bell training
- Thread starter Axle
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Cheetah was 3 months old when we got her and after reading the advice on this site, we purchased a bell (the kind you would put in a bird cage)...hung it on the door..and everytime we said
"potty...out side Cheetah?" we would ring the bell..open the door and out we'd go. The first day of this.....we had trouble trying to keep her from tearing the bell off the door handle...but after a few "No Cheetah!" and "AKKKK"...she quit bothering it. She started ringing the bell with her nose around the third day.
(My husband even uses it when he feels the call of nature and decides to "water" some of our shrubs)
!
We are now going to purchase another bell to put on the outside of the door so she can ring it to come inside...instead of scratching on the door. Good Luck with your darling new addition to your family!
"potty...out side Cheetah?" we would ring the bell..open the door and out we'd go. The first day of this.....we had trouble trying to keep her from tearing the bell off the door handle...but after a few "No Cheetah!" and "AKKKK"...she quit bothering it. She started ringing the bell with her nose around the third day.
(My husband even uses it when he feels the call of nature and decides to "water" some of our shrubs)
!We are now going to purchase another bell to put on the outside of the door so she can ring it to come inside...instead of scratching on the door. Good Luck with your darling new addition to your family!
Ytsejam
Boxer Pal
Our Boxer, Pogo, was about 6 to 7 months old and still "not quite housebroken" because we didn't know when she wanted to go outside. We tried to teach her to bark when she wanted to go out, but she just isn't a barky dog - so it didn't work very well. Then we trained her to use the bell to go outside. The first day, we just rang it before we opened the door to let her our. She was a little afraid of it at first. The second and third day, we gently pushed her nose into it so she was ringing it with our help...and then gave her a treat, praised her ("Good Bell!!"), and opened the door to let her out. It only took a couple days of that before she realized that bell = outside. We tapered off of the treats pretty quickly since she was more interested in the treat of going outside. Of course, she rings it when she wants to play now, but it is definitely a small price to pay since we don't have to clean up messes anymore. I would say that it took her just under a week before she started to use it every time she had to / wanted to go out. I hope this helps you out a little bit. Good Luck!
Tulsa-Dan
Your Friendly Moderator
I like to start bell training with Touch or Target Training. I put a treat in my hand and ask the dog to "touch" with his nose. When he touches my closed fist with his nose, I release the treat (click/reward). Then I move to other objects, reinforcing the "touch" command.
Then work with the bell and use it as described. When the dog touches the bell, the click (or vocal marker "Yes") lets the dog know he's correct and then OPEN THE DOOR, which is to teach the dog that touching the bell results in the door being opened.
Just my way of teach it, step by step. I find with younger dogs, who are barely out of basic housetraining or still being housetrained, it works better if we take it slowly and in very small steps.
Of course, that's not to say some dogs just get it almost immediately. Maggie got it almost instantly. Showed her twice and that was it. Susie took a bit longer and she still has to be ignored once in a while because she doesn't "remember" she's supposed to ring the bell to go out/come in. Every dog is different, so respect those differences and set your dog up to succeed. Don't get frustrated if he's slow to get it. He will with patience, love and persistent consistency.
Good luck.
Then work with the bell and use it as described. When the dog touches the bell, the click (or vocal marker "Yes") lets the dog know he's correct and then OPEN THE DOOR, which is to teach the dog that touching the bell results in the door being opened.
Just my way of teach it, step by step. I find with younger dogs, who are barely out of basic housetraining or still being housetrained, it works better if we take it slowly and in very small steps.
Of course, that's not to say some dogs just get it almost immediately. Maggie got it almost instantly. Showed her twice and that was it. Susie took a bit longer and she still has to be ignored once in a while because she doesn't "remember" she's supposed to ring the bell to go out/come in. Every dog is different, so respect those differences and set your dog up to succeed. Don't get frustrated if he's slow to get it. He will with patience, love and persistent consistency.
Good luck.
Ringing the bell
I too have trained my friend to ring a bell when he needs to go out. It did not take long for him to figure it out. I had been using a clicker for other training and incorporated the clicker when teaching him how to ring the bell. He enthusiatically rings the bell now when he wants to go out, when he wants some water, and when he wants attention. Some days we have to take the bell down.
I think he is training us now
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I too have trained my friend to ring a bell when he needs to go out. It did not take long for him to figure it out. I had been using a clicker for other training and incorporated the clicker when teaching him how to ring the bell. He enthusiatically rings the bell now when he wants to go out, when he wants some water, and when he wants attention. Some days we have to take the bell down.
I think he is training us now
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