When does he start telling me he has to go outside?

[evfc]

So, I think I have his signals pretty well figured out. We still have the occasional accident in the house, but for the most part I can see when he needs to go and I get him out before he goes in the house. At what stage does it switch from me watching his cues to him letting me know when he needs to go? I am not expecting it to be anytime soon, but I am wondering if there is something else I should be doing to teach him this behaviour? Or does it just happen naturally with time?

[pugaddiction]

Not sure, still waiting for Eddie to tell me when he has to go and he is 5 years, lol. Some people have a bell attached to the door that you go out for pee pees. Everytime you go to go out, ring the bell and use your word for pee. I think thats how it works, I never used it.

[GotPugs]

None of mine tell me they need to "go" out. Good luck!

[diesels.mom]

Neither of mine tell me either - if I could teach them to ring the bell it would be useful.. but I know they would just ring it to go outside and it would get annoying fast. lol

They do let me know if they REALLY need to go, they usually pace back and forth hoping I notice. It usually only happens if they have to poop in the middle of the night or they're not feeling good.

[CountryPug]

Some pugs never let you know when they need to go out. Mine are pretty good, but all bets are off if it's raining:( I keep them on a regular schedule and make sure they've gone out at various time during the day and we don't have any accidents at all. Before we got Toby, I just let the girls use the doggie door at their own discression and they were fine, but Toby I don't trust as well so I make sure he goes out.

[Russ]

I'm still waiting. Most obvious clue is when out of a sound sleep Mz Tilly comes and shoves her face in mine and gives me the 'give me....' look

[Donnag]

I've been waiting for over 7 yrs!

[lotusseeds]

I think every pug is different just like humnan kids. Dumpling is 7 mos and sometimes she comes and gets me with an urgent vocalization, but most of the time I take her out because of a schedule we have worked on that works with her body and her eating times. Some people like the bell thing that hooks onto your door knob and the pup learns to paw at it and make noise when he or she has to go out. Dumpling would run in the opposite direction when the bells ran, so that was a no go.
Good luck!

[evfc]

So it's more of a schedule thing...good to know! I think that's what is happening naturally now. I grew up with dogs but I don't remember whether they ever told us they had to go or whether my parents just took them out regularly. I guess as they get older they hold it longer and as long as you are taking them out regularly they will wait until they go out? Is that the idea?

[lotusseeds]

I used the treat every time they go potty method. I used cooked chicken in a baggie and brought it out with us each scheduled time. I included lots of praise. I did this for about 6 weeks straight and she now goes willingly out to potty and does not get a treat, however when we come in if she sits nice and waits for me to unhook her leash, she gets a nice treat and lots of praise. She will come to me and kind of whine if she really, really has to go on an off time. Most of the time I intiate the potty trip because I hate accidents so much. Hubs gets up at 5:30 and lets her out. If we sleep in on the weekend she will have an accident if we go past 6:00 am.