Housebreaking to a bell?
 

Has anyone done this? I would very much like to train Ollie to ring a bell at the door to let me know that he needs to go out, but right now our housebreaking is progressing *very* slowly.

I've introduced shaved chicken as a reward for going out, but last night at my parents' house I took him out FOUR TIMES in a span of three hours (trying to give him as many opportunities as possible for positive reinforcement), and he didn't pee once outside, but then he peed in the kitchen floor right in front of me!!!

As far as I know, he does not "signal" to go out at all at this point, except to turn circles right before he poops. But usually when I catch him at it, and move him to a pad or outside, he gives up and won't do it until my back is turned later on. I know he still has to go after he's been interrupted, but why does he stop when I move him to an appropriate area? ARGHHHH.

I am using an enzyme cleaner to "fix" any accidents too, so I know it isn't a scent issue. It just sort of seems like I take him outside, he goofs off, and then remembers he had to pee as soon as we get back inside. I don't play with him at *all* when I take him out to use the restroom, and I will usually keep him out about 10 minutes before I give up and bring him back in.

Any advice would be appreciated. I try very hard to catch him before he has an accident, but his personality can be sort of mysterious (he is not overly expressive most of the time) and so it's difficult to judge what he wants...

Hi, I'm having the same problem.. except mine is mainly with poops. Starting yesterday he is in his crate for the most part of the day. If he poops, he gets a treat, a walk, and gets to be free in my bedroom (and my bedroom only). I either carry him down to go outside or I put him on a tight leash so no accidents can happen. I've talked to a trainer (who believes in using crates) and she said to do what I am doing. He did not have any accidents today so far or yesterday. Make sure you do not force him in the crate but he goes in on his own (use toys/treats). I don't use pee pads but perhaps you are confusing him by using pee pads and outside. I have caught him in the act pretty much every time but saying NO and taking him outside doesn't do anything.. it might just be him though. Good luck!

Vanessa

Bell
 

I have a bell at my front door that both of my dogs use. The key is to be consistent. To start, before they knew how to use the bell, I would jingle the bell on the string in front of her face ( kind of like you would a toy) to get her to grab onto it and shake it. Once she touched it, I would let her outside. If she went potty outside, I would give her a treat as soon as we got back in the house. Every time before I let her outside I would entice her to grab the bell and shake it. She got to the point that it was "fun" to ring the bell and mom would get up and she would get to go outside and play. I only gave her a treat when she went potty. It was super annoying at first because it was fun for her, but I had to let her out becasue she was ringing the bell. She eventually got over the fun of it and just rang it when she had to go out.

I hope this helps and good luck!

Mine both ring a bell to go outside (and when they want water, and dinner, but whatever at least they ring it to go out.) Anyway, the bell is good but what you need to do is when you come back inside after the 10 minutes or whatever you need to put him in a crate until you can go out and try again. You are exactly right, he is having so much fun out there he forgets why he is outside. Then when he comes in he realizes he has to go. If you put him in the crate, what should happen is that you will avoid that accident (hopefully he will whine, cry, bark, paw at the door or something rather than pee in the crate) and then you can go right back outside. When you are house training you should ONLY give freedom to an empty dog!

I thought my little guy by ringing the bell everytime I took him outside in the hope that he did his business and rewarding with praise and treats whenever he did.....then moved on to tapping the bell with his paw each time we went outside......eventually he got it and was ringing it himself to go out.....not always to do sometimes.....but the connection was made.......good luck.

Thanks for the responses guys.

I do need to mention that I keep bells around Ollie's neck so I know where he is when he's underfoot (I've never had a small dog and it helps alleviate my fear of stepping on him, as well as letting me know whereabouts he is in the apartment when I can't see him...)

Will that be confusing to him, or do you think he'll be about to differentiate between the bells on his neck and the bell by the door? Should I make sure to get one that has a different sound than the jingle bells he wears?

Both mine have on the tingle bells too.....the bell I use on the door is a large brass parrot bell from the pet store....it does not confuse him......my girl does not ring the bell cause I never taught her but she gets that when he rings the bell she sits and waits at the back door.....she just got it......they catch on.....

Thank you!!!! That's what I wanted to hear. :D :thumbup:

It doesn't have to be a bell. Heck I taught Loki to press the Staples Easy Button. You are just teaching targeting :) So it's not so much the sound of the bell to them as "if I ring this Mommy will let me out" I don't recommend hanging bells on the doorknob - I've used hanging bells but we hung them next to the door. They shouldn't associate bell=the door opening, they should associate "i ring bell"="someone lets me out" Does that make sense?

My bell is not hung from the doorknob.....it is attached so that it only makes a sound when touched not when door is opened...

we tried the bell thing becase neither of my two will let you know they need to go so we tried the bells and it has been almost 6 months of doing it and i would say in that time between the two of them they have used the bells maybe 5 times. they will just hold it until a door opens and they run out pee and come back in. its weird that they wont do the bells but whatever we have enough traffic in the house that they get out like 6-10 times a day for a quick potty break. either way they dont go in the house anymore and that is all that matters.

I would love to hear more about how exactly all of you who use the bells did it. We have a cool parrot bell with a rubbery circular "cage" around it, and I know enough to hang it next to the door, not on the door. Do you try to get the dog to bat at it, or nose it? And do you start by ringing it yourself in the beginning, or do you just start right away with using his paw for him to bat at it, or his nose, or whatever?

I'm about to start the bell thing, but it's hard (for me anyways) to find a good how-to. I want to do it right - make it as easy as possible for him and us!

Thanks,

Lauren & Nikko

I would like to know this too, for when I get a new puppy. Prudence was already potty trained. Lucky me!

Mine pushes on the bell with his body. If you are consistent on touching the bell at each go out they will get it and then one day you will unexpectedly hear the bell go and you'll be jumping around with joy and excitement. This was my first dog and I was amazed.

We started using a bell so we could get rid of the pee pads. It worked amazingly. Bentley is an avid user and has been since the begining. Houston never rings it, he just waits for Bentley too.

We bought ours at a pet store nearby. It is a stuffed dog that hangs down with a bell hanging off each foot. They never play with it or anything so it seems to work well for us. Hope this helps.

You can also buy a product call the "Tell Bell". It sits on the floor near the door. You tap the top of the bell to ring it (kind of like the bells at a store where you "ring for service"). Before bringing your dog out, take his paw and use it to tap the bell.

There is a website with a video.

Good luck! :)

For me, bell training was probably the best thing that I did. I wish I would've tried it when Sasha was first starting potty training. For her during her stages of taking her out every half hour or so, before we left, I would stop in front of the door, pick up her paw and have her hit the bell while saying "go potty." I would then take her outside and if she went, she'd get a treat. I kid you not, within 2 days she was going up to the door and ringing it herself. During the summertime, it would get annoying at times because she would ring the bell and then just go outside to run around. She eventually did learn though that ringing the bell was for pottying only.

I have tell bells on my site. They are on sale for $20. + $5 shipping. Usps has been having issues so if anyone has problems when it calculates the shipping just let me know. Thanks!

My boy is fully potty trained but I wanted to try this as well. The reason is my boy doesn't bark. The way I know he needs to go out is he just stares at me. Mostly he will put his paws on my lap and just stare at me. I am like can't you just run over to the door and bark..lol.. I am going to try the bell.
I have heard some say they like to go out so much they will ring the bell all the time. So for now I just have my boy on a good schedule and that is when he goes out. :D

OK, I just hung the bell earlier today... when he wakes up from his nap, we're going to take him outside and and ring it for the first time! I hope he's not scared of it... maybe for the first few times, we'll give him treats for ringing it, so he associates it with something good?

Here's a picture of it - it's actually meant for a parrot cage, but it rings pretty loud, and has a slightly fun looking "cage" around it that's a little soft. Gosh I hope this works! Please, anyone who has done it already, please chime in and let us know how you went about it. And thanks to everyone who has already replied. :-)

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Lauren & Nikko

Just wanted to say good luck! I'm sure if you're consistent, you're little one will pick it up in no time!

Hmmm... ok, so I do need some advice now, definitely.

We went out to pee earlier, hit the bell with his paw before we walked out the door (and gave him a treat for hitting the ball so he wouldn't be scared of it, just in case). Yay, he then pottied outside and got another treat immediately after the pee.

Then we let our fluffy little empty bladder run around and play for awhile once we were back inside. He obviously was NOT scared of the bell. Twice he went over to the bell and rang it, just for fun I think. Both times we happily squealed "outside! outside!," scooped him up, and took him outside. But obviously he didn't have to pee since he'd just peed, so we brought him back in within a minute or so, tops. After that, we decided to just keep him away from the area of the kitchen with the bell, by distracting him away from it a bunch.

Am I doing the right thing so far?

Lauren & Nikko

Sounds like you are doing good. Once they figure it out they will ring the bell to go out if they like being outside mine did. Even now that it is cold today he wanted to go out often because of a biscuit he left outside. So the distraction will help but try to remember the time interval for the next potty break so that you can do the bell thing. Next week you will be telling us ow easy it was. :)

LOL Roseanderson - I'm praying you're right. He's only 15 weeks old, so my hopes aren't too high... but I am REALLY looking forward to the day he doesn't need constant supervision or a crate and can roam around freely. Believe it or not, I actually have another life besides constantly watching Nikko, and I'm starting to miss it! :-) But on the upside, we have a maximum of one accident a day, and some days none at all.

I think introducing him to the carpeted areas will be the hardest part... our carpet looks really great to chew on, and I've spilled water on it before - you can't even tell it's wet unless you step on that part. Weird stuff, like a medium brown very long berber that's had all the loops cut. So we'll see...

Thanks for the encouragement.

Lauren & Nikko

Oh Lemonlauren 15 weeks is early in the training but from what you say he is doing well......I do admit that I did not have alot accidents as I was home and it was easy.....but you are right it does take alot of your time and it may be helpful to crate when you cannot watch him......while my boy can hold it pretty much and is trained my girl that I got at 7 months can't hold it long and doesn't ring.....she is getting it but will stoop and go if we forget the time interval....so I know the feeling....lol......rain can be a problem but snow not so much.....:)

trying to bell train
 

Hi! I have a 12 week old baby girl yorkie and I just got the bell. I did hang in on the door, and when we go out I take her paw and push the bell. So far I think it kind of freaks her out, but I am hoping that she will get used to it. She does use a pee pad that is by the door, however, sometimes she will just go pee on the carpet. It's like she knows to use the pee pad, but then she will also pee elsewhere. I don't get it. Anyway, I am praying she will catch on to the bell ringing. I think I will try adding a treat when she does pee - maybe that will help. I just pray she will eventually ring that bell! thanks for all the posts on this subject.
Lucky and Hayleys mom

Luckymom, good luck! Almost everything I've read says a good treat is essential, and a "special" potty treat is a good idea too. Nikko has a super special treat (Kona's Chicken Chips) that he only gets if he pees or poops in the right place, and I give him one immediately after he's done with his business, while we're still outside, along with a little party of praise and verbal happiness. He seems to be coming along... we haven't had an indoor accident in a few days, and earlier today I knew he wanted to poop because he very subtly (around the same time he normally poops, so I was already clued in a little) stopped playing with me and walked halfway over to the door and the bell.

BTW, Nikko seems a little freaked out about the bell too, and I do the same thing with ringing it with his paws right before we go out. He's rung it a couple times totally on his own, but with no relationship to needing to go out. But I took him out for a minute or two anyways - he's gotta learn that bell-ringing = going outside!

My fingers are crossed for both of us, and all the other people who are attempting the bell training. I sounds like such a good idea in theory - I just can't wait to see it in practice here at our house!

Lauren & Nikko

Lemonlauren,
thanks for the fast reply. I am definitely starting the treat reward thing. Unfortunately it is supposed to drop to 22 degrees tonight and stay really cold for the next several days. We are expecting snow too - I just hope this doesn't hinder my training (I live in Oklahoma). But yes, I pray that you and I both get our pooches to figure this bell thing out. Hayley only weighs 1 1/2 pounds (she is 12 weeks), so the whole thing is kind of funny. But I will not give up! ha THANKS!

This happened to me tonight!!! after about 10 days of having him touch the bell before going out, and getting him to not be scared of the bell. He finally went to the door without me there and rang it. I did have an eye on him from afar and I was like..hmmm..i think he is thinking about it. And then we heard the little jingle and my husband and I jumped for joy and took him straight outside.
I am soooooooooooooooo proud of the little bugger!

for those of you that have young puppies i would say don't give up hope. My puppy is two years old and i would say it took a full year to get him 100% trained. And now that we moved he back slided a bit, hence starting this bell training. It just takes them longer b/c they have pretty small bladders so they need to be really mature to control them. So try not to get frustrated (trust me I KNOW it is difficult) and just hold out hope that when they're a little older they will get it ;)

Aw, congratulations! How wonderful!!! Nikko's still a bit freaked out by the bell, but we're still trying... :-)

Lauren & Nikko