destructo dog

here's what we did that worked for us...

i went outside with our pooch when he went to the bathroom and would literally say stuff like, good potty, nice potty, etc so he would associate the word potty with going to bathroom outside. then when he learned that, i would say to him every few hours, do you have to potty? if he got all excited and started wagging his nub (his tail is clipped-done before i got him) i would walk to the back door. he followed me over there and i would ask him again if he had to potty. when he got that excited look again, i would (not kidding) woof at him. that way he learned to woof at the back door when he had to go potty. it sounds goofy i know but now he goes to the back door and woofs, i let him out, he does his business and comes back in.

i am not sure if this is "the way" to do or not, just sharing with you what we did that worked. My dog is a brittany spaniel so i am not sure either if differences in breeds have anything to do with it...hope that helps somewhat!

Ta!
Thanx Heaps dragon49, i thought about teaching her to "speak" and then getting her to speak bfore i let her out but she's not a talkative dog normally. i'll try your idea and see if that wrks like it did for you. once again, thanx.

let me know how it goes, i would love to know if it actually works for others as well.