Entertain Yourself, Smartiepants!
 

Nikko is a very spunky and VERY smart 4.5 months old. He rings the bell to go outside, rarely has accidents indoors (less than one or two a week right now), knows quite a few tricks already, and knows EXACTLY how to make us do what he wants.

The problem is, he has only two modes: asleep or awake-and-needing-our-undivided-attention. If he does not get our undivided attention, he goes over to the bell and rings it even if he doesn't have to pee just because he knows we'll drop everything and go take him outside - he'll get attention.

Just this morning, after a nice 1+ hour play session, I let him wander around while I checked my email. In a 15 minute period then, he rang the bell and I took him out six times - if you do the math, that pretty much means as soon as I sat down each time, he ran over to the bell. I got nothing done. I don't let him play outside when he rings the bell, it's just the 8 foot walk over to the pee place, 60 seconds or so of trying to convince him to "go potty," then an 8 foot walk back inside.

Do you all have ANY ideas on how to get him to be happy with entertaining himself? He isn't interested in things frozen in his Kong (too much work, no matter how appetizing the treat). He's not real big on treats anyways, and we've even had the same bully stick for a month that still looks almost new that he only chews on casually every once in a while - and usually only if one of us is holding it for him. Do you have any other suggestions for toys (non food related probably) that might entertain him? Can I take the bell up for 15 minutes after I'm certain he doesn't have to pee/poo? Or should I block off the route to the bell sometimes when I'm pretty sure he doesn't need to go out? What can I do!?!?!

Lauren & Nikko

I have no suggestions as Bent is my first Yorkie and they do seem to require lots more attention than our Dauchs (who are lazy in nature :) ). I wish you the best of luck!

I've been trying to find some things for Thor to do by himself as well. He was not that interested in bones, so I tried soaking some flossies in water before I gave them to him. He went NUTS. He's very small, so I think the extra malleability helped his jaws. He has actually jumped off my lap and gone into another room to work on his flossie.

You could also try those treat puzzle balls to stimulate your boy's big brain. :)

Also, maybe don't freeze the kong? Just put some peanut butter in it and let him work on licking it all out.

Finally, maybe give him more intense outdoor exercise so he wants to sleep for a while when he gets back in. Fetch is good.

Oh, and one more final, final thing: since he is so smart, maybe you can work a flag into the bell training. Train him so that if the bell is covered by a piece of cloth, ringing it won't get him attention. Or just take the bell away for a bit. Presumably he's not going to need to go out again for at least an hour after coming inside.

i have a question, where did you buy the bell from? i was thinking about just using my husband's christmas bell he got from work. HOwever, Charlie is afraid of that bell so it won't work. Thanks

Thanks for the suggestions so far!

Newproudmom, I got the bell from a petstore - it's meant to go in a parrot cage. It's a bell with a rubbery round green cage that goes around the bell. I've hung the whole contraption from a nail in the framing around my door, a few inches off the ground. Other people have used those "service" bells that you sit on a counter (or floor, in this case). At first, Nikko was very afraid of it... but we kept at it, first ringing it ourselves every time we went out, then making him ring it with a paw every time we went out, then mixing it up a little, and finally one day a few weeks later he just decided to do it on his own. That was right around the time we were about to give up because we thought it was pointless because he acted so afraid of it, lol! Good luck if you try it. :-)

Lauren & Nikko

We just came back from the vet for a checkup and her comment was "yorkie's are so smart and have knack for training YOU". Boy isn't that the truth? The only advice I can give is to offer a wide variety of toys. My love the toys with the squeakers. Ours have stuffed, balls, harder plastic etc. OR.....you could get a little brother or sister!!! :D:D:D

Our local Mud Bay Granary carries these bells and I've seen them at independent pet shops too. If you can't find them locally try Petedge.com, I think they carry them.

The longer I stay on YT, the more I find proof that Yorkies are very smart. I find that these guys don't really like to play on their own. You can try the hide-a-squirrel. He'd probably like it for half a day and then after that you throw it for him to keep him interested. I am also in a dilemma to get mine to chew his bullystick. He'd only chew it when I bring his toothbrush to show me how busy he is and he has no time nor the space in his mouth for brushing teeth.

The best solution I've found...get another Yorkie for him to play with. :lol tears

That's what worked for Boo, we got him Gracie and then we got Gracie her very own Yogi. Fortunately Yogi is enamored with Gracie, so we don't need to get him his own Yorkie. whew :D

Actually, Gracie is/was very good at playing by herself. She'd make up whole scenario's with her toys while playing. Running to their rescue, beating up the bad guy, going on great adventures through the "wilds of the living room", having cuddle time with them and always talking and carrying on to them through the whole thing. Her being able to play by herself didn't help me to get things done, though. I was always too busy watching her having so much fun!

:yeahthat:

LOL, that was my first thought. But, that isn't really the best solution for everybody. He's a smart little guy, and he's still working on "training you". Don't worry, this will pass.

It was said in jest, thus the LOL Smilie that followed it. I realize mulitple dogs aren't for everyone. And I agree with you, he'll work it out. Some are very stubborn about being the center of attention, it may take the OP being extra creative to find a solution that will work for her.

A KONG! Stuffed with goody goody goodness! And mabe plain yougurt and peices of fruit and freeze it. It will take him a while to get that out! lol

Ummm ..... :p

I hate to tell you this .... But he IS entertaining himself

He's ringing the bell whenever he wants Mom to jump up and attend to his needs :D

How did you train him to ring the bell? That is something I would love for Toby to do. We haven't even began outside training because it's been freeeezing here. But when we do that's something I would definitely be interested in! Thanks!

~Crystal

Crystal,
We started by just ringing the bell ourselves every time we took him out to pee, on our way out the door, and said "yay! good boy! outside!!! you wanna go outside!?!?!!!!" after a week or so of this, we started making him do it with his paw - he wasn't thrilled about it, and acted scared of the bell, but we did it every time anyways. then after a week or two of that, we started switching it up - sometimes we'd ring it for him, sometimes we'd make him ring it. this was about the time we were getting frustrated thinking it would never happen because he acted scared of the bell. then one day (coincidentally happened to be the same day we expanded his roaming area a little), he just went over and rang the bell. we rushed over, told him how wonderful he was and had a little party, all the time saying "outside! outside! yes! good boy! outside!!!" then took him out and he peed, which promted (as usual) another party and a special treat that we only use for using the bathroom outside. He's probably 95% good with potty training now, thanks to that bell... hopefully he can keep it up! Our fingers are crossed.

To everyone else,
Thanks for the ideas. You know, it really would be neat to have another pup here - I'm envious of some of you who have puppy pairs sometimes. And then I think to myself, WHAT!?! LOL, I don't know how anyone can handle two young puppies at the same time - I have my hands so full with just one, I can't imagine! :-) You two-puppy people must have nerves of steel, require only two hours of sleep per night, and have eyeballs in the back and sides of your head!

For now, we're going to stick with trying to keep him busy, and (yay!) he finally got his shots today so there will be lots of running around outside and tiring him out now. We're also getting him accustomed (hopefully) to the neighbor's dog, so that'll be kinda like him having a sibling, though the sibling is a cairn terrier who weighs about four times as much as he does. :animal36 I figure he'll learn eventually that the bell isn't necessary for attention, and so long as he isn't peeing inside, I'm pretty sure I have no right to be complaining, lol. :thumbup: I may block off the route to the bell sometimes if he's really wearing on my nerves, but like MauiGirl said - this too shall pass.

Lauren & Nikko