How to Teach a Dog to Tell You when He Wants to Go Outside

Co-authored by Pippa Elliott, MRCVS

Last Updated: September 18, 2023

If you're never quite sure when your dog needs to go outside, you might be thinking that it would be nice if he would just tell you! While this may seem like a lot to ask of a dog, it's actually quite easy to train them to do so. Depending on your own preferences and your dog's, you may choose to teach him to ring a bell, bring you his leash, or bark.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Using the Bell Method

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Hang a bell by the door. Make sure the bell is within the dog's reach and is loud enough that you will hear it even if you are not in the same room. It's also important that it be durable enough that your dog won't break it.^{[1]
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- You can also use a wireless doorbell, as long as your dog will be able to push to button.^{[2]
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- If your dogs seems afraid of the sound of the bell, try dampening it with some tape to make it quieter. Then get your dog used to it by ringing it a lot and slowly removing the dampening device. Once the dog is no longer bothered by the sound, you can proceed with the training.^{[3]
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Have your dog ring the bell. Before you take your dog outside each time, gently lift his paw and help him ring the bell. Then let him out right away. Continue doing this for several weeks until your dog learns to ring the bell himself.^{[4]
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- If your dog is not particularly motivated by the outdoors, give him a treat as you let him out to help reinforce the training.^{[5]
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- If your dog is still learning to go to the bathroom outside, be sure to reward him when he does that too.
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Be sure to respond. Once your dog is trained to ring the bell, be sure to respond to him when he does by letting him outside. If you fail to let him out when he rings the bell, he will get confused and may stop doing it.^{[6]
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- Continue rewarding your dog with treats for ringing the bell for several weeks, if not longer.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Teaching Your Dog to Bring You His Leash

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Keep the leash in an accessible location. If you want to teach your dog to bring you his leash when he wants to go out, you'll need to start keeping it somewhere where he can easily reach it.^{[7]
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- A location next to the door is ideal. Try putting it in a basket for easy access.
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Have him hold the leash. To get started with this training, pick up the leash and give it to your dog before you let him outside, waiting a few seconds while he holds it. Then reward him with a treat and let him out. Repeat this until your dog seems eager to hold the leash for you.^{[8]
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- If your dog drops the leash, put it back in his mouth and repeat until he holds it for a few seconds.
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Walk away. Once your dog has become accustomed to holding the leash in his mouth while you are both next to the door, it's time to move on to the next level of training. After you give him the leash to hold, start slowly walking away. Stand a few feet away from him and encourage him to come to you with the leash, rewarding him with a treat when he does. Repeat this until your dog seems comfortable with the routine.^{[9]
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- When your dog gets used to this, he may start following you with the leash without you having to call him to you.
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Slowly increase the distance. As training progresses, you should be able to walk further and further away from your dog until eventually he will bring you his leash all on his own, without any help from you.^{[10]
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- This method may not be effective for dogs who do not enjoy playing fetch.
- Be sure to respond to him when he brings you his leash by taking him outside right away. Continue using treats to reinforce the behavior for a while.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Training Your Dog to Bark When He Needs to Go Out

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Teach your dog to bark on command. Before you can train your dog to bark when he wants to go outside, you will need to teach him to bark on command or "speak." This is a relatively easy trick to teach your dog, although you may want to avoid if your dog already barks a lot.^{[11]
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American Kennel Club
The American Kennel Club (AKC) is a purebred dog pedigree registry in the United States. The AKC advocates for the responsible ownership of dogs and promotes purebred dog events, such as the Westminster Dog Show.

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- To start, get your dog excited by waving a favorite toy around, making a noise, or doing anything else to get him to bark.
- When he barks, reward him with a treat. Try to only reward a single bark, as you do not want to encourage him to keep barking.
- Once you are able to get your dog to bark consistently with this method, add a hand signal or verbal command and use it consistently until the dog learns to bark when this command is given.
- Continue to practice and reinforce the behavior by giving your dog a treat when he speaks on command.
- Do not reward the dog for barking unless you specifically ask him to do it.
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Have your dog speak at the door. Once your dog is able to speak on command, you can move on to teaching him to bark as a signal to go outside. Start by going to the door and asking your dog to speak. When he does, immediately let him out.^{[12]
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- As with the other training methods, if going outside is not enough of a reward for your dog, reward him with a treat as you let him out.
The more consistent you are with this training, the faster your dog will learn. Have him bark each and every time you go outside, and before long, he will learn that he can ask you to go outside by repeating that behavior.^{[13]
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Tips

No matter what training method you use, it's very important to know what motivates your dog. For many dogs, this is food, but for others, different rewards work better, like toys. Some dogs love to go outside so much that they may not need any additional reward to learn this trick.^{[14]
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All of these training methods work best for dogs that are already housebroken. Teaching a dog to use the bathroom outside is a separate task from teaching him to let you know when he wants to go out.

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Warnings

Once your dog learns how to tell you he wants to go out, he may abuse his power and ring the bell, bark, or bring you his leash every time he sees a squirrel outside.

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