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We have two dogs, one who looks at you and barks if you don’t notice within a few minutes. And one puppy who runs off to the door and if you don’t notice, she will just pee in front of the door.

So we were thinking about an rfid tag and some kind of system that will sound an alarm or send a notification to your phone.

Has anyone got any recommendations or alternative thoughts? Thanks!

JJ15
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1 Answers1

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Just give the puppy some time. What you described sounds pretty normal. She clearly wants out, just lacks the necessary control for now.

However, here's a simple idea you can try. It depends on the dogs intelligence and won't necessarily work with all breeds:

  • Get a small bell, put it on a band and hang it somewhere close to the door in a way allowing you to ring it audible, just by touching/pushing it, and it being in range of the dogs.
  • Hanging it on the handle with a thick cord might be a good idea, too.
  • Now whenever you're going outside with the dogs, make sure to ring the bell yourself. If you're using the cord on the handle, unlock the door with the handle, then pull on the cord.
  • Make this a habit and the dogs should over time associate the bell with going outside, so you should start seeing them ring it on their own, especially if they just can't wait.
  • If this sounds a bit over the top remember it's essentially the same as them learning to use handles directly or simply push/pull open doors.
Mario
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  • That sounds like a great idea. Both dogs are Border Collies so they should be fine on the intelligence and learning part. – JJ15 Aug 28 '21 at 09:05
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    Does your puppy ever bark? Border collies are not "noisy" dogs, and of course being silent was an advantage for them as working dogs. I know adult border collies who have never barked or growled literally for years. – alephzero Aug 28 '21 at 14:24
  • She does bark when she’s in her crate, but that’s not abnormal. The bigger one only barks if it wants to go outside and we don’t notice it in a few minutes. Other than that, he never barks, except for when he’s playing – JJ15 Aug 28 '21 at 15:57
  • Just a word of caution: Many dogs are intelligent enough to notice that you cannot tell the difference between ringing for "I need to pee" and ringing for "I want a walk now". There are questions here like Trained dog to ring bell to go out, now he rings it all the time because playing outside is more fun. – Elmy Aug 31 '21 at 04:33
  • @Elmy Well, yes, also including "Uh, hot girls outside!" and "Let's go outside so I can run in first and steal that treat!"... Been there! – Mario Aug 31 '21 at 05:55