Hello, The ability to hold it is important if you ever need to board her or travel with her. During the day I wouldn't worry about not taking her out as often as she rings the bell, as long as you are okay with that amount and its not excessive. You can still practice having her hold it by building up crating time and if she is holding it overnight, that's a good way she is already practicing that. Build up crating time slowly, and don't require her to hold it too long every time. You just want to get her to where she is capable of holding it for 4-8 hours if she needed to. Normally, you want her to go potty every 3-4 hours for comfort and bladder health. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Feb. 28, 2023

Hello, First, because he is new, I would take him to go potty on leash on a schedule. If you know he already went potty on his own when the door was open during that scheduled period, then just skip that trip outside and take him again about three hours later. Whenever you take him on leash or at least have him follow you off leash through the door and go with him, then I would set up a bell next to the door and teach him to ring that each time on his way out. If he also begins to ring the bell on his way outside on his own when the door is open, give him a treat for that too, since although unnecessary then, that's helping him learn to alert you before going outside. When you go with him, tell him to "Go Potty" and give him three treats, one at a time, after he goes potty while praising him, to help motivate him to cash in his pee outside for rewards, so going potty outside is more appealing than going potty inside and he is more motivated to communicate. Its very important to prevent accidents inside for the first couple of months. A dog typically will only be motivated to alert you that they need to go outside if they are consistently keeping your home inside clean. To initially establish that cleanliness that helps motivate pup, you have to stick to a schedule until keeping it clean has become a long term habit for the dog. Since he can go outside on his own, you can set a schedule of taking him outside every three hours during the day (unless crated, which can motivate him to hold it longer while you are away), and if he goes out on his own due to the door being open, you can skip that scheduled trip. If he hasn't gone outside or you are unsure, you be the one to take him. Don't wait for him to alert or depend on that for at least two to three months, or potty training progress can go backwards and take a super long time. To teach him to ring a bell, follow the Peanut Butter method from the article I have linked below. Once he will ring the bell on command, then command him to ring it every time you are about to take him outside. At first, give him a treat every time he rings it. When he is great at that, then praise him but wait until he has rang the bell and you open the door and he is outside to give the treat - to help him make that connection between the bell sound and the door opening. When he is good at that, then have him ring the bell, you open the door, and him go potty before giving him the treat after going potty - so that ringing the bell is eventually associated with going potty outside too. If you can't use peanut butter, soft cheese or liver paste work well too, in combination with regular treats once he has learned to nose the bell licking it and you don't need the butter anymore. https://wagwalking.com/training/ring-a-bell-to-go-out Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Feb. 27, 2023

Hello, First, I recommend teaching the Speak command. Practice this at the door you want her to go to for potty after initially teaching it. Door Knock method - if pup doesn't bark at the door being knocked on, then also try the other methods there. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-to-speak Once pup knows "Speak" on cue, then tell pup to "Speak" each time you take them out on scheduled potty trips. When pup barks, give a treat then open the door. After about a week of practicing with the treat right after barking, then wait until pup steps outside after barking and you opening the door before giving the treat. When pup is doing that for about a week also, then wait until pup barks, goes outside, and goes potty before giving the treat right after they go potty, so pup learns that speaking leads to all those things. At this point, keep a consistent potty schedule; it will take pup at least a month or two to realize they can bark to ask to go out on their own in most cases. Take pup outside regularly to avoid accidents so they don't backtrack with potty training. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Dec. 27, 2022