My Mom insisted on adopting a friend's adult dog. Katie is sweet and
loving, and overall well behaved. She asks to go outside when she
needs to pee or poop--except when we are asleep. Every morning we
find a new spot or two on the living room carpet where she has peed
(*usually* she doesn't poop--manages to hold that better).

How can we train her to ask to go out, especially at night??

"FreeIndede" wrote in message
...
My Mom insisted on adopting a friend's adult dog. Katie is sweet and
loving, and overall well behaved. She asks to go outside when she
needs to pee or poop--except when we are asleep. Every morning we
find a new spot or two on the living room carpet where she has peed
(*usually* she doesn't poop--manages to hold that better).

How can we train her to ask to go out, especially at night??

You're somewhat contradicting yourself. If she asks to go outside at all
times except when you're asleep, then she already knows how & doesn't need
to be trained.
Perhaps she DOES ask when you're asleep, and you don't know it. I also note
that you say she's going in the living room.... precisely how do you expect
her to ask when she's in a different room?

Personally, I'd start with a trip to the vet. It's not normal for an adult
dog to need to pee several times during the night, nor is it normal for an
otherwise housebroken dog - she IS housebroken if she consistently asks to
go out at all times except when you're asleep and have no idea what's going
on - to go in the house like that.
You need to check with the previous owner and find out if the dog was ever
diagnosed with any physical/medical issues that could be related; once you
have that information, you need to take the dog to the vet and have her
checked for a UTI or any other issue that could be causing the inability to
hold urine through the night.
IOW, you can't address this as a training issue until you know for sure that
it IS a training issue and not a physical problem.

"FreeIndede" wrote in message
...
My Mom insisted on adopting a friend's adult dog. Katie is sweet and
loving, and overall well behaved. She asks to go outside when she
needs to pee or poop--except when we are asleep. Every morning we
find a new spot or two on the living room carpet where she has peed
(*usually* she doesn't poop--manages to hold that better).

How can we train her to ask to go out, especially at night??

How old is Katie? Is she weeing or leaking? As Sionach said , you need
to take her to the vet for a check up first.
Did she do this in her old home? How does she normally let you know she
wants to go out? She might not be able to let you know she wants to go out
as you are in a different room or she might be reluctant to ask if she her
previous owners reacted in a negative way if she woke them.
Alison

"Alison" said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

How old is Katie? Is she weeing or leaking?

Both good questions.

As Sionach

IIRC, you used to be particular as to how your name was
spelled.

said , you need to take her to the vet for a check up
first.
Did she do this in her old home?

One of my first thoughts was that this is why she was given
up.

How does she normally let you know she
wants to go out? She might not be able to let you know she
wants to go out as you are in a different room or she might
be reluctant to ask if she her previous owners reacted in a
negative way if she woke them.

Original poster, my take: No matter what the sleeping
arrangements, I wouldn't be relying on *any* dog to wake me up
if she needs to go outside while I'm sleeping. There are too
many variables to make this consistent with regular
housetraining.

Instead, I'd make sure that my housetrained dog had peed and
maybe pooed before bedtime. Then it's bedtime. A healthy
housetrained dog will not pee inside during the night. If she
does, she's either not housetrained or has a health issue
which should be addressed first.

Thoroughly clean up after the dog (Nature's Miracle or another
enzyme cleaner) and take her for a relaxing walk before
bedtime.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

Rocky wrote:
"Alison" said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

How old is Katie? Is she weeing or leaking?

Both good questions.

As Sionach

IIRC, you used to be particular as to how your name was
spelled.

said , you need to take her to the vet for a check up
first.
Did she do this in her old home?

One of my first thoughts was that this is why she was given
up.

How does she normally let you know she
wants to go out? She might not be able to let you know she
wants to go out as you are in a different room or she might
be reluctant to ask if she her previous owners reacted in a
negative way if she woke them.

Original poster, my take: No matter what the sleeping
arrangements, I wouldn't be relying on *any* dog to wake me up
if she needs to go outside while I'm sleeping. There are too
many variables to make this consistent with regular
housetraining.

Instead, I'd make sure that my housetrained dog had peed and
maybe pooed before bedtime. Then it's bedtime. A healthy
housetrained dog will not pee inside during the night. If she
does, she's either not housetrained or has a health issue
which should be addressed first.

Thoroughly clean up after the dog (Nature's Miracle or another
enzyme cleaner) and take her for a relaxing walk before
bedtime.

I'd just add to OP - if it's a medical problem, you need to find
out and address that. And in the meantime, you may need to crate
her at night and get up in the middle of the night to take her
out. I did this for a week with our new dog (she had vaginitis,
causing her to pee frequently, in addition to not being reliably
housetrained when we adopted her) - and she's still crated at
night. And for a couple of years with an elderly chi who
couldn't hold it all night.

FurPaw

--
Don't believe everything that you think.

To reply, unleash the dog.

"FurPaw" wrote in message
..

I'd just add to OP - if it's a medical problem, you need to find out and
address that. And in the meantime, you may need to crate her at night
and get up in the middle of the night to take her out. I did this for a
week with our new dog (she had vaginitis, causing her to pee frequently,
in addition to not being reliably housetrained when we adopted her) - and
she's still crated at night. And for a couple of years with an elderly
chi who couldn't hold it all night.

FurPaw

I adopted Ginnie, a Jap Chin last year, she's 10 and a half now and she
couldn't hold her pee from the start. I let her out as often as possible
but leave down a pee pad by the front door and she uses that if she needs
to. Sometimes Dibby, chi x will mark over her pee on the pad.
Good job they are small dogs!
Alison

On 10 Jul 2009 02:16:25 GMT, Rocky wrote:

"Alison" said in

said , you need to take her to the vet for a check up
first.
Did she do this in her old home?

One of my first thoughts was that this is why she was given
up.


To this day I believe that's why Bagel was given up (at least 2 times
before I got him)

with the help of this board I figured out he had a thyroid condition
(very mild at first) but after a week or so of medication I never had
problems with him weeing in the house
Nessa
--
trying to be the best human she can,