Ringing the bells
 

I'm trying to get mine not to be afraid of them

This is my problem exactly - Tessa doesn't tell me when she has to go outside - I just have to predict and watch. This part - getting her to let me know - is tough. What do other people do to accomplish this?

lol I worked with my lil Beau Jangles on the Bell. He did learn to ring the bell and I would open the door for him to go out into a small fenced court yard. Then he started abusing the bell ringing because he wanted a treat or he just loves to go outside. He is a smart little rascal and he tries to out think me all the time! lol lol

I also taught Ziggy to ring a bell to go outside. I started by just getting him to ring the bell so he would not be scared. We spent a day or two on that. I'd hold the bell and give him a treat if he rung it. Once he was doing that consistently I hung them on the doorknob of the door I take him out of. Anytime I would take him out to potty, I'd ask "go potty?" and make him ring the bell. I'd give a treat for ringing and and then a treat for actually pottying outside. After a few days he started ringing the bell on his own. After a week or so, I'd only give the treat for pottying so that he did not abuse it for playtime. Fortunately, he has not abused it too much. I was told by a trainer that when they are little, you must take them out every single time he rings the bell or he will quit ringing them because they are not being taken out when they do what you ask of them. If I am taking him out for a walk or playtime, I take him out a different door.

I started with the bells when he was about 12 weeks old. He is now 6 months and rings them consistently. What is really funny is if he does not have to go that bad, he will just touch it with his nose. If he REALLY has to go, he will run, grab the bells, and sling them against the door repeatedly!

Great job, Felix!

Good dogs :D

I thought this was absolutely the cutest thing!! I had several of my new owners teach their littly babies to do this....this is just toooo cute!!

Then one of them told me her little girl was lying about having to go potty, just to get a treat!!! She would ring the bell, they would take her out and then WATCH her constantly to see when she peep, then she would run back over to them for her treat for peeing outside....she even would look over her shoulder to make absolutely certain they were SEEING her pee....but they began to suspect she was fibbing to get the treat when they discovered her tiny hiney was absolutely DRY when she supposedly just peed....it was all a ruse to get a treat....she would squat, look over her shoulder to make sure they were watching her, then she would jump up ike she was "through", and run to get her treat!!!!!! I thought THAT was precious!!!

Great advice and thanks everyone! I have Xmas bells on a strip that I can use and Tessa's training starts today! I will let you know and tons of thanks again - totally helpful people ❤️

Way to go! I taught mine some time ago, but I stopped because he now shows me when he wants to go outside by walking towards me and going to the door several times.

The way I taught him how to ring the bell was: I put a Christmas ornament bell on the handle of the entrance door, and everytime I would take him outside to make potty I would ring the bell with his paws. I did that until he would ring it on his own, so he knew that everytime he rang the bell I would take him outside :)

Is that bell... the "teacher's desk" kind of bell??????

Can you successfully teach an older dog to ring the bell for potty?