Bell Training Tragedy....

[jordansj]

Hello all, I am very new to this site and so far have been able to get some great feedback. My wife and I have a yorkie, Tucker. He is a great dog. I had different breeds of dogs all growing up and have never seen a more intelligent breed.

We have Tucker bell trained. We live in an apartment, and he is about 10 months old. He knows all kinds of tricks, and he always pees or poops when he dings the bell. The issue is that he literally asks to go out EVERY hour. In the complex, we can only take him to a particular place, so it is driving me nuts! I love him, but what the heck do I have to do? I can't take him out 16 times a day. We have him kennel trained and he does fine when my wife and I leave for a date (about 4 hours).

The process we go over (for details) is:
1. The bell is always right next to the door.
2. He has access to his food and water all the time.
3. He dings it multiple times because we know that sometimes he rings it but can wait longer. Even after we ignore him to try and help him hold it, he dings it multiple times and even sometimes loses interest and comes back to chew on a toy.
4. He goes, but usually a little bit. We give him positive vocal feedback.
5. When we come back in, we give him a treat for peeing outside.

Any help? We need to get him to last longer between taking him out. PS, my wife hates the idea of restricting his water and food throughout the day.

[yorkietalkjilly]

My Tibbe used to "tell" me he needed to go out when he really didn't while he was in potty training but that lasted only about 3 - 4 months(did I just say "ONLY"!) and then as I little by little turned him down for all except the most believable "tell", he pretty much stopped doing it. I always wondered some about the bell notification if a dog wouldn't become a little obsessed or something with that noise repitition since some dogs seem obsessed with creating sounds in things over and over like repeatedly making a squeaky toy squeal ALL day. While I have no experience with the bell, I am sure others will. From my experience, they all fib a bit just to go out more on some days but it usually eases up alot once they get a bit older and it is not all so novel. Can you remove the bell for a while and just watch for him to "tell" you he needs to go out and then try phasing the bell back in? Tibbe "tells" me he has to go out like this: He usually gets right in the middle of the floor, stares me down for a bit and then begins to go round and round in circles. If I suspect he is not really needing to potty but has just heard the Yorkie across the alley barking or the garbage truck coming, I will sometimes tell him "not right now" but if he really really needs to go, he barks earnestly with big round eyes and comes and bounces off the couch with his paws until mommie gets right up! If he doesn't really need to go and I tell him "not right now", he goes on about his business, so I am lucky in that I have a demonstrative dog who hates to "go" in the house and will raise a ruckus to keep from it. I hope you can find a good solution as this is probably driving you nuts but at least your little guy has got the idea of going outside down pat! That's a good start. Tucker sounds like a smartie who learns quickly and I agree that Yorkies are so intelligent. Mine LOVES to learn new things ALL the time. I'm teaching him now to seek out and find the satellite remote which usually somehow STAYS lost and he's taking that up with relish. They are just so cute and love to "work". Hope you get a quick answer and some help.

[gumbysuz]

I agree with Jilly. Take the bells down when you know your pooch doesn't need to go out. If my Biewer, Dori, is SERIOUS about an outing, she will come put her paws on me and stare into my face. I know her schedule by now, but there is always an occasional exception, like this AM at 4:00!!
Bottom line, when she gets bell-crazed, we just remove the temptation.

[yorkieusa]

I don't know how long ago you started him with bell training. However, mine would ring the bells incessantly for awhile after I started training her on them. It was fun for her. The main reason, though, that she would ring them was to get me to come into the room she was in to play with her. She did, eventually, stop ringing them constantly. She started ringing them just for potty. Once in awhile, she will still ring them to go outside to play. That is very natural. On a pretty day, who doesn't want to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather?

[gaijingirl]

My sister told me that she had her dog bell trained, but had to stop because the dog was ringing it constantly just because she wanted to go out and play.
I think the suggestion that you take the bells down when you know they are not needed sounds like a good one. Maybe you can take them off the door as soon as you get back in from your potty break and put them up again a couple hours later. If you feel like your dog can hold it a little longer, gradually increase the time so as to not cause him to have an accident. I take my dog out about ever 2 or 2.5 hrs and after every meal (he eats 4 times a day). I know he can hold it overnight (and really hates to get up to go in the morning!) but the 2 hours or so allows him to succeed the best with his house training. I try to set him up for success.

[FlDebra]

I was so relieved to read your post. I almost did not open it as the subject title made me think a poor yorkie had gotten entangled and a loss was being related. Your "tragedy" was a relief!
I haven't used bells but my dogs "tell me" they have to go out. I sometimes tell them, "you were just out, I think you're playing with me" and they are okay for awhile. If they are persistent with it, I usually give in. But 2 hour intervals should be more than enough for even our tiny bladder dogs.

[mauirobin]

Mine are poochie-bell trained as well. There was a time period where the dogs just wanted out to play, or were curious about noises (or cats) outside. They rang them constantly. Well, I should say Yogi rang them constantly. The other dogs get excited & "tell" me in other ways, then Yogi will ring the bell for them. Or they will bark at Yogi, & he rings the bells. My new rescue has taken to the bells as well.

The constantly ringing the bells to go outside ebbs, & they pretty much only ring when someone has to go.

[Princess10]

i tried to bell train princess and she seemed to get the hang of it but she would be confused if someone came or went out the door and she would sometime ring it when she didn't have to go or when she was yelling at the pug & owners she despises across the hall.....
...anyways, i just began letting her "tell" me she has to go out. she will give me a total death stare, lol, and if i don't look at her she will bark. before i can get the 1st sound out to ask her she darts for the door and starts bouncing off the wall & leash hanging there...yes, she's a spaz! and now that she's older (about 13 months) she asks to go out considerably less than she used to. puppyhood is so hard, but it pays off once they do mature.
good luck.

[concretegurl]

Originally Posted by Princess10

i tried to bell train princess and she seemed to get the hang of it but she would be confused if someone came or went out the door and she would sometime ring it when she didn't have to go or when she was yelling at the pug & owners she despises across the hall.....
...anyways, i just began letting her "tell" me she has to go out. she will give me a total death stare, lol, and if i don't look at her she will bark. before i can get the 1st sound out to ask her she darts for the door and starts bouncing off the wall & leash hanging there...yes, she's a spaz! and now that she's older (about 13 months) she asks to go out considerably less than she used to. puppyhood is so hard, but it pays off once they do mature.
good luck.

My Princess ate the bell...it was a tragedy here...I went out and bought an oversized hand painted cutesy ribbon paid-too-much-for -it (too embarrassed to even say actually) and ye Princess ate it well okay she ripped it apart and destroyed the bell, ribbon and door hanger the first day it was here...hmmmm she's out of her puppy crazy stage might go for the bell again...wondering if the OP's dog is just thinking the bell is for I want to go outside and not I have to go potty...

[gemy]

I too have experienced this; bell ringing cause I like the sound, I want mommy to come play with me,. I saw a nice looking squirrel out in the backyard, etc etc.

We did as others have posted. Once Razz comes back in from potty, the bell gets put up so he can't reach it. Then a couple of hours later it gets put back down. It takes a couple of wks, but eventually they get it (for awhile at least), when he backslides, the bell routine is re-established and life goes on without a 100 bell rings a day. lol

[babbsiam44]

Originally Posted by concretegurl

My Princess ate the bell...it was a tragedy here...I went out and bought an oversized hand painted cutesy ribbon paid-too-much-for -it (too embarrassed to even say actually) and ye Princess ate it well okay she ripped it apart and destroyed the bell, ribbon and door hanger the first day it was here...hmmmm she's out of her puppy crazy stage might go for the bell again...wondering if the OP's dog is just thinking the bell is for I want to go outside and not I have to go potty...

Sorry, once again I had to giggle.."Princess ate the bell"
I never bell trained because I never knew of such a thing until I read it on another thread on YT. But I tend to agree with your statement...wondering if the OP's dog is just thinking the bell is for I want to go outside and not I have to go potty.
Elsa will do the trick thing about needing to go out. I will distract her w/ something if she has just recently gone out. It's when she is staring in my face growling that I know she means serious business!

By the way, welcome to YT

[concretegurl]

Originally Posted by babbsiam44

Sorry, once again I had to giggle.."Princess ate the bell"
I never bell trained because I never knew of such a thing until I read it on another thread on YT. But I tend to agree with your statement...wondering if the OP's dog is just thinking the bell is for I want to go outside and not I have to go potty.
Elsa will do the trick thing about needing to go out. I will distract her w/ something if she has just recently gone out. It's when she is staring in my face growling that I know she means serious business!

By the way, welcome to YT

Yes...that's how I know Princess means business too...schnauzer glare and her deep bear growl...oh wait you meant potty business! LOL Seriously she's a very well bred, mannered Mini Schnauzer...she's just a mini schnauzer-they are stubborn, loyal to their person-unfortuantely Dad is her person not me...and well as smart as they are they can be very destructive if they become board and wow did I say stubborn...every post I see about some crazy Yorkie freak out of behavioral problem...I'm like huh Princess does that all the time here. My poor Yorkie boys have to deal with so much from her...good thing they love it!

I'm really considering going back to trying the bell trick since Princess also recently decided she's not house broken and has had about four "accidents" in the house...its possible she wanted to go out and I missed it but I'm really leaning towards it was just plain spiteful on her behalf.

[AllDogBoots]

I'm in the midst of bell training tragedy as well with my little Max. Cooper is 100% trained to ring the bell only for pottying outside. Max, not so much. He rings it when he has to potty, when he wants to go play and when he is bored and wants attention. He even rings it so I'll go to the door and open it so he can run away from me and play chase.

The worst now is that he rings it to distract Cooper. Cooper will then go outside when I open the door and Max will get whatever he distracted Cooper from!

Ahhh.....training is ALWAYS a work in progress.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by AllDogBoots

I'm in the midst of bell training tragedy as well with my little Max. Cooper is 100% trained to ring the bell only for pottying outside. Max, not so much. He rings it when he has to potty, when he wants to go play and when he is bored and wants attention. He even rings it so I'll go to the door and open it so he can run away from me and play chase.

The worst now is that he rings it to distract Cooper. Cooper will then go outside when I open the door and Max will get whatever he distracted Cooper from!

Ahhh.....training is ALWAYS a work in progress.

Always a work in progress is right! LOL as I can just picture this!

[AllDogBoots]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

Always a work in progress is right! LOL as I can just picture this!

This photo is named "bell training manipulation"
bell training manipulation.jpg