[Sue1998]

We are thinking of teaching our dog Henry to ring a big bell if he needs to go out. His signals for needing to go out are very vague and we are hoping that this may help us all out. Currently, he usually gets a little hyper and tries to do some mischievous things to get our attention. (i.e. hard to read when he's a one year old pup)

I have read several articles about how to go about doing this (as well as possible drawbacks to it) but am interested to hear your thoughts or experiences on teaching this.

Thanks,
Sue

 

[StGeorgeK9]

My Ava is also vague.....usually she just sits in front of me now, I was kind of afraid of using the bell, that sounds like way too much fun. Ring the bell and watch the humans run...

 

[dOg]

It's simple enough to do, just hang some bells on the doorknob.
Door opens, they ring.

Overtime, dog will ring them trying to make the door open, alerting you
it needs to go out. (when you weren't paying attention)

I tied some sleigh bells to an old leather belt, added a wire hook for over doorknob, inexpensive & durable.

No effort required. Dog will figure it out!

 

[chachi]

I use the jingle bells also. My male would just sitting at the back door and if I wasn't paying attention he would just sit there until I noticed he wanted to go out. My friend told me to try it and like dOg said it is so simple.
Funny thing though my female will NOT ring the bells, she comes and gets me.

 

[doreenf]

Izzy rings the bell to go out, she is so proud of herself, she look at me and she seems to say Did I do it Right? I praise her alot!

 

[BucksMom]

Thats how my son trained his Chessy, Bells on the door knob worked great!!! Good Luck!!

 

[tibvixie101]

Mya usually will go to the door and then pace around to find a person, once they see her she gives a look and heads back to the door. Someone is always home during the day so shes pretty good without the use of bells, but it does sound like a great idea that i'll keep in my head for future reference, maybe with a new pup or new rescue...

 

[Gyggles1]

We have Duke trained on the Poochy bells I think they are called. I was very leary using them thinking there was no way he'd catch on or ever try or want to use them. well he proved me and my DH wrong! He uses them all the time when he wants out, its so cute! All my friends are amazed!

We just trained him to nudge the bells with his nose with lots of praise and treats at first, now its just 2nd nature for him

We got ours at a natural pet store for about 15.00, well worth it and he's almost 7 months old, been fully potty trained for about 2 months and he still uses them to "ask" to go out.

 

[StandingH20]

Wilson learned this at a very young age. He would rub his nose against the bells hanging from the doorknob and get to out or in. No treats, just praise. It worked perfectly. Now he just nuzzles the doorknob - (the bells got rusty and we got rid of them)

 

[tracyc]

We used a little brass bell that I hung on a string tied to the doorknob. I'd ring it everytime we went out, and Luca quickly caught on.

You do quickly get the point where they're ringing it just for laughs, though. Stop ringing that bell! You just came in!

 

[JakeN]

I thought my dog would never figure it out, but little did I know she caught on so quick and that bell became very annoying because she use it to go potty, run around, fly chasing, digging, and anything you can think of just to go outside!! All I did was just ring the bell when ever I let her out and she just caught on from there. Good Luck with your training!!

 

[gracyelu]

I highly recommend this form of communication. I taught Holly this when she was 4 months for the same reason you want to. She learned it after one time. I was so proud. It really is easy to bell train. It also helps when we go to other people's homes. Hang the bell and NO accidents. One thing to watch out for is how smart they area and how after correlating the bell with outside, they realize the bell also means a person will come to the door, which means they have your attention and can now step to the treat cabinet when you come. LOL

As long as you make your pup go outside and not give them a treat like they've asked, you'll be fine. Holly also tried to use the bell to steal my seat. Just like always, admire how smart they are to yourself and with others, but don't let them know the bell means anything but out. Holly brings me such joy!

 

[johnrm]

I hung the bell up on sunday afternoon and everytime we went to go outside I picked him up hit the bell with his paw and went out. By tuesday we were standing there and Zeus walks to the door and hits the bell with his nose. Worked awesome but after about a year I had to take it down cause he would ring it to go out to play (constantly) But it worked well and you could hear it anywhere in the house.

 

[Nina]

I did this with Christmas bells as soon as I brought pups home, and have bells at my work for the same reason too. Works brilliantly.

 

[LBB]

I wasn't going to use the, but my girl rang the bell at our neighbors house, and she actually had to go. I got it for my house and I didn't even need to teach her. I was afraid of false alarms, but she's very good wtih it. Before this, she would scratch at the door. And before that, she would sit in front of my real straight with perfect behavior so I'd pay attention, then she'd walk back and forth between me and the door.

 

[Helly]

If I hang the bells low enough, could I start this with the 6 week old I'm getting tomorrow? It just seems like a great idea to me.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

Helly, you sure can. At first you'll probably have to ring it, but soon your puppy will associate the bell with the door opening and going outside. BTW, 6 weeks is awfully young. Is there a reason the breeder isn't holding onto the litter a couple more weeks?

 

[Helly]

I'm not entirely sure...he is a co-worker and out of the litter, my little guy is the only one left, his brothers and sisters all left this weekend....I've not had a pup this young (got our lab mix at 12 weeks) and I AM a little nervous about it, but he wanted to bring him to me tomorrow...I figured if I didn't take him, he would sell him to someone else...fortunately DH works at home, so he will get plenty of breaks.

 

[Cindi D]

I use this with my dog also,and if she takes too long I ring it and she comes in. One problem though - she jumps on the door to ring it and made a hole in the sheetrock beside the door.

 

[dmartenvt]

I used an old leather belt with jingle bells attached to the end. I didn't really need to train them - once they are used to hearing the bell ring on coming and going, they just seem to know to slap it when they want out.

It all turns around very quickly. They are training you. They slap the bell, you come running. But it's actually perfect for housetraining.