Kodah is 12 weeks old (we got her at 10 weeks) & she now runs to our backdoor 95% of the time she needs to go. The two & a half weeks that we have had her, I did not wait to see her sniff around - I took her out every 45 min. to an hour whether I thought she needed to go or not. At times it felt like that is all I was getting done during the day. I never let her play in our family room until she had gone outside. When I take her outside, I always say "potty outside" & then I praise her while she is going. For about the first week I would pick her up after she had gone & bring her back in the house (not giving her time to play outside) & saying, "good girl, potty outside!" hoping this would help her make the connection. The problem I have now is that she runs to the door & makes no noise
- so I better realize that she is there to let her out (which I usually am). As I read here on many posts, consistency (& patience) is key! Just keep taking Mickey out - don't wait until you see him sniffing. Talk to him when you are taking him out & praise him when he goes!
Hang in there - he will get it!