Bell Training Alternative

[TecShdw]

Once again, we are getting ourselves ready for our new pup in less than a week. I really wanted to bell train, but my wife brought up a good point on why it's not a good idea for us. Basically we have 3 cats that love ringing bells, and 3 children (2 of them are younger almost 3 and almost 4) and the children would be constantly playing with the bell and confusing the pup (damage would be done by the time we taught them NOT to ring the bell...).

Any suggestions, I want to do soemthing similar to Bell training so that the pup will learn to alert us that she needs to go outside. Sorry if there are answers already posted that I may have missed.

Thanks!

 

[thecooks]

I have the same issue.. my cats would just go nuts.. thus driving me nuts so if anyone had an answer or suggestion that would be great..
thanks..

 

[gmacleod]

I don't think cats/kids ringing the bell is going to confuse the dog... It isn't the sound but the action of ringing the bell that he'll associate with someone showing up to open the door for him. So others ringing the bell doesn't matter. As long as everytime HE rings it, he gets let out.

The sound factor is merely so that you will hear it. Thus, it is YOU you've got to worry about being annoyed with constant false alarms. If you can live with that, and still respond, then there's no problem.

You might also consider that it doesn't have to be an actual bell that you use. All that is required is some object that the pup can push/ring/rattle that is going to make a noise that YOU will hear and identify. So that means you can use an object you don't think the cats will fancy much (a great big cow bell springs to mind LOL) and thus cut down on one source of the false alarms. Kids, I think, you've just got to reason with and hope they get bored quickly

 

[Donna1969]

I have 2 pups, 2 cats and 2 kids (13 and 4 yrs old)..and my house has a rotating door..people always coming in and out so the bells are always ringing. The cats like to play w/the bells as does my 4 yr old. The pups are not at all confused about the ringing. They know that when THEY ring the bell, they are let out. Others ringing the bell does not signify to them to go outside. Took less than 3 days for my two pups to 100% catch on, even with all the extra ringing that the other housemembers added You just have to be vigilant, if the pup rings the bell, immediatly let him out! Don't make him wait any longer than it takes you to get to the door and let him out or there will be accidents. My pups (bless their hearts) will gently ring the bell..give me ohh about .03 seconds to get to them, if not the bells ring louder/harder, if I am still not there then they are smashing the bells into the glass windows that are on the French door that holds the bell..if i don't get second after that last warning..I will come into the kitchen to an accident...which is 100% MY fault :( Even if he JUST came in and then rings again..let him out!

I say give it a shot. It makes housebreaking 100% easier..and faster!

By the way, the novilty of the bells has worn off my little girl..and the cats aren't AS interested in them anymore either.

 

[DevilorAngel]

I was thinking of doing the bell training also, but I have a question... Should I start this now even though Angel isn't housebroken yet? Does it make housebreaking any easier???

 

[gmacleod]

It doesn't really make any difference to housebreaking, as such. Meaning that it isn't going to help or hinder your puppy in his learning process - learning that he should eliminate outside only.

What bell training does is teach the puppy a means of communicating his desire to go outdoors. Funnily, few dogs think of barking or scratching... So it's about teaching him a way to let you know he wants out.

That is different, of course, to teaching him that all pottying should be outside. However, as the realisation starts to sink into his head that he should always go out to potty, then he will start using the bell for that purpose (not just because he wants out to play, or because he saw something interesting out the window). So by that stage it does become helpful for housetraining - he has a means of asking to go out, rather than having to wait until you think of it (so it's less likely you'll have a puddle on the carpet).

 

[DevilorAngel]

Wow, thanks for the quick response! The bell does seem like a good idea. Now to just get her to figure out that we potty outside instead of just looking in the door or chilling on the porch!!!