How can I get my dog to teach me a new trick? (serious q.)

[DaveC426913]

I want to get my* dog to tell me when she needs to go outside.
* ^{not actually my dog}

Her current "signal" is to simply pace back and forth from the foyer to the dining room. Unfortunately, this is pretty normal behavior for her (because she's highly intelligent and therefore gets bored). So I don't notice right away she needs to go out until she's desperate.

When I finally get up to let her out, she jumps at the door - but she does not do that until I'm up and moving (i.e. too late to be useful as a signal).

There's a set of chimes next to the door knob right next to where she jumps, and I jangle it every time I open the door for her. I was really hoping she would learn to do her jumps two inches to the right, and would this jangle them when she wanted to go out, but she does not.

She's a 7 year old giant German Spitz. Like this, but 50 lbs.:

 

[jack action]

​

 

[DaveC426913]

Thank you. It quite frankly never occurred to me that this was a Googleable thing. (As a first-time animal owner, it just never occurred to me that there were other owners who might have had this particular problem. Or that I had acquired generic life skills (like Googling) that could be applied).

 

[symbolipoint]

Thank you. It quite frankly never occurred to me that this was a Googleable thing. (As a first-time animal owner, it just never occurred to me that there were other owners who might have had this particular problem. Or that I had acquired generic life skills (like Googling) that could be applied).

Some of us are interested in what success results from your effort.

 

[Dullard]

Racing ahead:
Once your dog gets you trained, you'll be going to the door a lot more. Sometimes because she (apparently) just wants to see you get up. IMHO, a dog door is worth whatever trouble is required (if that's an option for you).

 

[DaveC426913]

Racing ahead:
Once your dog gets you trained, you'll be going to the door a lot more. Sometimes because she (apparently) just wants to see you get up.

One of those videos addresses that issue of "does she need to go pee, or does she just want to go outside?"

Besides, this dog is highly intelligent and needs a lot of mental stimulation. And is needy.
If going outside whenever she wants helps enrich her life, I'm all for it.

IMHO, a dog door is worth whatever trouble is required (if that's an option for you).

I installed dog doors on either end of my (detached) porch/deck so she can move freely. But I have decided not to install one on the house. We have a pond and a pool, so I don't want her going out without someone knowing about it.

 

[DaveC426913]

She had her first training session today with a pro dog trainer.

Lesson 1: 'It's your choice'
In which Luna learns to choose to wait for a reward over trying to grab what's in front of her.

Lesson 2: 'What's your name?'
In which Luna learns that if she looks to her owner when her name is called, she will get rewarded.