Dog not asking to go out to toilet

[Theoscargoesto]

I have 2 dogs, one 7 and the second just a year old. The older dog is easy as, and at home will stand by the back door to go out. If caught short at night, she barks so we know she needs to go out. She likes to be outside and goes and stays out a lot.

Little dog follows older dog’s lead. No problem toileting outside, no accidents for ages. 2 weeks ago little dog had an upset tummy. In the night and subsequently at other times, she has pooed indoors. This has happened 3 times overnight. They both sleep in the same room as us, and it’s like she hasn’t learned to tell us she needs to go out, or at least, that’s what it feels like.

Her tummy is not as good as I’d like (we are back to the vet tomorrow), but has anyone had similar and how do we teach her to ask, when mostly she goes out because big dog goes out? She does her business outside but I am wondering if that is just because she is there, and the door is often open.

I am really unsure what to do. I’m setting an alarm overnight tonight to take her out to reinforce not pooing in the house. I think that’s a better option than accepting it might happen but equally I might get the timing wrong. I know when her tummy is back to normal, it will sort the overnight issue but not asking could be a problem.

Anyone any ideas? I’m wondering about a behaviourist too…..

Can you teach her to use a bell?
One of my dogs will whine or bark to tell me she needs to go out. The other presses a button to ring a door bell.

Another vote for doggy doorbells.

It sounds like she's not actually toilet trained, she just follows the older ones' lead, so you need to work on training her separately.

@biscuitsandbooks i had wondered that. But she doesn’t (absent a tummy upset) mess in the house. Even when left, when I get home and take her straight out, she wees/poos immediately outside, which suggests she waits until she gets there, and even now, it’s poo indoors not wee. And if the big dog is in and out, little one only goes outside when she needs to, not every time the door is open. I do need to look at all possibilities so it’s helpful that you posted, thank you.

@Cluckycluck thank you. I’m impressed at ‘presses a doorbell’-any more info would be great. Presumably you take the doorbell away with you?

@Theoscargoesto it's the fact that she never asks to go out that tells me she's not trained - she may understand that when the door is open and she needs a wee, that outside is the place to go, but she also needs to learn that she needs to ask to go out when it's closed, if that makes sense?

We have those bells on a rope that hang on the door. I was intending to train puppy to use them with treats but as her tummy was a bit upset so I decided to wait a few days, but every time I opened the door I gave them a little shake and said outside and she just started tipping them if she wanted out. I couldn't believe it! The cat tips them now and again too to get our attention.

Yes, I take it if we go anywhere. I find the bells on a rope aren't loud enough and could easily be missed. My cat would play with them too.

Getting the dog to press the button is actually easy. If your dog knows a touch command then you can teach using that. If you make sure you press it every time you open the door to let her out she will very quickly get the hand of it.

Bells on a rope hanging from the back door handle. Dpup was doing it within 3 days. Might take longer with older dog but you ring it every time you take them out.

Thanks all, really helpful.

@biscuitsandbooks yes I think that is it: she knows to do her business outside, so is trained to that extent, but we haven’t trained her to understand how to get outside. It’s funny because the big one really has trained the little one in many ways and little one doesn’t generally need to ask, big one gets there first.

And absent a tummy upset, it’s ok, she can hold on, so it’s only now that this has become apparent. Very grateful to all who have commented, thank you.