Housetraining with a bell
I'm curious about the idea of housetraining a dog by using a bell. What kind of bells can be used? What are the pros and cons? How do you go about training your dog to use the bell? Does your dog need to already be housetrained before teaching him to use the bell? Any tips/ideas are welcomed! Thanks!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by seganita_8 on
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Kate I posted this in reply to your comment, but I'm copying it here so others can see it.
As far as the bell-training goes, I just used a little cowbell that I had and tied it on a shoelace around the shelf next to my front door. Suzy is kennel-trained, so what I did to train her was to take her out of the kennel and use her paw to ring the bell before I carried her outside. We walked around until she went and then went back inside- no playing around. I did at least a week of constantly following her around the apartment and taking her out every single time she looked even remotely interested in the floor (good thing I was on spring break) ;-) Every time I took her out, I used her paw to ring the bell. Every time she had an accident, I soaked it up with a paper towel and then rang the bell and took her out. It took her about 3 days to figure out that the bell meant outside. I was extremely generous with the verbal praise whenever she used it! I never did use treats, and she was consistently ringing the bell after about 5 days. We have only had a handful of accidents since then, and I say "we" because most of them were my fault for not reacting quickly enough. The main thing about the bell is that she kind of uses it anytime she is bored instead of just for potty, so that gets a little annoying. I've learned to distinguish between frantic potty ringing and "I'm bored" ringing. Sorry this is so long, but let me know if you have more questions!
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Permalink Reply by john7747 on
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We did the same thing with Turbo (5 months) and it works well. It was not the original training method we used, and it took a while for him to pick it up- but it gets our attention when we need to take him out.
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Permalink Reply by Stephen on
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The bell works wonders...Cruise (5 months) has not really picked up the concept yet, but Tiki (1.5 years) has been using it for nearly a year and it has been fantastic. We got ours at
http://www.poochie-pets.net/
that page also has the technique to train the dog.
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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We used a windchime and hung it on the door knob. Your pup can learn bell training anytime :) They will also figure out it is a remote control to get humans to take them out. (potty or no potty)
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Permalink Reply by Rayanne on
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I like the windchime idea, it would be easy to hear. I got a little creative and bought those baby pull-toys that you pull down on and then it vibrates back up. My thinking was that the dog could grab it, pull it down, and I attached extra bells so that it vibrates and jingles back up when she lets go. I pull it every time we go outside. I was starting to think it might be too difficult, but my younger pup, 13 weeks, has done it yesterday and today! Whatever you use, as long as you are consistent and patient, it should pay off eventually.
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I started doing it with Suzy when she was about 10 weeks old, and she caught on very quickly.
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Permalink Reply by Danielle_RN on
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I think I might give this a shot, too. I've heard great things about it. I'll let you guys know how it goes!
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I think the sooner you try it, the better. Even though mine aren't doing it consistently yet (Bentley hasn't done it at all), they do know what it means and run to the door from other parts of the house when I ring the bell.
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Permalink Reply by Tammey & Caven on
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Hello Kate. Bear was the easest dog to housetrain that we have ever known of and we can hardly remember any accidents. He once slipped and did a #2 on the dash of the truck (he loves to ride on the dash board) as I drove down Hwy 25 through New Mexico down close to Roswell. No shoulders there you know, just desert. I thought that Tammey was going to hold him out the window while he finished. You should see a N.M. State Trooper wave cars around with one hand while holding his nose with the other. It's not as funny as you might think. Well I can tell you one thing, that was the last time we fed him chile dogs in that truck.
Anyway, we gave Tammey's parents, who are in thier 70s, a two year old Bagle (Basset/Begel mix) named Milo who is trained to a bell. We were given Milo by a couple that we moved from Davenport to Chattanooga and he came with, as Tammey,s Dad calls it, "that damn bell". I understand that Milo will go to the door and ring the bell every time he needs to go out and that is great. But, if he is stand near the door his head does not seem to notice what his tail is doing. Also, the cat thinks the bell was hung there for him to play with late at night. I understand that they took the bell down after just a few false alarms but put it promptly back up the next morning.
Needless to say, her parents are more active now than they were in thier pre-Milo life and that was exactly what we wanted for them when we gave him to them and that is a good thing. The bad part is they now look tired all of the time now and they won't talk to us any more.
Bear will let us know that he needs to go out by barking at the door. If I am asleep or just don't respond for some reseaon he will come to me and jump up in my lap or on my head and chest if I am sleeping and do his little stuby legged got-a-go dance. It works every time and we would not have it any other way. Good luck
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Permalink Reply by Kitty's Corner on
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We trained Kitty to small cow bell hung from the doorknob at about 13-14 weeks old and she picked it up pretty fast,way quicker than our lab mix did.And she does use it to go out, for any reason.
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