Finally got my dog to ring the bell to go outside!
 

Today wsa a good day finnaly felix rings the bell and I take him outside, I been doing that all day so he knows thats the process, now the only thing is he is not fully housebroken so I am hoping he will understand that when he needs to go out he rings the bell and does it outside as well..hes been ringing the bell all day to go out so wish me luck on that one. Anyone with great ideas or suggestions on using the bell techquie please let me know thanks!

wow congrats!!!!! way to go felix!

Well done I am also trying to get mine to ring haven't had luck yet though. But I keep on ringing in hopes they will catch on.

Verena :D :D

Yea....go Felix

the first thing you want to do is teach him how to ring it, push his little nose and make it nudge the bell softly and them give him a treat..keep on doing it and he will catch on..once he rings the bell with out any help give him a treat then keep on doing that..once that is done you got him to learn how to ring the bell with out you..so now when he rings the bell take him outside and treat him outside then eventually don't treat him anymore and just take him out when he rings and he will get the point thats how it worked for me..now he rings the bell all the time to go out hopefully he will start doing his business outside

Gosh, if you've got Felix ringing the bell, it sure won't be long before he's fully potty trained, good for you!

I tried teaching Carlee to ring the bell, but had to give it up, she just wasn't catching on. Anyway, she's now about 85% potty training except she doesn't let me know when she needs out, I just have to make it an often and regular routine, so I really could start teaching her the bell now I guess.

Good Luck!

Congrats on him learning to ring the bell. We taught Sophie to ring the bell and it has made things a lot better around here.

Gosh, that is great!! I've never heard of the "bell" method!!! What kind of bell do you use and where do you get it??? I must have missed that post! I want to try it :) :thumbup:

My (yorkie) Bell rings the bell. She has been ringing it for about 2 years now. Only problem is sometimes she can ring it 50 times a day.. Sometimes I think well she was just out there and I'm not going to get up to open that door again, and then thats when she gets me, and pees all over... She is teaching me a lesson...

Congratulations! I would just keep doing whatever your doing since you are getting positive results. I wish my dogs could do that.

yeah my dog is starting to ring the bell way too many times and you get so tired..he rings it just to go outside and play as well..so I guess eventually he will catch on when he only gets treat when he does his business

This is great and congrads to You good mommy !!
What kind of bell did you get I would love to see a picture of it.I want to teach My babys !!
Thanks,Tami

Something that may help this if you want to try it is...When he rings the bell take him out on a leash and only let him stay out there for 5-10 minutes or however long you think is a good length of time to go. Then come back in whether he's gone or not. Don't let him play out there when you take him out on the leash. This way he will know that when he rings the bell it is only for potty time. It may also be a good idea to give him regular play times outside throughout the day. Actually let him outside to play and it may help if its at the same time each day(I don't know for sure though).

This is how I taught Reagan to go potty on command but now I don't take her out on a leash and she wants out all the time and just goes out to play. So I've started the leash thing again to show her that when she asks to go out its only for potty time but she doesn't like the leash much so yours may not either if he's not used to it. I'm still working with her and she's getting used to it again though so there is hope.

how do you get them not to be afraid of them

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?