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We have recently come into two small dogs - a 10 year old Poodle and a 10 month old Yorkie/Maltese. Both dogs are housebroken in so far as they do not generally go to the bathroom inside the house and are trained to go outside. The Yorkie-mix has actually been adopted from our nextdoor neighbors who could no longer upkeep two dogs. The poodle is a rescue from a shelter. Both dogs are friendly, outgoing, well cared for and show no signs of abuse. The Yorkie-mix has been with us for two days - the Poodle was just picked up this afternoon. Neither dog barks when people open the door or jumps up unless called. There are some minor aggression concerns with the poodle (she is older and possibly arthritic - vet visit tomorrow at 4 - and does not like it much when the younger dog accidently treds on her paws) but they are being addressed and it seems to be working quite well. They also, thank god and good training, do not beg for food in any way. You can eat while they are sitting on your lap and they won't so much as look up to steal a bite. We intend to keep the no table scraps rule going as well as not feeding them their food during our dinner hour.
The issue that I can't seem to find any advice about is the issue of training them to bark when they need to be let out. Both being new dogs to us, we don't know their usual "release" habits (what time of day they are generally let out, etc...) so, without psychic abilities and a pocket watch on a chain, we're taking them out once an hour and it's tiresome for all involved. We would like to train them to bark once when they need to be let out and to wait by the back door, but we're unaware of any training techniques for this.
I did see suggested on another forum that we take one of the dogs favorite toys and put it out of reach, then teach the dog that when it barks, it is given the toy. However, I worry that it might impart an impression that when it wants anything (a walk, a potato chip, a treat, a lap to aly on, etc...), it should bark to get it.
Are there other methods of indicating that a dog wants to get out? How does one teach it to bark to be let out?
We're new dog owners and eager not to mess it up because both of these dogs will be members of our family for a very long time.
Thanks for any help you cna offer!
The issue that I can't seem to find any advice about is the issue of training them to bark when they need to be let out. Both being new dogs to us, we don't know their usual "release" habits (what time of day they are generally let out, etc...) so, without psychic abilities and a pocket watch on a chain, we're taking them out once an hour and it's tiresome for all involved. We would like to train them to bark once when they need to be let out and to wait by the back door, but we're unaware of any training techniques for this.
I did see suggested on another forum that we take one of the dogs favorite toys and put it out of reach, then teach the dog that when it barks, it is given the toy. However, I worry that it might impart an impression that when it wants anything (a walk, a potato chip, a treat, a lap to aly on, etc...), it should bark to get it.
Are there other methods of indicating that a dog wants to get out? How does one teach it to bark to be let out?
We're new dog owners and eager not to mess it up because both of these dogs will be members of our family for a very long time.
Thanks for any help you cna offer!