Ringing potty bell to go potty and to go play outside too?
 

Okay, Sheldon has been doing great on potty training but recently he has been ringing the bells and he goes GREAT! and other times he just rings them, we go outside and nothing, ugh!
Does any of your dogs do this and how do I fix it.
Thanks so much!

Lola is 16 months and 100% potty trained and rings the bell to go out, but she also rings the bell when she wants attention. My office is upstairs so when the bell rings I will head down only to find her wagging her tail laying on her toy waiting for me to toss it:D Since she goes out on a lead I can watch her and know when she goes and what she does, so I can generally tell if it is bell ringing is because of needing to potty or just wanting attention. The first time I hear what I think might be a fake bell ring is I take her out on a short lead and give her only a moment or two to take care of business, then if nothing happens back in side and NO treat, no fuss, and no play. Then if it happens once or twice again, the bell (mine is jingle bells on a ribbon) gets wound around the door knob so she can't reach it. However if you do this you have to remember to unwind them again around the time your dog should need to go again. I am lucky because Lola can hold herself and does not need to go out that often. In fact that reminds me she has been half awake since 6 am and has still not asked to go out. Most likely this will continue long into adulthood my friend has a seven year old Weim, I was there the other day and she was ringing the bell, she said ignore it she does not have to go, she just wants out. I know it's frustrating but in the long run it will be worth it.

Question, are you able to see your dog when he is outside to know if he goes or not? If you have a fence and then just let him out loose I would suggest you go to a long tie out instead and watch when and what he does, it will help you understand his schedule better.

Thanks for the reply, Sheldon goes out with me and he is on a leash, I can see when he goes and give a small treat. I also have the ribbon with the bells.
Sometimes, he goes on the 1st trip and does #1 and runs back to the front door to come in then minutes later he rings again, I take him and nothing. We come inside and minutes later he rings it again...go out and nothing Argggg! LOL

He is pretty good about holding it overnight. He has been sleeping in his crate from 9 til 6:15 since we brought him home at 10 weeks and now he can hold it longer. I let him out of his crate and he goes to his bed and minutes later he rings the bell to go out potty.

I guess I have to stay out longer. I am afraid to wind up the ribbon and mess up with the training. He loves being outside and bark at the squirrels hahaha

Bella does all that too without the bell ringing. She whines and yeps a little to go out, I usually think it's for potty, not all the time, she wants to play outside, but she goes out on a lead also. They are so funny.

Sheldon did the wining at the door, the bark and also he would just sit there and look for someone to notice him. I re-introduced the bell because sometimes I didn't realize he was waiting at the door to go out.

I'm waiting on mine to use the bells....

You all and these bells!!! I just LOVE this!! I have several new parents that have taught their babies to ring bells to go out to potty, and I had never heard of that! I found it absolutely adorable! One of the babies will ring the bell, they let her out and stand there to watch, she runs a few laps around the deck/patio, and then races back inside for her TREAT!!!!!! She is actually fibbing in order to get a green bean!!!! OMG!!! I just ADORE these babies!!!!

Ralph used the bells, and then my dad came to my house and made the bells seem like a toy. But Ralph gets to just go to the door, and if i dont come he runs to my office and starts barking and biting my ankle, but Ralph is on a schedule so I usually know when its time for him to go out! (:

LOL yes the fake peeing to get a treat is common with or without bell use:aimeeyork It's only natural treat a dog after going potty they will often want to go potty a zillion times a day.

I have been using the bells for years. At first, mine would "play" and ring them just to see me come running to open the door or just to go out. But that eventually stopped and now they usually ring them when they need to go out for real. They ring the bell then sit patiently at the door for someone to come. It's so cute to hear the bell, then walk around the corner and see them sitting there so nicely waiting on you. I started using bells for my family, not my dogs. LOL, At least with the bells there is no question that they need to go out. :)

Max is the ultimate bell schemer. Now that I think about it I don't even know if he uses it when he has to go potty!:rolleyes: The bell is generally used as means to distract Cooper. If Cooper is eating his food, or has a toy that Max wants, Max will walk over to the bell and ring it. Cooper will then race to the door because he thinks we are going outside. Max quickly runs to whatever Cooper left behind and steal it. I'm not even involved in this process but it works for Max every time.

Cooper will only ring the bell to potty. Unless of course he's dying to play ball. But having the ball in his mouth at the time of ringing is a pretty good giveaway.

your dogs just crack me up, how clever. Funny ever since this I posted on this tread this morning, Lola has been ring the bell like crazy, she has gone out three times but rang the bell more than twice that, LOL I think she knows I was posting about it.

Oh yes, she definitely knows. I just find it amazing that our dogs are trying so hard to communicate with us. I can appreciate the bell ringing even if it isn't for what we taught them.

Hahahaha, that is so funny :) Love it!

I keep shoes in a basket by the front door, he loves to get in that basket so what he does is gets one of his toys and purposely move it little by little to where the basket is, sneaky puppy :)

Ladybug rings the bell just to go out and chase the birds! :D We always let her out first thing in the morning around 6:30. She'll then ring the bell through out the day just because she knows the birds are out there. By the evening she know the birds are snuggled in their nest so she only rings the bell to potty and then she scratches the back door to come right back in so she can rest under my office chair ( her favorite spot).