Quote:
Originally Posted by neceedee  "i also did the bell thingy, but that didn't work for us, milu didn't understand what it was for. maybe it will work for thor."
What is the bell training you are talking about? Never heard of it. |
The idea is to give your dog a tool that helps him signal that he needs to "use the facilities." You can just hang Christmas bells on your door, or get a custom potty bell from a pet store. I'm actually using the type of bell you see at hotels for bellhops.
I decided to try it because Thor wasn't giving reliable potty signals. His previous owner took him out every two hours. I originally thought that I'd gotten him on a five hour schedule, but eventually I realized that he was just having tiny accidents in out of the way places. It's pretty much been a downward spiral from there.
The theory is that every time you take the dog outside, you ring the bell, or help him ring the bell. Your dog learns that every time the bell rings, he goes outside, so he decides to start ringing the bell himself, at which point he gets lots of praise and extra outdoors time.
In Thor's case, he still seems to have no idea what the bell is for. Sometimes he'll go over and sniff it, but I started to train him to paw at the bell for a treat. He's rung it a few times, but still doesn't it associate it with going out.
I've coupled the bell with confinement to my living room until he learns to either use the pad or the bell. Until today, he has never had an accident in the living room. One day, I hope to have access to other rooms in my apartment again. Dare to dream.
