More dog troubles, any advice?

[Shamb]

So as most of you know I posted a few months ago about how my dog was obsessed with eating his own fecies. After a few weeks of Forbid that seems to have curved the appetite alot... not completely he still does it on occasion but definently not as much as he used to. Now we have a recent problem that i'm kinda stumped on.

He's a Beagle, 1 1/2 years old, smart.... can do tricks and listen's well...
but.... for some odd reason he has a hard time telling us that he needs to go outside to use the bathroom. Typically he'll hold #2 until he needs to go but for some reason when it comes time for him to go #1 he'll just walk over to me and pee a little to get my attention and then he run's over to the door.
He isn't a vocal dog nor will he scratch at the door to let us know. So how do you actually teach a dog something like this?   
When we're at work he'll sit in his kennle for up to 5 hours sometimes without needing to use the bathroom but on our days off it seems like he needs to go every 30 minutes. Typically we make it a habit to take him out every hour atleast just to make sure but majority of the time when he pee's next to me to let me know.. he had already been outside maybe 15-20 minutes prior.

When he was young we treated him for doing the right thing outside so he know's that what he is doing is wrong but for some odd reason he has a hard time expressing that he needs to go outside.
We do have plan's to buy a dog door that attach's to the sliding glass door in the kitchen so he has full access outside but until then am I just stuck taking him out every 30 minutes?  hoping that he doesn't have another sudden urge resulting in me cleaning the rug yet again.

Any advice would be helpful,
Thanks

[BLACKDOG]

  Try leaving him in the kennel until he HAS to go, and see what he does.  Dogs are pretty adamant, esp. as they get older, about going to the bathroom where they "live"  (in this case, the kennel)  Yes, they can lose that sense, in a long term cooped up scenario (pound) but for the most part, this is true.  If he barks or whines to get out, let him out immediately, and praise him.  Try doing this a few times, and see what happens. 

It seems as if you've got him on a part time schedule, but when ya'll are home, he knows you'll let him out at any time, so the moment he feels the urge, he wants to go out. 

Sorry I don't have anything better than that, I've never had to train a dog to indicate it needs to go out, all the ones I've owned have seemed to pick it up on their own 

[Tool Pimp]

We trained our dog to a litter box, might be worth a shot.....

[Shamb]

 when he's in the kennle he has never indicacted that he need's to go. We've had him in there for up to 6 hours before and he just lay's around. Never once has he went in his kennel but once we let him roam in the house he will.
We typically make him go outside right when he comes out of the kennel to ensure that he's good for awhile.

I praised him today (which we havn't done in awhile because I assumed he had already understood the good/bad of going outside/inside) and it went well.

I'd probably have to make a litterbox in order for that to work, he's a pretty big beagle.

[yota pu/runner]

While he is in his kennel he wont go #1 or #2 typically, I've known of some dogs that have gone #1 in their kennel but most dogs usually wont go where they have to sleep.  Praise him when he goes out to show him good outside.  You will also have to catch him in the act of going inside for him to understand that its bad.

[Shamb]

You will also have to catch him in the act of going inside for him to understand that its bad.

That's easy, he does it right next to me to let me know he needs to go outside.

That's the problem..

[oldschoolyota]

Sounds to me like hes training you.. What I mean is most dogs are to smart for their own good I have boxers really smart dogs my buddy has a 16" beagle, super smart dog. If he gets to go out and "play" in his mind meaning go outside to go potty then when ever he wants to go "play" he goes and takes a leak by you.
What I would do is put him on a leash to take him out weather he needs to be or not and make it a "business trip" Outside to pee or poo, praise him/her and back inside, a while later take him outside to actually play.
I hope this kind of makes sense, my male boxer use to pee on the back door rather than vocalizing that he needed to potty. This method worked for me Good Luck

[Shamb]

What I would do is put him on a leash to take him out weather he needs to be or not and make it a "business trip" Outside to pee or poo, praise him/her and back inside, a while later take him outside to actually play

Interesting you say this because this used to be the only way I would take him out because as you said... he really is too smart for his own good and would pretend like he needed to go outside or sit by the door 24/7 just to go run around and play, dig.. whatever.

I eliminated that prob with a leash so we went outside, he did his business and back in we came. The problem with this is that my wife never followed through as strictly as I did so he'd only be getting disciplined 50% of the time...

Amazing how our dog doesn't really act like a stereotypical dog...
He doesn't bark, I feel he isn't loyal to us at all... he's extremely loyal to FOOD because he's obsessed with it... literally..
He doesn't scratch at the door... when he does go outside he spends most of his time just walking around sniffing the ground looking for something to eat like a stick or grass.. or ANYTHING...

[BLACKDOG]

Interesting you say this because this used to be the only way I would take him out because as you said... he really is too smart for his own good and would pretend like he needed to go outside or sit by the door 24/7 just to go run around and play, dig.. whatever.

I eliminated that prob with a leash so we went outside, he did his business and back in we came. The problem with this is that my wife never followed through as strictly as I did so he'd only be getting disciplined 50% of the time...

Amazing how our dog doesn't really act like a stereotypical dog...
He doesn't bark, I feel he isn't loyal to us at all... he's extremely loyal to FOOD because he's obsessed with it... literally..
He doesn't scratch at the door... when he does go outside he spends most of his time just walking around sniffing the ground looking for something to eat like a stick or grass.. or ANYTHING...

Dude,

I think you got a cat in disguise!! 

Dogs have personalities just like people, regardless of breed.  My dog will respond to commands from Spotter and I regardless of whether he wants to or not, and with other people he will only respond if he wants to. (Just ask FFC )  My parents old dog would only respond to commands if she wanted to, regardless of who it was, and acted just like your dog does for the most part.  Got really irritating after a while.  My mom took her to obedience classes, and they wouldn't do any good.

[Richmondo]

I can't help you with the potty problem, but if your dog is eating his own feces then he's missing something in his diet and is trying to compensate for it. You might try a different brand of food...

[Shamb]

I can't help you with the potty problem, but if your dog is eating his own feces then he's missing something in his diet and is trying to compensate for it. You might try a different brand of food...

Been there and done that. This was the first thing we tried... I bet we went through 5 or 6 different types of dog food. Ranging from the very cheap to the very expensive.

Right now we have him on... I think it's called Natural Choice. It's a mid grade brand.. around 50 bucks a bag but it'll last him atleast a couple months.
Has thing's like rice,lamb,oat's... no fillers like corn, no sugars or salt additives.. really healthy supposively.
I have a filling it ties into his obsession with eating anything and everything he can get his mouth on.

[brainlessfool]

Any advice would be helpful,
Thanks

clothes line clip his his ding-a-ling?

[Shamb]

clothes line clip his his ding-a-ling?

Done and Done.  Thx this worked perfect!