How to train my dog to use the dog door at night by himself?

I will give you the method I suggest to help potty train puppies. I find it to be effective in house breaking them: Start by keeping your puppy on a regular feeding schedule, and taking away her food between meals. Take her out to potty first thing every morning, and once every 30 minutes to an hour. Always make sure she goes out after meals, first thing when she wakes up from a nap, last thing before bedtime at night, and right before you leave the house. Take her to the same spot each time to go potty. Her scent there will encourage her to go. Stay with her outside each time she goes to potty, at least until she is fully house trained. When she goes outside, praise her and give her a treat. You might want to consider crate training as part of her house training. It allows you to keep an eye on her for signs that she has to go potty, and will teach her to hold it until you put her outdoors. The crate needs to be big enough for her to stand up, turn around, and lie down, but it should not be big enough for her to go potty in.

I am sorry you are having trouble with Midna! It may be that she needs some extra time and attention to learn this skill, and unfortunately there are no guarantees that she will ever get it figured out. I would try teaching her separately from the big dog for a while. See if you can get her to do it without the bigger dog around, then try to get her to "wait her turn," after the bigger dog goes through so that it doesn't whap her in the face. Best of luck to you! Thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

It's possible there is a scent that he's picking up on, or he may be hearing a strange sound. Critters under the ground such as rodents that are more nocturnal may also be startling him, especially if this is during a nighttime potty break. Bringing him out on a leash so he doesn't chase or get hurt by anything, and bringing a high-value treat out with you may help get him more used to going out and being less afraid. Otherwise, checking for any signs of wildlife may be a good idea (and seeing if you can get the wildlife to move off elsewhere), or fencing an area for him to go in safely may help as well.

I recommend to kennel train the dogs and kennel them at night or have them shut in your room if they will not potty in your room. If they will potty in your room then kenneling them is the best thing to do as well. After about a month you can try to let them out again and see if they have stopped the behavior. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hello, and thank you for your question. A 1 year old dog should be able to sleep through the night without having to pee. If not, you can try using pee pads to train him to go potty in the house. If it is a matter of Rolo wanting more exercise, you can try longer walks, less frequently, e.g. 45-60 minute walks in the morning and night. I would gradually try to phase out the 4am walk by taking him out a bit later each day, e.g. 5am on day 1, then 6am on day 2, etc. He should eventually understand that he will not be getting that early morning walk, and as suggested earlier, if he has to go potty you can try training him to use a pee pad. I hope this helps! Good luck with training Rolo!

Hello, it sounds like you have accustomed Shadow to sleeping on the bed and he doesn't know any better. So to him, not being able to spend the night with you seems like a punishment because he doesnt know any different. He may associate this event to being forgotten outside. This means that you'll need to get him used to being outside during the day and associate that environment with a positive experience. That is, when he is outside you'll have to do other favorite things with him such as playing, feeding, and even giving him treats. Unfortunately, it will take some time and patience to condition him to being outside. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Dogs can be taught to ring a bell easily to go outside. Such bells are easily found in pet stores or you can get something from a craft store or farm store. As long as it can hang at his level to reach it and you can hear it easily within the house, it'll work. Keep in mind that a younger dog can only hold his bowels and bladder reasonably for as many hours as he is months old, so 4 months= 4 hours. Start by showing your dog the bell. Then show him the bell and only feed him a treat when he rings the bell by touching it. Hang the bell by the door that you want your dog to use to go out and show him the bell. Give him a treat when he rings it. Once he is ringing the bell by the door each time you point to it, go on to the next step. Put the bell away when you are not practicing with it. Put your bell up by the door. Let him watch you as you place a treat outside the door. Close the door and then point to the bell. When he rings the bell, open the door and let him get the treat. Once he rings the bell right away when you place a treat outside go on to the next step. Leave the bell in place by the door. Next time you think he has to potty, go with him to the door and point to the bell. When he rings it, open the door and let him potty. Reward him with a treat when he finishes. Each time you let him out to potty, ask him to ring the bell first and feed him a treat when he finishes. Leave the bell on the door and when he rings it let her out to potty. If he starts to play or dawdle outside, bring him in. This will prevent him from ringing the bell when he sees a squirrel (or at least prevent him from learning that he can get you to let him out to play instead of just to potty)