Potty Training 101: Part 3: Knowing When to Head Outside

It's your job to take your puppy outside when she might need to go. The faster you become an expert at reading her signals, the faster she'll be house trained. Listed below are some clues that your puppy may need to go out:

• She just woke up.

• She just ate or drank.
  

• You just greeted her and released her from the confinement of a crate, exercise pen, laundry room, or other small, puppy-proofed room.

• She's been chewing on something for a while and gets up to find something else to do.

• She is excited, agitated, or much more active than usual.

• She is wandering away from an area she was playing in, sniffing the floor.

• She is trotting over to an area she has soiled before, especially if she starts sniffing in the area.

• Anytime she is sniffing the floor!

• She is looking a bit confused or distracted.

• She is looking in the direction of the door she usually goes out, or pacing or wandering into that area.

• She is pacing or whining.

• She was playing hard, especially with a human or another dog. Sometimes puppies can get so busy playing that they don't take time out to go find a spot. Instead, they just squat in mid-romp. To avoid this, interrupt prolonged play sessions with potty breaks.

• She is refusing a treat or favorite toy.

• She begins to squat. (Okay, so this is pretty obvious, but we couldn't leave it out!)

• She does anything that you've noticed is often followed by eliminating. It's important for you to become familiar with your dog's individual behavior patterns. That way, you'll recognize any subtle patterns that signal she needs to go out.

Don't expect a tap on the shoulder. Some dogs give obvious signs that they need to go out, but many dogs give only subtle signals and sometimes they give none at all. Often people wonder why their dogs don't clearly signal when they need to go out. Perhaps our dogs are wondering why we don't let them out, when in their own minds they are clearly begging us to open the door! If dogs could type, they'd probably be writing a manual with instructions for training slow-to-get-it humans. Untilthey pull that off, take your pup out even more than you think is necessary and you'll be well on your way to having a house trained dog.