jeevmon, there’s an easy way to train the dog to “ask” to go out: hang a pair of jinglebells on a cord on the doorknob. When we brought our then-4-month-old dog home from the pound, it only took him about three days to associate the sound of the bells with going out the door. By the end of the week, he was nudging the bells with his nose to tell us that he needed to go out.
Uvula, we’ve heard that, and have tried it, but I’m not sure how effective it would be in this case. The boy dog is fully housetrained, but he will go every time he’s let out. He probably only actually has to go about 3-4 times a day, but if we were to let him out 10 times a day, he’d probably pee 8 out of 10. I think it’s just a boy thing - he wants to reinforce his scent.
The girl dog only has to go about 3-4 times a day, and will only go 3-4 times a day. She also does not like to go in the front yard, perhaps because it smells too much like her brother. So she goes on her walks (one morning, one noon, one night), and then doesn’t seem to need to go again. She’s capable of not going for a while - her last pee of the day is usually around 6-6:30, and she holds it in until her walk about twelve hours later.
The point is, if I let her out, I don’t know that she will go. She probably won’t. Now, I could try and use the bell as a cue for when we go on our walk, but I’m not sure she’ll associate the walk with going potty. She’s usually about 5-8 minutes into the walk before she goes.
We are establishing something of a pattern, and I know it will take time. The real dilemma is how we can accomodate our need to confine her without triggering the anxiety that is pissing off our neighbors.