Bell training

[skyebaby]

Hi!
Could someone tell me the brief basics of bell training. I know you put a bell by you rdoor and when you go out, you ring it. When you come in, and if they did something outside, you ring the bell again. Is that pretty much it? Of course treats and praise are obvious. I'm really interested in this and hope to have success with it.

 

[taryndanae]

Cassius is 6 months old and uses a bell when he needs/wants to go outside. I never rang the bell if he did something outside, only rang the bell on the way out. Cassius will ring the bell to go out, even to play, but he will stay in the backyard by himself and play for quite sometime by himself (so he never really has abused the bell). Hope this helps, although there will be many more with better suggestions!!!

 

[AmyDonnelly]

I have bells on my patio door and I trained Charlie to use them. Everytime him and Joe acted interested in going outside, I'd ring the bells, say "outside", and let them out. When he peed or pooped, I'd give him big praises just as he finished doing his business and sometimes a treat. I did not ring them once we came back inside though because I think it might be confusing. You want the bells to mean one thing and thats to go outside. They can't ring the bells from the outside to get back inside the house anyway, so I always rang as we went outside, and now he rings those bells everytime. We have a pit who is having some housebreaking issues and I am teaching her to use the bells too. She'll get it, its just a matter of time. Just be consistent and use one word for going outside. Like "outside" or "potty". Keeping it simple is key. One word commands are best and make sure its unique from other commands. Our dogs are in dog training and I was told to never use the word no. Instead, use off, leave it, enough, etc. So if your dog grabs a toy thats not his, say "leave it" and thats the only command for that action. Dog steals food off the table, "leave it". If a dog gets on the couch and shouldn't be, use "off". When our three start playing in the house with my kids around, I tell them "enough" in a strong stern voice and they usually listen. Then I'll let them go outside to burn off their steam.

Hope this helps!

 

[gmacleod]

Hi!
...I know you put a bell by you rdoor and when you go out, you ring it. When you come in, and if they did something outside, you ring the bell again. Is that pretty much it?

Not exactly - or at least, ringing the bell on the way back in is not needed, and actually is likely to be counterproductive. It should be rung *only* immediately prior to going OUT.

What bell training is is a means for the dog to let you know that he/she wants to go outside. Dogs are pretty good at learning in terms of cause/effect relationships. Thus, if you have the dog ring the bell (just take his paw and assist him to ring it) prior to opening the door - EVERY time you're going to open the door to let/take him out it, then he will learn that ringing that bell *causes* you to open the door. Not long after that, he's going to start ringing it every time he wants to go outside.

Can you see why ringing it on the way back in would be counterproductive? If he's ringing it and you're not opening the door - how's he going to come to the conclusion that this is what makes you open the door? You'd be giving mixed signals So better to stick simply with having him ring it prior to going out.

What bell training isn't is housetraining. It does not teach the dog that pottying is an outdoor activity - you still have to train that. Rather, it is purely and simply a means of providing the dog with a way of giving you an audible signal that he would like to go outside. For whatever reason.

Of course, once the dog has firmly got the idea that ringing the bell = you opening the door, then you could start to be discriminating about when you answer the request and when you don't. So when you're absolutely certain that he's ringing it just because he wants out to play and hasn't any need at all to potty, you might ignore it. But in the initial stages, it is wise to answer every time so that the cause-effect relationship gets instilled in his mind. Combining that with standard potty training (outside frequently, lots of praise as he starts to pee or poop) is generally a very effective method.

 

[rosiejeff]

We just started 4 days ago this thing with the bell. We place a bell by the door b/c Rocky will just seat there waiting for someone to walk by and open the door. The first day we showed him to touch the bell with his nose and we use the word "out". He learned within hours. Now every time he has to go, he walks to the door, touches the bell a couple of times and we make sure to praise him and out he goes. When he comes back we don't really do anything with the bell. We only use it as a tool to know when he needs to go out. It's amazing how quickly and how smart they are.
Good luck!

Rosie & Rocky - fawn & white, floppy ears - Born in 07/04/2007

 

[Sharon Lea]

I don't mean to sound dumb but I have never heard of bell training. Where do you get the bell? Are you talking about a jingle bell type bell that you would tie to the door knob?

I don't have a boxer but I have a pomeranian & a pug, they both go to the back door & bark to let me know they need out. They also bark when they want back in.

Thanks for the info!

 

[gmacleod]

I don't mean to sound dumb but I have never heard of bell training. Where do you get the bell? Are you talking about a jingle bell type bell that you would tie to the door knob?

Any bell or other noise-making item that you can hang on a string will do. A christmas bell, cow bell, even just a set of keys if your hearing is good. All you're looking for is something that will make enough noise when the dog hits it (with nose or paw) that YOU will hear it. And come and open the door...

Does that make sense to you? It doesn't have to be an actual bell, just something that it's possible to attach to dangle near nose-level for the dog, and that will make enough noise for you to hear it. The noise is irrelevant from the dog's perspective. He just has to hit it. It's you who has to hear, recognise and respond to the sound

 

[skyebaby]

great advise

You all have given me great advise. I'm so excited to start teaching this to Skye.