# Teaching my Malt to "ask" to go outside



## TNDeb16 (Dec 24, 2008)

So Augie is doing pretty good so far with the housebreaking for the past week (knock on wood). He had been in a puppy mill all his 6 years and the foster momma that he had never trained him for the past 4 months she had him and just put a belly band on him. Well, I stopped that last week ( I have had him 2 weeks now) and even though when we go outside and he hears "potty" and is getting what he is supposed to do, he isn't "asking" to go out like my other dog. I have never had a small dog and when I first got Sadie when she was 3 yrs old and only 95% housebroken, somehow she understood it and would come get me when she had to go out but Augie...if he needs to go he just goes. Whether it is on my chair, carpet, pillow, even my $100 pair of shoes yesterday. What do I do to get him to ask that he has to go out? My bigger dog caught on so easy, is this a small dog thing?


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## Gail (Oct 14, 2007)

I think you are expecting too much too soon. I've had Scarlett since 9-2007 and she has been potty trained since she was 4 months old. She has only started letting me know she needs to go outside the past 3-4 months. I've made a point of asking her if she needed to go potty every 2-3 hours then take her out. After asking she would either bark or head to the back door. 

Comparing dogs is like comparing kids. They can be very different even within the same breed. Don't wait. Get on a schedule and be sure to praise when he goes.


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## I found nemo (Feb 23, 2006)

QUOTE (TNDeb16 @ Dec 30 2008, 06:38 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=695838


> So Augie is doing pretty good so far with the housebreaking for the past week (knock on wood). He had been in a puppy mill all his 6 years and the foster momma that he had never trained him for the past 4 months she had him and just put a belly band on him. Well, I stopped that last week ( I have had him 2 weeks now) and even though when we go outside and he hears "potty" and is getting what he is supposed to do, he isn't "asking" to go out like my other dog. I have never had a small dog and when I first got Sadie when she was 3 yrs old and only 95% housebroken, somehow she understood it and would come get me when she had to go out but Augie...if he needs to go he just goes. Whether it is on my chair, carpet, pillow, even my $100 pair of shoes yesterday. What do I do to get him to ask that he has to go out? My bigger dog caught on so easy, is this a small dog thing?[/B]


He is marking and that needs a lot of attention and serious training to stop, it wont be easy.
My Nemo marks, occasionally and I can tell you it's not nice when I find it. 
You need to put him in a harness with a leash attached to you so you know his every move and praise him when he goes on the pads or outside.
There are tons of threads on marking, I would go through health section as well as training and do some reading.
Good Luck


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## wolfieinthehouse (Dec 14, 2007)

I can only add what I have found.

Wolfie doesn't ask to go out at our home. It has to do with the way our house is set up, partially. There are stairs to the backyard and steps to the front. He hates steps. He won't go down them, and has to be carried down them.

When I go to my folk's one story stucco house with a sliding glass door to their backyard.......he asks to go out!

I joked that my folks that we should switch houses!!!

Maltese are so little and they tend to be suspicious of many things which might play into some of them not asking to go out to potty.

I know this doesn't help you but :huh:


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

QUOTE (I Found Nemo @ Dec 30 2008, 07:21 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=695867


> QUOTE (TNDeb16 @ Dec 30 2008, 06:38 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=695838





> So Augie is doing pretty good so far with the housebreaking for the past week (knock on wood). He had been in a puppy mill all his 6 years and the foster momma that he had never trained him for the past 4 months she had him and just put a belly band on him. Well, I stopped that last week ( I have had him 2 weeks now) and even though when we go outside and he hears "potty" and is getting what he is supposed to do, he isn't "asking" to go out like my other dog. I have never had a small dog and when I first got Sadie when she was 3 yrs old and only 95% housebroken, somehow she understood it and would come get me when she had to go out but Augie...if he needs to go he just goes. Whether it is on my chair, carpet, pillow, even my $100 pair of shoes yesterday. What do I do to get him to ask that he has to go out? My bigger dog caught on so easy, is this a small dog thing?[/B]


He is marking and that needs a lot of attention and serious training to stop, it wont be easy.
My Nemo marks, occasionally and I can tell you it's not nice when I find it. 
You need to put him in a harness with a leash attached to you so you know his every move and praise him when he goes on the pads or outside.
There are tons of threads on marking, I would go through health section as well as training and do some reading.
Good Luck
[/B][/QUOTE]

Andrea is right. This has nothing to do with Augie having to go outside. He is marking his territory. Males who have been used studs for years as Augie was mark. That's why his foster mom used a belly band. Even the top show breeders have to keep their studs in belly bands.


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## vjw (Dec 20, 2006)

You might get some info. from some of these links:

Article on Urine Marking on petplace.com

You didn't mention if Augie is neutered. If he isn't, that MIGHT help.



(Note: petplace.com has some great training and behavior articles)



Link to an article on Housetraining on ASPCA's site


I think if you'll be persistant with housetraining, Augie will begin to let you know he wants to go outside. I have had one dog who went to the door and barked or growled when he wanted to go outside. One who scratched on the door when she wanted out, and I taught my current malt. Karli how to use poochie bells. I followed the instructions on the poochie bells site.

Poochie Bells Site


Good Luck!





Joy


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## chloeandj (Apr 1, 2005)

You might try bell training as well. 

Good luck with him! I have a 10 year old that I got when he was 7, he marks terrible as he was not fixed and I resolved to keep him in belly bands and we are all happy with that.


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## Deborah (Jan 8, 2006)

I ask often if Rylee has to go potty. When she does she runs around in circles. So watch what your dog is doing before going outside. Rylee will also just stand at the glass door. That means she wants to go out and stare at the moon.
I think they all have some kind of signal to let you know they need to go out.


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## TNDeb16 (Dec 24, 2008)

Thank you for all the advice. I am going to check those links out and see what they say that might help me.

As for Augie being fixed, yes he is. They fixed all the animals that they rescued from the mill when the ASPCA came and got them all. 

The reason that I am not using the belly band anymore is due to the advice of my vet. He said that they just aren't the best since it 1) doesn't train them; 2) it has stained a bit of his coat yellow due to sitting with urine on him and 3) that the urine being there is unhealthy for him and will cause problems. This is why I wanted to stop with the belly bands. My other friends have small male dogs and they don't use them so I am just going to have to be a very strong pack leader and trainer


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## lillykins (Oct 15, 2007)

QUOTE (TNDeb16 @ Jan 6 2009, 09:33 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=700698


> As for Augie being fixed, yes he is.
> 
> The reason that I am not using the belly band anymore is due to the advice of my vet. He said that they just aren't the best since it 1) doesn't train them; 2) it has stained a bit of his coat yellow due to sitting with urine on him and 3) that the urine being there is unhealthy for him and will cause problems.[/B]


Bless you for adopting this little boy; I admire you greatly.

Yes, belly bands won't train a dog; however, it WILL save your furniture/walls/floors/woodwork and keep your hair it's current color. (my husband is the reason mine is now grey!)

Also, you can consider using a newborn diaper in lieu of a sanitary pad. Diapers tend to keep the moisture away from baby's bottoms better than sanitary pads keep... uh... well, you know. Dogs CAN get diaper rash from wearing a wet belly band, just as children can get it from a wet diaper. Be sure to treat it using a product without zinc oxide.

With our male foster dogs, we *have* used belly bands while still potty training them. We'd ask if he needed to go and take him to the front door. We would remove the belly band at the door, let the boy smell the belly band, and, if it was still dry, we'd use our happy voice (while he's sniffing) to say "Good boy [Wilbur]! Good boy!". If the belly band was wet, we'd let him sniff it but then simply drop it on the floor. No praise, no scolding; just matter-of-fact. Then the door would open, we would go outside, and while the dog is still streaming say in a soothing voice "Good potty [Wilbur]!" or "Good pee [Staten]!" or whatever your chosen word is.

When we came in the house, we put on a clean belly band. Most of them were not wearing belly bands by the time they were adopted.


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## TNDeb16 (Dec 24, 2008)

Thank you for the advice Lilykins. using a diaper is actually a pretty good idea. It would be a lot better than the wet belly band.


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