When will he *ask* to go outside??

It only took Rory a week or so, wait are you ringing the bell or is he? Hopefully he is or its defeating the purpose so I'll hold off on furhter commenting till I know! At least he knows he has done good by pottying outside! Also from what I hear, small breeds are harder to potty train but I'm not sure how true that is

Well, we ring the bell when we take him out after being in the crate. If he ever does ring the bell on his own, OUT HE GOES! But it was usually just an accident, and he doesn't often go potty on those occasions.

How do I get HIM to ring the bell on his own after being crated? Is that what you're telling me to do? Please explain......

This is my first dog - can you tell? Man, cats are soooo much easier - LOL!

Oh boy are cats easier, ha ha! Anyhoo I used to grab Rory's paw to ring the bell so she knew what I wanted her to do. Its not a set back for you becuase she is probabyl already relating the bell to going outside in one form or another but use her paw to ring the bell. The first couple of times she might pull away like what the heck are you doing with my paw, Rory was actually afraid of it at first but I say the switch should come easily for your pup since it is already familiar!

Thanks - we'll start that tomorrow! He's so freaking tiny (2.3 pounds) that I tend to treat him like a baby.

Speaking as someone who never had a male dog before only females and learning as I go, males don't squat when they pee.  I can count on one hand the number of times Buddy has sat and then peed and they were all in the house.  Also, male dogs do not empty their bladders, like females do.  They save some urine for marking; it is physiological.  So, at the beginning when I was watching Buddy all the time for accidents, I tried to make sure he peed twice while we were outside.  Sometimes he did, sometimes he didn't.

Buddy will stand and sorta lean forward with his back legs out and pee.  When I first had him, I had to take a flashlight out with me at night because I couldn't tell if he was peeing or just standing still.  Now, that seven weeks has gone by I can tell if he is peeing or not.    The last couple of weeks he has started to lift his leg while he pees and he will do it almost every time now.  That makes it real easy to see if he is peeing! 

Also, if you haven't started training him to pee on command, I would start!  I think Buddy has really gotten that.  He will pee when I tell him to "hurry up".  It is great when it is raining and he doesn't want to be out there any more than I do!  While he is peeing, give him the command, "hurry up, go potty".  Then when he is finished praise him like crazy, "good hurry up!".

Sue

LOL about not knowing if he's peed or not --- -we have a concrete porch off our kitchen, and we're actually training him to go on it for now. And that's how we tell if he peed -- we see the little puddle on the concrete! Otherwise, when he does go in the grass, it's anybody's guess!

And thanks for the info about not emptying their bladders. We've been so frustrating by Rudy's "double-peeing", when the second time is INSIDE the house immediately after coming in from going potty. I have noticed that if he stays outside long enough, he'll often pee again.

Jeez - the things ya learn!

Speaking as someone who never had a male dog before only females and learning as I go, males don't squat when they pee.

Hm, Russell begs to differ. Maybe Buddy doesn't squat but plenty of male dogs do. Russell has always squatted just like a female and at nearly a year and half he's only just started to do the "lean forward" method, no leg lifting.

How old is the chi puppy? I can hardly give any advice without knowing that.... It's true that a male dog who has begun marking will "reserve" urine for the purposes of marking, but a pre-adolescent puppy doesn't do this - they just pee really often because they're young and not fully grown.

I know I've said this a million and one times here and there are always going to be lots of people who disagree... but a housetrained dog does NOT have to give you a sign or signal for going out. He just has to not go potty until he is taken out. I feel it's up to the humans to figure out your dog's schedule (how often they need to go) and take them out accordingly.

ETA - Okay, I just saw in the OP's other thread that this puppy is only 11 weeks old. This is not a dog who's saving urine for marking... he's just a baby and he has to go frequently. If he's going literally minutes apart, that would be a good sign that he has a UTI and should see the vet.