Bell training? (Potty)

[Michele Kiss]

Has anyone successfully bell trained their puppy to ring it when they need to go out? And if so, how? 

Our pup seems to understand (most of the time) that the bell means "we're going out to potty" but he doesn't seem to realise that HE can ring the bell. 

The obvious is "reward him when he does it" but I don't want to reward him just for ringing the bell... but rather, reward him for ringing it when he wants to go out to potty. 

Or, is 18 weeks too early to expect that?? 

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

Just a bit of nostalgia. We had a doggie door put in last summer. But I have not taken the bells down. If the doggie dog is closed Hurley will nudge them if he wants to go out. And sometimes he nudges them gently when his doggie door is open and looks at me as if to say 'I still know how to use the bells, mom. Just want to let you know.' For me they are a remembrance of when he was little and I do not plan to ever take them down. Believe me they are pretty tattered now.

[Gretchen Nastrom]

One of my friends uses a "hotel" bell that they just set near the door so the dog can use his paw to ring the bell.  It's small and easy to take with them if they travel, and he doesn't scratch their door.  Why didn't I think of that!?

We use bells that hang from the door, so every time we would let Preston out we would have him nudge the bell with his nose.  It probably took about a month before he realized that ringing the bell would get him outside.  I think it's a great tool to use, and the doodles are so smart they pick it up easily!

[Elizabeth, Bailey & Bruin]

We have been training Bruin to use the bells but had to take them off.  He would ring them in the evening just to go out and play.  Im not kidding when I tell you he would ring them maybe 5-6 times in an hour.. Drove us nuts LOL

[Marilyn and Sherlock]

Hi, won't get my doodle till October and I can't wait...... however, on the issue of the bells......  I had bells on the back door just to hear when someone came into my house (from a really small town where no one locked their doors)...... I had a choc lab, then a golden and then a springer spaniel and each one began ringing the bells on their own.  I didn't teach them anything.  They just associated the sound of the bells with going potty as they heard them each time I opened the door....... that is undoubtedly the best thing ever......  

[Ben Adams]

We started training Happy when he was around 9 weeks old to use the bells. He's 12 weeks now and will occasionally ring them to go out, but sometimes he'll just play with them. He likes to lay on the kitchen floor by the door and I think they are too tempting to play with now. He'll also come over and bark at us when he really has to go out, usually he doesn't bark at us (the cat is another story) so we know he is serious. He learned within the first week or so to go outside and other than a few accidents when he was really little or we weren't watching, I think he has had the house training down by 10 weeks. It still takes some work on our part to watch him and his signs but he appears to have the concept down. I think the bells definitely help. 

[Cassie Keel]

We are about to begin the bell training with Canyon. I'm worried that if I leave the bells hanging on the door knob he will just end up playing with them and not use them for their purpose. Has anyone had those issues, and if so, how did you correct the behavior?

[Leann]

maybe get a command hook and put the bells next to the door instead of on it?

[Marilyn and Sherlock]

I have had three dogs use the bells and they started doing it on there own.....they associated the sound with going potty as they did ring with the movement of the door when it opened.....my springer started doing it at 10 weeks and rarely had an accident after that... I was stunned.....but who am I to question such a gift...

[Leann]

We have a 10 week ALD and she's been ringing her bells to go out for the past week. Sometimes I think its just to play, but if she rings the bells to go out, I only take her out to potty and then right back in. Then sometimes I'll take her out to play a few minutes later if its convenient, but I never let her play after shes rung to go out. I'm thinking that might lead to bell ringing as a request for play....

I never used her paw though...and she doesn't either. She grabs the ribbon in her mouth and wiggles it around...LOL