I made Hanging door bells...Is anyone interested?

[sam&deesmom]

How wonderful. I think it is a great idea.

sam&deesmom

[Teddy_Q]

Originally Posted by Ravens Keeper

The funny thing is that if I'm watching t.v. and she rings them, and I don't respond to her right away, she swats at them harder, and keeps swatting at them until I get up. I would say she has me trained real well.

LOL that is very funny. shes too cute

[chechinmipo]

How do you train them. Does it work for adults also.I would love to have Ruby bell trained. That would just be a great thing over here.

[alpayton]

Originally Posted by chechinmipo

How do you train them.

http://www.poochie-pets.net/Training.html Here's the info from Poochiebells.com. It'd be the same no matter what kind of bells you use.

It's more or less just consistency. BEFORE you open the door to let the little one out, make sure to say the words, "Wanna go potty?" or whatever cue words that you use in your household, and take the wee one's paw or nose or whatever and touch the bell enough to make it ring. Then open the door and out you go! Each time you do it, do it in the same order, and do it EVERY time you go out. EVERY person that takes the wee one out will need to say the same thing and touch the same body part to the bell in order for the pooch to get it quicker. Basically that's what we did though.

[Muffie's Mom]

How does the owner learn to recognize when the dog needs to go?

This comprehension issue is handled on a very hit or miss fashion, and most dog-and-owner teams muddle through and eventually settle on a solution. The dog develops a characteristic behavior and the owner learns to recognize it.

There's only one problem with this. The dog decides what the signal is. And sometimes the signal is destructive or annoying. Scratching on the front door. Running and barking. Jumping at the owner.

Sometimes, the signal looks a lot like other demands for attention, and the owner might believe the dog just wants to be petted when the poor dog is saying, "Ohpleaseohplease, I need to GO!"

There's a solution to this, an amazingly simple one. YOU decide what the signal is, and you teach the signal to the dog.

Yes, give your dog a doorbell.

I wish I could say this was my bright idea, but the fact is I read about it in Ted Baer's excellent book "Communicating With Your Dog". But I'm here to TESTIFY - it works!

The idea is to rig up a bell contraption and hang it on the doorknob on the inside of the front door (or whichever door you use when you take out the dog) within the dog's reach. When the dog needs to go, she rings the bell by nosing or shouldering it.

I tried this years ago with my first dog, who at that time was - ahem - imperfectly housetrained. I got some sleigh bells, those round 'jingle bells' associated with Christmas, and sewed them on a length of heavy cloth which I hung on the doorknob. (Around Christmas time, you can find sleigh bells already sewn onto straps in the holiday decoration sections of your local department store or craft store.)

Then I taught Jenny what they were for. Every time we went out in the yard, I took her by the collar and moved her forward to nose the bells. I added some dog talk - "OUT? Does she want to go OUT? We're going OUT!"

She picked this up in less than a day!

Give this a try if you're housebreaking a puppy, or if you have an older dog whose signal for "I need to go!" is one you don't like. Get good-sized bells, several inches in diameter, to make sure you can hear them from the other side of the house. Have the dog nose the bells when you take her out, and use the Out word a lot.

When she starts ringing the bells on her own, take her out EVERY TIME she rings the bells, to reinforce her comprehension that if she wants to go outside, she needs to ring the bells.

Eventually, of course, your dog will start to 'abuse the system'. She'll ring when she really just wants to amble around outside. Never punish a dog for ringing the bells! But gradually cut back on how readily you take her out, and the two of you will develop an understanding. If you don't take her out right away and she didn't really need to go, she'll wander off and play or sleep. But if she really needs to go, you'll hear about it! If she's jingling frantically, don't just sit there - take her out!

The dog's doorbell. It's cheap, it's easy, and it solves what for many people is the major problem of dog ownership.

P.S. I bought FOUR 2-3" bells at Joann Fabrics and tied them to a piece of gold heavy twine. I hung those from the handle of the kitchen patio door as that's the door Missy always go out from. Hang them about nose height. If your dog starts to abuse the bells and rings them for attention, just raise the bells. Missy NOW has to "jump" to ring those bells!*! LOL

Good luck to anyone trying this method.

[DaisyMaesMom]

Originally Posted by chloeandj

I just made hanging bells for the door for Tinkerbell to jingle when she has to potty. They really work great! I was thinking about listing them in my store but before I do I wondered if this is an item that anyone would even be interested in purchasing? What do you guys think? I used grograin ribbon and hung large bells with key rings. I'll take a pic and post later.

I would be interested..

[troubletb]

Bell uses the bell method!! and it always worked for us, now she is teaching the other two!! Maybe if you include a small instruction sheet on how you trained Chole.

[Ashleigh]

I would be interested

[Muffie's Mom]

With Missy, I rang the bell one time and said "Out". I had no sooner turned my back and she was ringing the bell so naturally I said "Good girl, OUT" and I took her out right away. She did it on her own from there on. So easy! If your puppy doesn't take to it, I've read where you can put just a little bit of peanut butter on the bell where it can lick it off and that should ring the bell also. You may have to do that for just a few times and the puppy will get the idea.

But of course, your puppy might get to the point where she abuses the bells for attention. Then you just have to figure out if she really needs to go out or to ignore it.

We're now trying to teach Missy to "speak" to go out also.

She was having some accidents in the kitchen as we couldn't sit out there all day with her. So I have her on a leash and take her with me throughout the house. I have this little furry pad that she lays on next to me on the floor. I know where she is and what she's doing! Of course, she does me, too! lol

If you're having problems, go to google.com and type in: puppy ringing bells & several ideas will come up.

[chloeandj]

I've decided that I probably shouldn't sell these in my store. However if there is anyone interested in purchasing one from me, feel free to pm me and we'll work it out.

[yorkiepip]

What a brilliant idea!
I'm gonna try this with Pippa.