Ok, Guys I need some help from all you doodle owners!!

[cheryl & oliver]

Hi everyone, our GD Oliver Ollie to his friends, lol, is now a little over 3 mos old...he looks like a lanky teenager, he is all legs at this point with big paws, and fur that goes in all directions...Not sure what his adult coat will look like, but he is something else, lol....He is as sweet as can be, BUT, and it is a big BUT. He will not tell me when he has to go out...I watch him like a hawk, and I can tell when he needs to go out, but he doesn't bark, or cry, or anything. He will also just squat and pee if I miss the signs. If I say Ollie do u have to go out and pee or poop, he runs for the door, and out he goes. Is there something I can do to get him to tell me he has to go?...I have tried with the bells on the door, he loves them, he goes and plays with them, but doesn't know they are for telling me he has to go, he just likes to play with them. He is crated at night, and when I have to go out during the day. I walk him for the last time around 11P.M. and sometimes he will make it to 5:30 am, or maybe 6 am, but he has no qualms about peeing in the crate. He does not get any water after dinner which is around 5:30 pm. I do give him an ice cube or maybe 2 somtimes during the evening. Maybe I am just rushing the process, but I know he knows he did something wrong when he makes in the house, he runs when he sees that I have found it. I of course yell a great big no, but it is too late, I didn't see him do it, if I do see him, I yell no and grab him and take him out, where he then makes, and I praise him to the hilt, and give him a treat, with "good biy" being said continually...Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...Otherwise he is just a delight, of course the usual puppy stuff, chewing, but stops when I say NO chewing...We just love him so much, and he has made terrific change in our 11 yr old aussie, they get along great, of course Ollie wants to play with him all the time, and the older one lets Ollie do whatever he wants to him...Up to a point, and then he shows him who is boss, lol, but they are wonderful together, and Ollie has given Renny a new lease on life....Cheryl

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

Not fair to compare your kids..lol...not all learn at the same speed...but good luck and hope Finn gets it that quick...

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

I know Linda. Sometimes I think she is retarded. I think she is my worse dog to housebreak. She knows to go outside right from a young age as well, but also went inside an awful lot. And it is not like she was made to wait too long, a lot of the pees happen within minutes of coming in from outside. And this is months after us having outgrown the stage of me having to be with her everytime she pees outside to praise her. My carpet will probably have to be replaced! I use the steam cleaner on it and it looks perfect but a week later the same pee stains resurface. I wish I knew a way to get rid of them for good...they keep bleeding up. I dont remember this with my other dogs. I wonder if her 6 star diet makes stainier (not a word but go with it) urine?

[cheryl & oliver]

WTG Abby!!!!..Oh my maybe this will happen with him too....I sure am hoping so, this is why I didn't have a puppy for the last 25 yrs, lol....Both my other dogs were 5 & 6 mos old and housebroken when I got them...Infact Renny just looks at where he has peed, and barks....But unfortunatley Ollie could care less at this point....So we are definately looking forward to the day when he is really housebroken....I guess I have to be patient...

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

He should not be peeing in the crate, the crate is like their den or private home and they will not go where they sleep, unless it needs to be partitioned off because he has enough room to stay away from it. Try tethering him to you, so when he has to go you can get him out right away, also you mention you have another dog, does that dog ring bells to go out, usually when another dog is there and they ring bells the pup will pick it up from them, do you put them out together when your older dog uses the bell. Sometimes it takes a while for the pup to pick up that the older dog is ringing the bell to go out and do its business, they might thinks its to go play...I would keep up with the bell training like you are..and Ollie should be picking it up soon. It really depends on the dog and how they learn..just like training a child.

[cheryl & oliver]

I know he shouldn't be making in his crate. Somewhere in my foggy memory I remember we had another dog, many years ago that made in his crate too. As far as the other dog, he does not ring the bells, he never asks to go out, lol, he goes whenever we walk him, which is once in the am, once late afternoon, after dinner and then bedtime. He just goes whenever we take him, lol...He can go all day and not go, he has always been like that, very laid back, and calm....I can't believe that he puts up with what Ollie does to him, and when he has had enough, he goes in his crate, and lays down...I never close the door on his crate, he will if he wants it closed...He knows that when I have to go out, he goes right into his crate and waits for me to close it...So that I can put the house alarm on, and not have it go off if the dogs jump, or get caught in the motion sensors...Oh I do have the crate sectioned off for Ollie. He can lie down, or turn around, but that is it, so space is not the problem, at least I think I have it right...And yes he will have to stay with me from now on, especially in the hour after he drinks his water. Thanks for the suggestions, I appreciate u guys so much....

[Karol J.]

Make sure you use an enzyme based urine remover when he pees in his crate and in the house. That way he wont smell and think that's the OK spot to tinkle.

We started using a clicker and treats to train Hershey to go outside, per our dog trainer. It has been a life saver. We took puppy classes at Pets Mart, they use positive reinforcement for training. Hershey does pretty good, but we have to take him out every 20 minutes when he's out of the crate. I usually keep him on a leash and attached to me when he's out of the crate. If he has an accident, it's usually because I failed to get him outside. (I started setting a timer ;-) ) He doesn't soil once he's in his crate.

I am told it's not necessarily ingrained in them until they are at least 6 months. We have 3 more months to go too!

[Sherill Lockwood]

3 months is only 12 weeks.... Still just a baby! He'll catch on. Give him time. Not all dogs progress at the same rate. Just be consistant with the praise and keep doing things in the same pattern and he'll get it. If you need to put him in the crate for a bit because you can't watch him, try that. He'll adjust.Be patient!

[Debbie and Thomas]

At three mths, I wouldn't wait for him to tell you he has to go- Just take him outside every 15-20 minutes for about a week. When you go out to the yard with him-do not play-just stand there like a statue and tell him to "do good boys"( that is the silly name my family has for this) If he jumps and wants to play, turn around and say it again. Then he will probably leave you and sniff around and will probably do the job. Then you will go thru the huge display of what a good boy!!! OK so you have probably already done this- but this has to be done about 1 million times sometimes for them to GET IT. After going only outside for a week( and that is after taking them out every 15-20 min) they get the point and will only want to do their business out there. I am no expert in behaviour issues with dogs and need a lot of advice sometimes, but for some reason I seem to know how to potty train dogs > In the midst of winter-with minus 0 degree temps-I took my 8 week old GD out every 15 minutes-no playing until he had gone. Within two weeks-we were done and he started going to the door on his own. Hope this helps.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Is a doggie door possible. We live in a place where the weather permits a doggie door. It makes it sooooooo easy.

[Leslie and Halas]

It took Halas awhile to catch on to the bells. I would hit them with his paw or touch his nose to them, like you're doing, but he didn't really seem to get it. Then one day, he just started ringing the bells, and he still rings them to go outside. I even take them when we go on trips, show him where the door is, hang the bells, and he'll use them even in those different environments. So stick with it, and be consistent. I was just about ready to give up on them when Halas started ringing them. Until that happens for Ollie, just take him outside every so often (ringing the bells as you go) and praise him like crazy when he goes outside. When Halas was 3 months old, I was still taking him out a lot, instead of always waiting for him to ask, so Ollie may just be a little too young to completely get it yet. Even when Halas started asking, I still kept a close eye on him and made him go out if he hadn't been in awhile.

[Zoe, Benny and Tyler]

Benny didn't tell me either that he needed to go potty when he was little. Even when he was already housebroken still nothing...he was patiently waiting that someone decided it was time to go outside. The only indication (maybe only a coincidence) was that he started making noises while yawning when he needed to go out.
Since he was around 9 months he suddenly started to let us know when he wanted to go outside. He is now always looking at me and if he doesn't get my attention immediately he will make a squeeking noise (really funny) and as soon as we have eye contact he will look at the door and immediately back at me.
I think Ollie will figure out something for himself eventually to let you know when it's time for him but he is still a baby. Just give him some more time.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

We took Peri out every 15 minutes for the first few weeks. It cracks me up because she could go 3 hours in her crate without peeing, but when we were home, we were outside all the time! Now she is 15 weeks old and I would say we take her out every 45 minutes. If she doesn't let us know by ringing the bell, we just take her out if it has been a while. Ollie will catch on. I say take him out all the time for a while and he will understand he needs to go outside for potty time. Another thing that helped us is giving her a treat immediately after her using the bathroom outside. We had treats in our pockets for the first 3 weeks and haven't had to use them since.
Oh and Peri did have a few accidents in her crate in the beginning. And yes, it is the right size (have a divider). That doesn't happen any more...guess she figured it out. Some people might not agree with me, but I didn't wash her towel immediately after - she didn't like it not being clean.