# my dog tricks me into taking him outside all the time



## joeyjoe9 (Feb 28, 2009)

My 9-month old Beagle is housetrained. He's able to hold it for 8+ hours while I'm at work. However, when I am home he begs and whines to go outside by standing by the door like once every hour. Sometimes more often than that. Usually when I'm watching TV. Then, when we're outside, he goes only about 70% of the time. I know, I know, maybe I shouldn't give in, but, at the same time, I don't want him to go inside the house in case it really is an emergency.
Any ideas?

Thanks


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## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

Maybe he just wants to be outside because it's more interesting than watching you watch TV? Any reason you can't take him out more often to explore?

Our pup does the same thing, esp. when I get out my laptop . There is a very subtle difference between her "I have to go potty" look and her "I'm bored...let's go outside" look. My husband can't tell the difference but I can. We don't always give in to her request because we don't always have the time to go out with her and we have no fence to keep her from running away. I also don't like to have her out there unsupervised because of the wildlife we have around here. If I can't be with her, I'll put her out there in a double exercise pen that gives her about an 8x12 ft space to relax in.

Maybe others can tell you how to train a dog to give you different signals for potty and out to play. We tried the bell thing and failed - she rang that da*n thing night and day!


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

Unlike you, he was alone all day with little to do. You were at work getting mental and physical exercise. Unless you sit in front of a computer all day doing data entry, in which case, why are you sitting in front of the TV doing even LESS mindful work for hours at a time?

He's BORED and wants attention from his person. 

If you can't change your schedule, put him in day camp during the day so he'll be tired when you get home.


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

This is exactly why my adult dogs go outside on schedule - not on demand.

You can train a dog to whine and beg by giving in - even occasionally - when he does.


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## FilleBelle (Aug 1, 2007)

Two ideas:

Take the dog for a _long_ walk right when you get in from work.

Get a dog door.


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## Independent George (Mar 26, 2009)

I don't mean to pile on here, but Beagles are scent hounds that need to get outside and explore. It's not so much about the exercise for them, but they need a lot of mental stimulus to be happy - preferably stimulus that involves a lot of interesting things to smell. You didn't mention how active you are, but if he's been penned up inside the house all day, I would estimate he needs at least an hour outside when you get home. 

Also, just because he _can_ hold it in for 8+ hours, doesn't mean that he should - especially if he's still just a pup. Dog doors probably aren't a good idea for a beagle, either - they're notorious jailbreak artists. Have you considered a dogwalker or day care?


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## joeyjoe9 (Feb 28, 2009)

I take him out for a long walk in the morning. When I get home from work, I take him to the dog park for an hour and then for another long walk after his dinner. He goes to daycare once a week.


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## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

If your 9-month old is anything like mine was at 9 months, even that amount of activity wasn't enough. She drove us crazy for the first 2-3 years of her life! walks + dog park + daycare in one day would just about slow her down enough to sit still after 9:00 pm. Even then, she'd often sleep for 2 hours and get up at 11:00 pm wanting to do it all over again!  We were exhausted. But she wasn't.

So she constantly went to the doors to be let out. Never knew if it was a potty request or not. As I said earlier, I finally learned to differentiate the signals. We did teach her that a leash + "Ok potty only" meant we were only taking her out to go potty. If she didn't have to go, she would back away from the leash. 

All I can say is up the activity, play with your pooch a lot, and wait for him to outgrow the restlessness. I invented a lot of indoor games to play with my girl to get us through this phase. Maybe another beagle owner can comment on how long that might take!


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## MoonStr80 (Oct 9, 2006)

I know what he is talking about .. Johnnie is like this way as well, she always constantly wants to go outside BUT she doesn't even want to go to the bathroom. She is taking advantage of times she needs to be taken outside, yes sometimes she wants to play but she also wants to dig, and bark at the neighbors. Also wants a treat each time she comes in


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