're out for a walk and they wee I say 'go toilet, good girl, go toilet' and then when I let them out for a wee I say the same.

I've seen the bell training - and if you've got an intelligent mix like springer/poodle you should easily crack it.

I've got 2 spaniels and our eldest will woof for the toilet, the youngest one never has. But I am religious at putting them outside every 2/2.5 hours during the day/evening and using the "time for wee wees" command. The youngest (5) will still pee on the kitchen floor if it's too wet for her outside

I’m going to get her checked out by the vet and do the bell training.

She is let out very regularly and will go outside on command which is why I don’t understand what she is peeing on the rug. She is an anxious girl, she was very timid and nervous when she came home in March but she has come on so much.

Had a few dogs <looks at 6 dogs and the 2 fosters chilling in the room>

If your dog needs to wee every 2 hours then you need to get a vet check.

If physically fine then look at separation anxiety or stress levels

Have you had her checked by the vet? If not, that would be my first port of call just to make sure there's no infection or underlying health issue.

Otherwise I'd be wondering if there's any pattern to her accidents - you say she went just before her walk so it could be excitement or even nerves?

Ours has learned to put her nose through the cat flap which makes a noise or she puts her head in my lap but we have to be quick. She's seven months. She did wee twice last week on the carpet my bad. Thank god for carpet cleaners

None of my four have ever barked to go out. They probably wee three times a day in the garden and about a squillion wees while we are on walks.