The doggie door helped us quite a bit, but we didn't put it in until after we'd been bell training him for a few months. With the bell, he would sometimes just walk over close to it instead of actually ringing it, assume we could see him and read his mind, and then when we obviously didn't take him out because we didn't know, he'd just wander off and pee in the house. But once he had the doggie door, we didn't have to try to read his mind - he just went out when he needed to.
But all of that wouldn't have happened if we hadn't been on top of him every second of every day for the previous couple of months, watching and whisking him outside mid-stream to finish any accidents he started inside. That really seems to be the key: frequent leashed trips outside (even if you have a fence) where the only focus is to "go potty," a treat while still outside immediately after the deed, and catching him in the act when he goes inside. It's a mind-numbingly annoying chore to be so diligent (whenever I think about getting a second dog, I just remind myself of those days lol), but that's what worked for us. |