anyone train dog to ring a bell, when they have to go outside?

[vash]

i would love to eliminate any house accidents. anyone ever work out a way for the dog to let you know, that it is "go time"?

cliff

[9dreizig]

Every dog I've ever had just stands by the door to go outside..
But if you have a bell next to the door and have it ring it every time , eventually I would think it would do it itself .. this should be interesting..
FWIW, I just got back from my friends who gave me my dog, and she comes and goes through a doggy door, sure makes it easy
T

[stevej37]

Yes, I installed a buzzer under a pad near the door to let me know when it was "time". Worked great for a while. Then I realized the dog had figured out that she could get outside at any time by stepping on the buzzer. I guess I was trained easily!

[slodave]

Yes, our great dane would nuzzle a string of bells attached to the door he went out. Problem was, he figured out that this would also disturb family meals and he'd ring the bells, I'd get up to let him out and he'd just stand at the door.... OK, sit down, eat, then he'd ring the damn bells again.

EDIT: Steve, sounds like our dogs may have been related!

[stomachmonkey]

They are smarter than you think.

Seriously though, not always the best idea to let a dog train you. They are still pack animals and wacky stuff can go on when they think they have greater influence than should have.

Stupid little things like not letting them in or out a door before you add up to a more controlled animal.

[Nathans_Dad]

I have a dog training book that goes over how to do this. Basically you first train the dog to touch his nose to your hand on command, then you transfer that command to the bell. Once he is ringing the bell on command, start opening the door each time he rings the bell. He'll get the idea.

[aigel]

Cliff, I have a great book recommendation for basic training / commands.

A command for going potty is very useful. This is a good command when they are just getting house broken but also later, when you want them to go before the night or before a car ride etc. It will be very efficient, as the dog knows to squeeze it out (just like us humans) without an urge. This way the dog doesn't run in circles for half an hour until they may get the urge on their own.

A voice command is much better than a bell, as you can use it anywhere and you don't have to bring the bell! (DOH!) Our dog goes on command if you tell him to "hurry up". You want to choose a voice command that isn't ridiculous if someone (i.e. the neighbor) listens to you giving it.

The "hurry up" command is getting more useful now at our house that the dog is old, as he has to go right before bedtime to make it through the night. He'll squeeze it out even if he had been not too long ago ...

George

[aigel]

I will PM you the book. The way to train the dog is to use the command when he has to go anyway and then praise. Then start using it if they "may" have to go and see if you can trigger it. You can keep pushing it to where the dog will go if he has anything left.

George

[ckissick]

Who needs bells? My dog just sits at the door and whimpers. I can hear him from anywhere in the house. To get back in, he lets out a brief, high-pitched bark.

[Heel n Toe]

Our dog does a brief bark when he needs to go out. We would install a doggy door for him, but he'd never use it... he's a skittish type. Plus, he's just at the size that a doggy door would be big enough that a smallish, contortionist thief could use it to squeeze in.

I wonder how often that happens...





Hey, for a brief, shining moment, my post count is 956.

[jdlowery]

Training them to ring a bell for potty is easy. Well, at least if you have a trainable dog. Like a couple of people have mentioned they get a little tricky once they realize they can go outside when they ring the bell. For example, when my dog spots a cat or squirrel there goes the bell. We know there's something outside because before we hear the bell we hear barking and growling first. When that happens we tell him to beat it and he leaves the bell alone.

[HardDrive]

[sscates]

My dog's are the opposite. When the door bell rings, they run to the back door, because we always put them out back before letting anyone open the front door (busy street out front).

It is interesting when you let a dog start to train you though.

[RoninLB]

Animals don't think.

I taught my cat to ring a bell for food. I first hung the bell next to the bowl. Eventually the cat rang the bell just to check it out. When he rang the bell I would give him a small treat. Then I took his paw and rang the bell and gave him another treat. Then he got on the program and we repeated it 7x. 7x is a magic number for my training.

The big problem with behavior training is humans. Humans think. They are inconsistent.

[vash]

yes...i am thinking a bell going off on a dog's whim may not be the best thing. 7 days and only one accident.

poor dog got all excited when a TV program played the clucking of some rooster. the dog thougth it was a real bird and searched the house. in the excitement, i think he lost his head and marked...

[teenerted1]

merle just stands by the door when he wants out. if i am in another room he will stand in that room's doorway and let out a kind of sigh/huff sound. I am now trained to hear that sound in the morning if i am sound asleep and dont let him out for his early morning constitution.

had him potty trained pretty quickly as a pup. he got a treat every time he came back in after doing his business, took maybe two weeks and by 3 months old he didnt have any big accidents unless he was left alone for too long. he even goes to the door if he has to barf. seem he has learned it is his house too and doesnt want to leave a mess inside. i usually get pretty vocal when either one of us spills something and he knows a dry house is a happy house.

[gt350mike]

I trained my Lab to ring the bell when she was about 3 months old. From the time I got her home as a pup, I started out teaching her the commands "inside" and "outside" whenever I took her out of her kennel or out of the house. Afterwards, it was easy teaching her to ring the bell to go out of the house.

It was pretty "cute" trick until she started ringing the bell at 3:00 am and we would run downstairs only to find out that she didn't want to go outside to potty, she only wanted someone to play with her...........it only took her about 4 months to figure out that she could ring the bell and within a minute, she had a playmate! After that, we kept her in the kennel during bedtime.

[gt350mike]

Here is a old photo of our midnight bell ringer, Shelby!

[masraum]

yes. we trained a dog to ring a bell to go out. It started with me taking it out, waiting for her to start going and then I'd ring the bell and say "good girl". Then I started ringing the bell at the door right before I let her out. Then I attached it to the wall by the door. She eventually associated the bell with "outside" instead of going to the bathroom. She passed away, now we just try to pay close attention. The dogs "tell" us when they need to go if we listen.

Originally Posted by stevej37

Yes, I installed a buzzer under a pad near the door to let me know when it was "time". Worked great for a while. Then I realized the dog had figured out that she could get outside at any time by stepping on the buzzer. I guess I was trained easily!

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

My dog walks over to me and nudges me or waits by the door. She's 13 and has a weak bladder, so I leave a towel by the door if i'm not there to let her out in time. I know she feels bad about it, but what are you gonna do?