Bell training confusion

[Nancy Ewing]

Our miniature golden doodle Koko is 11 weeks. She is a F1b and we got her when she was nine weeks old. We trained her right away with the bell system and she was fully potty trained in less than a week. However, NOW she not only rings the bells to go potty, but also when she wants to go out and play. This has been a bit frustrating. We have consistently given her the "go potty" command after she rings the bell and take her out. 95% of the time she goes to the bathroom. 5% of the time she just wants to be outside and explore/play. We don't have a fenced in yard and don't want her to go backwards in her training.
Has anyone else had this issue. How do we break her of this?

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Yes, I think most puppies do go through this.  Our Beau hung on the bells to just play, but he would also use them to go outside..  I read somewhere (possibly on bell instructions - that you should place the bells on the door you go out for potty.  Then you should use the other door (if you have one) for going out to play.  I did not do that, I just used the sliding glass doors to patio and yard.  Charlie did not play with bells, but our second doodle did. He would go out and potty (gave lots of praise) and then he would come in and lay by door.  Soon he started swinging on the bells - we went through 3 sets.  I finally got tired of it and took them off the door for about 3 months.  Then I bought a new set, and he did not play with them, but did use them to go out to potty.  They are 5.5 and 3.5 and both still use the bells. Good luck with the bells. I remember my breeder telling me that about 50% of her dogs like the bells, the others woof or paw at the door. Wow - your puppy is certainly a cutie!

[Nancy Ewing]

Thanks for the ideas. We have already started using alternate doors for play/walk time. Hopefully we'll see some improvement.

[Barbie]

Hi, Nancy. Do you have a home where you can put up a temporary fence? Like Linda said, it's natural for a puppy to explore his/her new surroundings. I wouldn't want to deny Koko of that because I did the leash thing with my GR when she was a puppy (no fence either) ... and every time anyone opened the door, she'd dart out like lightning and I'd have to go chase her all over the neighborhood. I never could break her of that. Even after I moved and had a fenced-in backyard, she still darted out the front door.

When I moved again, there was no fence. So, I bought 100' of cattle fencing and cheap metal posts from Home Depot for about $80. My dogs had plenty of room to potty or play and they weren't constantly wanting me to let them out.

On my next move, I set-up the same temporary fencing (which has lasted 6 years now). By then, I only had my PWD and later brought home my Doodle puppy. He actually taught himself to use the bells. I put some on the door, but wanted to wait until he got settled into his new home before I started with his training. Eventually, he did start doing the same thing as Koko. I would have to walk downstairs, open 2 doors to let him out ... and he doesn't want to go (he was just playing). So, back up the stairs I go ... again and again. Yes, puppies love to play with foreign objects. He finally stopped doing that after about 4 months and now he comes upstairs and gives me the potty signal - staring at me, then running to the top of the stairs and back, staring at me again. I'll ask, "You need to potty?" He replies, "Woof." It's so cute.

Anyway, Koko will eventually learn, but it's crucial right now for her to become familiar with her surroundings. If you cannot install a temp. fence, then I'd make sure she gets enough outdoor time on the leash. Do you have a back door? If so, I'd take her to potty out the back door only, to a designated area for relieving herself. If she tries to leave that area or play, then use your method of reinforcement, and if that doesn't work, take her back inside. Every time she does potty in her designated area, please make a big production out of it so she'll know she did good and made mommy happy.

I would only take her out the front door for walks, exploring, going bye-bye, etc. That way, it'll help her learn the difference and know that when mommy takes her out the back door, it's strictly potty time.

[Nancy Ewing]

We are definitely looking into a fence!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I think this is pretty typical, but if she's going potty 95% of the time after ringing the bells at 11 weeks that's really great.  We also didn't have a fenced yard, so if they rang the bells and we took them out to their potty spot and they didn't go, we brought them right back inside.  We would then leash them and take them out for a walk and playtime a little later....and we would initiate that versus reacting to the bells.  I do like the separate door idea also.

[Debbie & Gibbs]

Yes, he also trained with bells and Gibbs uses the bells for his outdoor playtime and potty time. Our day is let Gibbs out, let Gibbs in, let Gibbs out, let Gibbs in.

[Barbie]

Ha-ha-ha! I so wish I had a doggie door too.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Sounds almost exactly what Lucy did with the bells at first. We went through 2 sets of bells, after she destroyed the first. They were down for a bit as well. Now, she only uses them to signal to go potty. Oscar, OTOH, seemed oblivious to the bell's intent. Completely ignored them, but we had him on a potty schedule so apparently that was good enough for him. I have found that when he really, truly has to go outside his normal schedule, he knows how to ring the bells :-)

I think the puppy thing with them using the bells to go out to play is a phase that passes. We just took the bells down for a few days (but kept to a regular potty schedule), which seemed to do the trick.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

One other thing I've found, that is quite interesting, is that Lucy will sometimes ring the bells for OSCAR to go out to go potty! Its happened too many times for it to be coincidental. Times when she did not have to go potty, but Oscar did. These guys are crazy smart!

[Adina P]

I agree. Eventually it goes away.