Teaching dog to potty on command
June 13, 2024 5:43 PM Subscribe
I’ve been trying to teach our dog to pee on command, but she’s just not getting it. Any advice?
My hope is to be able to train her to go potty on command for those times where we are in a hurry to leave the house or traveling or something. Generally, we let her out to the backyard a few times a day and she will roam around and go after about 5-10 minutes on her own, but sometimes we can’t wait that long or she just decides not to go. She is completely house trained and rarely has accidents.
I watched a ton of youtube videos and have been trying this strategy:
1. I watch her until she is about to go.
2. When she starts to go, I say “potty potty” a few times
3. When she is finished I give her a treat, pets, and praise (she now knows the treat is coming and will happily run to me after going)
4. I let her go back to roaming for a few minutes and come back in when she’s ready (I aware not to make them go back in right away or they feel like they are being punished for going.)
However, when I try to use the command, she doesn’t respond. I’ve been doing this for weeks on and off, but more intensely in the last week (every potty).
We have taught her a few other tricks on command – sit, stay, lie down, shake. So I don’t think it’s that she’s incapable of learning.
She is a 1-2 year old (rescue, so not sure of age) so could it be somehow age related?
She’s been checked out by the vet and she’s generally eating and drinking and going potty fine, so I don’t think there’s any medical issue.
Any advice or other strategies?
My hope is to be able to train her to go potty on command for those times where we are in a hurry to leave the house or traveling or something. Generally, we let her out to the backyard a few times a day and she will roam around and go after about 5-10 minutes on her own, but sometimes we can’t wait that long or she just decides not to go. She is completely house trained and rarely has accidents.
I watched a ton of youtube videos and have been trying this strategy:
1. I watch her until she is about to go.
2. When she starts to go, I say “potty potty” a few times
3. When she is finished I give her a treat, pets, and praise (she now knows the treat is coming and will happily run to me after going)
4. I let her go back to roaming for a few minutes and come back in when she’s ready (I aware not to make them go back in right away or they feel like they are being punished for going.)
However, when I try to use the command, she doesn’t respond. I’ve been doing this for weeks on and off, but more intensely in the last week (every potty).
We have taught her a few other tricks on command – sit, stay, lie down, shake. So I don’t think it’s that she’s incapable of learning.
She is a 1-2 year old (rescue, so not sure of age) so could it be somehow age related?
She’s been checked out by the vet and she’s generally eating and drinking and going potty fine, so I don’t think there’s any medical issue.
Any advice or other strategies?
Try a schedule, like you’re potty training her from scratch. Try taking her out on a lead and walking around with her instead of letting her roam while you’re doing this training.
posted by Balthamos at 11:19 PM on June 13
posted by Balthamos at 11:19 PM on June 13
I might try adding, on top of the steps you're already doing: take her to a particular area to go potty (perhaps on a leash) and wait right there until she goes. Then carry on to steps 3. and 4. of praise + letting her roam free and play. (At this point, you can play and interact with her all she wants, but try not to initiate play while you're in waiting mode.) This helps differentiate between when you're taking her out for "play and run around in the yard time, yay!" and "potty time."
posted by fire, water, earth, air at 5:20 AM on June 14 [2 favorites]
posted by fire, water, earth, air at 5:20 AM on June 14 [2 favorites]
Hm. Almost always, when dogs aren't getting cues, the issue is signal-to-noise ratio. When you repeat your cue too much, it quickly becomes meaningless and part of the constant "human noises" that dogs need to tune out for their own sanity.
However, when I try to use the command, she doesn’t respond. I’ve been doing this for weeks on and off, but more intensely in the last week (every potty).
Using cues on and off is detrimental to learning. And one week of consistent training is not enough time for a reliable cue. Otherwise, you're doing fine. Her age shouldn't be a problem, either.
I have a suspicion. Is there any chance that for your other cues (sit, stay, lie down, shake), your dog is relying heavily on gestures? Does she respond correctly when you try standing or sitting completely still? Many dogs do not. Most of them learn much faster when we're speaking their language, and canine communication is all about body language. They're primed to notice small gestures. They're always paying attention to our movements (that's why they can often predict when we're about to go for a walk, or make dinner, or give them their medicine).
If I were you, I'd pick a hand signal to use every time she pees (some people make a "rain" motion with their fingers, others do a circling motion because dogs often circle before they pee. But what you pick is not important). Other than that, keep doing what you're doing, just ditch the verbal cue. You're doing everything right. It just takes more time.
In general, don't ever "try out" a cue you're working on until you'd bet $500 that the dog will do what you're asking for. Every time the cue "fails" it becomes weaker instead of stronger.
Later, when you have a reliable hand signal, you can add a verbal cue. It's much easier at that point. Just say the cue right before the hand signal, so that it becomes a reliable predictor and smart dogs think "Let's skip ahead, I know what's coming."
posted by toucan at 7:32 AM on June 14 [5 favorites]
However, when I try to use the command, she doesn’t respond. I’ve been doing this for weeks on and off, but more intensely in the last week (every potty).
Using cues on and off is detrimental to learning. And one week of consistent training is not enough time for a reliable cue. Otherwise, you're doing fine. Her age shouldn't be a problem, either.
I have a suspicion. Is there any chance that for your other cues (sit, stay, lie down, shake), your dog is relying heavily on gestures? Does she respond correctly when you try standing or sitting completely still? Many dogs do not. Most of them learn much faster when we're speaking their language, and canine communication is all about body language. They're primed to notice small gestures. They're always paying attention to our movements (that's why they can often predict when we're about to go for a walk, or make dinner, or give them their medicine).
If I were you, I'd pick a hand signal to use every time she pees (some people make a "rain" motion with their fingers, others do a circling motion because dogs often circle before they pee. But what you pick is not important). Other than that, keep doing what you're doing, just ditch the verbal cue. You're doing everything right. It just takes more time.
In general, don't ever "try out" a cue you're working on until you'd bet $500 that the dog will do what you're asking for. Every time the cue "fails" it becomes weaker instead of stronger.
Later, when you have a reliable hand signal, you can add a verbal cue. It's much easier at that point. Just say the cue right before the hand signal, so that it becomes a reliable predictor and smart dogs think "Let's skip ahead, I know what's coming."
posted by toucan at 7:32 AM on June 14 [5 favorites]
It might be helpful to use a marker to train the dog. This can be a clicker, but I just use the word "yes" (said in a happy/excited voice). To teach the dog what the marker means, you click or say yes simultaneously while giving them a treat. Then after creating that immediate connect, you switch to giving the treat right after saying yes/clicking. Repeat this exercise 5 to 10 times over multiple sessions. Most dogs pick up on it pretty quickly. (Use yes instead of "good" or "good dog" because odds are you use good with your dog, and you want the word to only be used as the marker.)
Even though it's counterintuitive a bit, what worked best for my dog is to wait until he starts peeing, then say, "go potty" immediately followed by "yes". Then when he's actually done peeing, he gets the treat.
But I would start the actual training part by deciding on a spot in the yard, walking her on a leash to that spot, and then waiting until she pees. Don't use the command yet, but do reward her with a treat (and you can use the marker - click or yes - as well). If she refuses to pee there, just take her right back inside, and try it again a few minutes later.
Once she reliably pees in that spot, then introduce the command right as she starts to pee.
Eventually, she won't need to go in that particular spot. Once she reliably responds in that particular spot, introduce the cue word in other spots in your yard and eventually other locations (following same process outlined above).
posted by litera scripta manet at 8:06 AM on June 14
Even though it's counterintuitive a bit, what worked best for my dog is to wait until he starts peeing, then say, "go potty" immediately followed by "yes". Then when he's actually done peeing, he gets the treat.
But I would start the actual training part by deciding on a spot in the yard, walking her on a leash to that spot, and then waiting until she pees. Don't use the command yet, but do reward her with a treat (and you can use the marker - click or yes - as well). If she refuses to pee there, just take her right back inside, and try it again a few minutes later.
Once she reliably pees in that spot, then introduce the command right as she starts to pee.
Eventually, she won't need to go in that particular spot. Once she reliably responds in that particular spot, introduce the cue word in other spots in your yard and eventually other locations (following same process outlined above).
posted by litera scripta manet at 8:06 AM on June 14
I just want to say: some dogs just Will Not Do This. My dog is lovely in every other way but since we got her as a tiny puppy she absolutely refused to accept anyone else's input on when or where she goes. Tried to train her to poop in a certain area of the yard, nope. If she was on a leash she just wouldn't poop. We took her camping once and she refused to even pee for fully 24 hours. We had to just scrub the mission and come home. If she has any inkling that I want her to go at any particular time she takes an almost perverse pleasure in not doing it. It's absolutely the most annoying thing about this dog but...really not something we've ever made any headway in changing. You can't reward a behavior your dog just won't do.
posted by potrzebie at 10:03 AM on June 14 [4 favorites]
posted by potrzebie at 10:03 AM on June 14 [4 favorites]
Honestly, can *you* pee on command? (Reminds me of when I was a kid and we were on a family vacation driving long distances in the car and when we'd stop at a gas station Mom would tell me to go to the bathroom. "I don't have to go," I'd reply. "Well, go try," she'd say, as if I couldn't feel my own bladder fullness.) I was very pleased when the dogs I've owned learned how to give me their own signals when they needed to go outside and attend to their toilette. Even when they got older and needed more trips outside, they still woke me in the middle of the night with their special "noise" or signal.
My first dog was a rescue - a retired racing greyhound. He was "housebroken" in a matter of just three days, no indoor accidents. But one quirk he never outgrew....he loved his daily walk and would get so excited when he saw me get his leash that he'd run laps around the living room. I'd take him out in he back yard for about five minutes or so and he'd run at full speed around the perimeter. I always thought that so much running would surely stimulate those "poop muscles", but no.... Day after day, no "go" until we were on a public sidewalk in plain view of homeowners and street traffic did he squat in that awkward greyhound fashion, tail straight out like a horizontal lightning rod. I always carried a bag and cleaned up after every episode, but it would've been so much easier had he pooped in the back yard where I could scoop and toss it in the trash immediately. Instead I had to carry his deposit around with me for the duration of our walk. I don't know why, but once he saw that leash it somehow triggered his sphincter muscles to only perform on a public platform.
posted by Oriole Adams at 2:17 PM on June 14 [2 favorites]
My first dog was a rescue - a retired racing greyhound. He was "housebroken" in a matter of just three days, no indoor accidents. But one quirk he never outgrew....he loved his daily walk and would get so excited when he saw me get his leash that he'd run laps around the living room. I'd take him out in he back yard for about five minutes or so and he'd run at full speed around the perimeter. I always thought that so much running would surely stimulate those "poop muscles", but no.... Day after day, no "go" until we were on a public sidewalk in plain view of homeowners and street traffic did he squat in that awkward greyhound fashion, tail straight out like a horizontal lightning rod. I always carried a bag and cleaned up after every episode, but it would've been so much easier had he pooped in the back yard where I could scoop and toss it in the trash immediately. Instead I had to carry his deposit around with me for the duration of our walk. I don't know why, but once he saw that leash it somehow triggered his sphincter muscles to only perform on a public platform.
posted by Oriole Adams at 2:17 PM on June 14 [2 favorites]
you don’t condition your dog to piss on command. you take them out regularly enough that they have ample opportunity to go when they need to and predictably enough that they know why they’re out. if you really want to do that to somebody, it can be you or it can be another consenting human, preferably not in public. jesus lord.
posted by queenofbithynia at 4:17 PM on June 14 [3 favorites]
posted by queenofbithynia at 4:17 PM on June 14 [3 favorites]
This one isn't like a trick in the usual sense. You can't really shape this behavior with a clicker or teach a dog to do it reliably on command every single time, because of course it depends on whether they need to go in the first place. However, every one of my dogs has learned to stop sniffing around and just go, and they learned without my really training it, other than saying "go peepee" when I wanted them to go (and knew they needed to) and then being happy about it when they did. My current dog was rather fussy about substrates as a puppy and took a good nine months to realize he could pee in places other than in the vinca minor in our back yard, and would hold it for a day or more if he couldn't find a satisfactory substrate, but today he will snap to attention and lift his leg wherever we are if I say that. Just be consistent and it should come.
posted by HotToddy at 5:12 PM on June 14
posted by HotToddy at 5:12 PM on June 14
Honestly, can *you* pee on command?
A lot of people would find that difficult, but imagine sitting down on the toilet and trying not to pee. That could be difficult too. Your goal is to create a "time to pee" association that acts the way sitting on the toilet does. The idea is that if you consistently say your cue phrase while the dog is peeing then eventually hearing the phrase will make the dog feel like peeing. I would spend a couple more weeks saying your cue consistently whenever your dog is peeing and then when you first try out saying it before she's actually peeing, pick times when you know she needs to pee and situations where you think she's probably about to decide to pee on her own. And if it doesn't work, don't try it again until you've spent more time saying it while she's peeing.
posted by Redstart at 7:01 PM on June 14
A lot of people would find that difficult, but imagine sitting down on the toilet and trying not to pee. That could be difficult too. Your goal is to create a "time to pee" association that acts the way sitting on the toilet does. The idea is that if you consistently say your cue phrase while the dog is peeing then eventually hearing the phrase will make the dog feel like peeing. I would spend a couple more weeks saying your cue consistently whenever your dog is peeing and then when you first try out saying it before she's actually peeing, pick times when you know she needs to pee and situations where you think she's probably about to decide to pee on her own. And if it doesn't work, don't try it again until you've spent more time saying it while she's peeing.
posted by Redstart at 7:01 PM on June 14
you don’t condition your dog to piss on command. you take them out regularly enough that they have ample opportunity to go when they need to and predictably enough that they know why they’re out. if you really want to do that to somebody, it can be you or it can be another consenting human, preferably not in public. jesus lord.
The reason people cue peeing is because it's good for the dogs. When you're traveling with a dog, for example, it's very handy to cue peeing on a bit of grass, during a ten-minute window you have before you need to be on the next train. You're not forcing the dog. You can't. You're just communicating that now is a good time to go, exactly like you'd remind a child to use the bathroom before a long road trip.
posted by toucan at 9:57 AM on June 15
The reason people cue peeing is because it's good for the dogs. When you're traveling with a dog, for example, it's very handy to cue peeing on a bit of grass, during a ten-minute window you have before you need to be on the next train. You're not forcing the dog. You can't. You're just communicating that now is a good time to go, exactly like you'd remind a child to use the bathroom before a long road trip.
posted by toucan at 9:57 AM on June 15
Response by poster: I have a suspicion. Is there any chance that for your other cues (sit, stay, lie down, shake), your dog is relying heavily on gestures?
This is a great idea. She does respond to visual commands better than verbal, so I will definitely try this.
Honestly, can *you* pee on command?
I've thought about this and yes - as others have commented. This happens a lot in regular situations - leaving the house, before a road trip, urine sample at the doctor's, etc. We have a schedule and know when she usually needs to go, she just takes a long time about sometimes.
Thanks for the helpful advice everyone. It is good to hear the different experiences and know that my dog is not the only one that holds it for a whole day when traveling (and then pees inside the airbnb after being taken outside many times!)
posted by roaring beast at 7:22 PM on June 15
This is a great idea. She does respond to visual commands better than verbal, so I will definitely try this.
Honestly, can *you* pee on command?
I've thought about this and yes - as others have commented. This happens a lot in regular situations - leaving the house, before a road trip, urine sample at the doctor's, etc. We have a schedule and know when she usually needs to go, she just takes a long time about sometimes.
Thanks for the helpful advice everyone. It is good to hear the different experiences and know that my dog is not the only one that holds it for a whole day when traveling (and then pees inside the airbnb after being taken outside many times!)
posted by roaring beast at 7:22 PM on June 15
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My gut reaction is that you should move the sequence up so you're instigating and reacting quickly:
1. Watch her until she's in the general mood to go
2. Say “potty potty” until she does go
3. When she starts to go, give instant positive praise (e.g. train on a clicker)
4. When finished give her a treat, pets, and praise.
5. Let her go back to roaming for a few minutes
I don't think simulus vs. response order is that critical, but there should be overlap where you're requesting while a decision is in progress. It's too late if she's already going. Effective training has a very short gap between action and a promise of a reward.
posted by netowl at 8:59 PM on June 13 [2 favorites]