BCDreamer Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 So, I'm being driven crazy by Bella and Psyche. They're both VERY suttle "I need to go out" dogs. Psyche will walk to the door (the one she always goes out to get into the front fence), and stand there for maybe 3 seconds, and then if you don't see that, and let her out, she will go and do her thing on the floor. Bella is less finicky about hers, and most of the time, she'll go to the door, wanting out, and if we don't see it, she'll pace across the room we're in, until we let her out. But, either way, these are the two we're having issues with with making the odd mistake in the house (big surprise, Bella's from a home where she was tied out, so allowed to pee/poop where ever she wanted, and Psyche's from a place where she was locked in her crate most of the time, and forced to pee/poop in it). So, I'm thinking I'm gonig to train them to use a bell to tell me they need out. I've already semi-sort of got an idea in my head on how to train it, but I have a few questions. Do you think it will work in a house full of 8 dogs, and only two of them will be trained to ask to be let out this way? Which type of bell should I use? Do you think they'll learn to abuse the bell, and use it to get outdoors when they just want out to play? Or is there a way I can teach them it's strictly for going outside to pee/poop? Or is it a big deal if they ring it just to go out to play? For training it in the start, could I shape the dog to touch the bell (I'm thinking of just hanging a bell from the door handle, not any bell where they'd have to push the button), and then when the dog touches the bell, open the door and let them out? And just do this a couple of times a day? Anyone have a dog who's trained this way? Or have any experience with it? Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleS. Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Others here may be able to help you to teach your dog(s) to JUST use the bell to let you know they have to go out to potty. Maybe I wasn't smart enough back when I taught my dogs to ring the bell (a nose touch) to tell me they had to potty but my dogs would ring the bell every time they just wanted to go out and sit in the sun, every time they heard something outside they wanted to see, every time they smelled something through the window they wanted to investigate... every 5 minutes the bell was ringing I used a huge bell (dumb I know) and it wore a rut in my wooden door from the constant banging. Needless to say, the bell came off the door. Maybe others have some ideas. I see they have really cute bells hanging on fabric backing they're selling at the chain pet stores. I really want to buy one..... Michele Hugh, Gyp and Chase Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaderBug Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Training to use the bell was fairly easy, however, Jade hasn't been using it so much anymore, which is annoying. I use a jingle bell- I got Jade around Christmas so it's actually just an ornament with three jingle bells on it- they're about an inch or so in diameter. Hang the bells just at nose height. At first, whenever you have your dog leashed and/or are standing by the door ready to go out, ring the bells yourself, and head out the door right after. After a while of doing this, try and use your dog's anatomy to ring the bell... grab a paw to ring it, or push their nose into it. The second it jingles, open the door. After doing that for a little bit, stand by the door and wait for them to sound the bell- in my experience it didn't take long for them to just figure out that was the next step. Again, the second it sounds, open the door with lots of praise. They should figure out that ringing the bell gets them to go outside. They WILL abuse it. When you're starting out training this, if they start ringing it on their own take them out immediately, even if they just went potty, it's good reinforcement. After they get it down, you can wean away from letting them out every time, be the judge of when they need to go. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCDreamer Posted June 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 That's a great plan, JaderBug, thank you! I'll train it, and after they've got it down pat, I'll start keeping track of when they were out to ACTUALLY do something, and I'l juge from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTrain Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 I have trained so many things into my dogs by accident. Dave was very hard to house train. He was always doing something and he did not have the time to go out it seemed. We tried everything and the best that we could get for a long time was if he was heading in the direction of the door we followed. We tried a bell and it worked fine until Dave figured out that he could get out for any reason when he felt like it. One day without making a single sound Dave managed to get the bell off the door, he did his business in the kitchen and showed up in the living room with the bell and he dropped it in my wife's lap. He did this several times. That is not what we wanted so I decided to take the bell away and try something else but lucky me. I put the bell on the opposite side of the door and made sure that Dave knew wear it was. Dave would go to the door looking for his toy bell, see the bell was missing and bark to get the door to open so he could get his bell. We would go to the door and let him out. That is not what he wanted, he wanted the bell but after a few times of this he made the connection. He ignores the bell now but some days he makes us crazy wanting to go out constantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertranger Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 What about putting in a dog door? The come in all types from the simple to hi tech ones with security access. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCDreamer Posted June 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Right now our fenced in yard isn't good enough to let the dogs go out and in as they please. Other then that, it wouldn't be a terrible idea. May have to mention it to the rest of the family, and see what they say... Only problem with that would be our tallest dog is a 30 something inch Great Dane, and our smallest is a 13 inch Mini Aussie, so I don't know what size of a door you'd use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingRiver Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 I have a subtle dog too. I tried the bell. She rang it every 10 mins to play outside. So I gave up and just decided to give her a potty schedule. Also taught her the word potty. Because she eats around the same time everyday, that also helps with going poop in a fairly clockwork manner so I know roughly what time of day she needs to be out for that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura (Cady and Koda's mom) Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 I'm another one of those that had to take the bell away. They learned it FAST!! Then it was being rung just to go outside. I started ignorning it sometimes if they had just been out and my oldest would ring it and turn around and look at me, then ring it again, harder. It did have the side effect that if they really needed to go out they were persistent, so once I took the bell away they just asked in their own way - pacing, whining, barking - depending on the dog. So I guess in it's own way it was good as it taught them that they really needed to let me know in some way rather than just standing there or peeing on the floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCDreamer Posted June 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 I'm going to give it a shot, and try taking them out on leash after they ring - if they pee, they're allowed to go loose and play, if not it's back in the house we go. Bella just gets out of the house however she pleases - yesterday she dove through a screen window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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