Okay, quick update, Otis housetraining is far better, just one wee on the floor today, my fault again, lots of trips to the garden and two walks a day, plus time in the crate, are all making a difference, no poos indoors for about a week now, so feel more on top of it. However, Im going to buy a bell for the door and want to know how to train him to use to tell me when he wants out to the garden, any tips anyone ? He is a frequent wee,er so it would be great if I could crack getting him to ring the bell to ask to go out. THANKS, Maggie
Re: Training to use a bell on door. Haven't got a clue, but wanted to say a massive Well Done to you and Otis
Re: Training to use a bell on door. I think a couple of others have tried to train this - Helen being one who I believe had success with Charlie. I found this previous post when I was looking http://www.thelabradorforum.com/index.php?topic=869.msg4623#msg4623 Not sure if its any help
Re: Training to use a bell on door. [quote author=drjs@5 link=topic=4367.msg52936#msg52936 date=1391812479] I think a couple of others have tried to train this - Helen being one who I believe had success with Charlie. I found this previous post when I was looking http://www.thelabradorforum.com/index.php?topic=869.msg4623#msg4623 Not sure if its any help [/quote] Yes complete success as when Charlie came to us at 9 months old he couldn't let us know when he needed to go outside so I decided this was the way to go and this is how I trained it:- Hang a bell on the inside and on the outside door handles if you want Otis to ring to come back in Have tasty treats Get your dog to the door, if he even looks at the bell treat Choose a word, I said "touch" and if Charlie touched the bell even slightly I quickly opened the door and treat I did this for a couple of days and he very quickly go the hang of it and now he rings his bell to go out and come in Charlie has become very crafty with his bell as he rings it to get my attention to play with him or to let me know if Hattie is still outside : Have a go Maggie it's so useful. Good luck xx
Re: Training to use a bell on door. [quote author=charlie link=topic=4367.msg53194#msg53194 date=1391972563] Charlie has become very crafty with his bell as he rings it to get my attention to play with him or to let me know if Hattie is still outside : [/quote] ;D ;D
Re: Training to use a bell on door. [quote author=drjs@5 link=topic=4367.msg53213#msg53213 date=1391975864] [quote author=charlie link=topic=4367.msg53194#msg53194 date=1391972563] Charlie has become very crafty with his bell as he rings it to get my attention to play with him or to let me know if Hattie is still outside : [/quote] ;D ;D [/quote] It's a shame he doesn't apply such skill to other areas of his training : ;D
Re: Training to use a bell on door. I dunno Helen, sounds like he is doing moderately well training you and OH ;D
Re: Training to use a bell on door. I also use a door bell. My little girl had the same thing, no real instinct to make a fuss. She knew to try and make it outside, but would just quietly sit there on the door mat and if the magic door opening fairy didn't come she's go on the mat. A couple of thoughts from me. First what bell do you have? I hunted high and low for a suitable bell that I could tie a string to or something, in the end I found a purpose made product on amazon search "dog doorbell" and you'll find, it’s like a ribbon with pairs of cat bells attached as various intervals. It came with a training note about using the cue "ring the bell" with the ringing of the bell. I tried it a little bit but can't say she really made the association. One thing I chose to do was not hang it from the door handle as is typical. Because I go out the back a lot myself, sometimes dog not invited, lol! I didn't want a lot of false ringing of the bells to confuse things. So I bought a self-adhesive hook thing to hang the bell on the door frame. In the end I found she was instinctive enough to make the association for herself. So I just did three simple things. Whenever letting her out, I'd ring the bell myself so she learned the connection. Second, I would encourage her to ring it, when she was small enough to pick up easy, I’d often be carrying her out anyway, so I’d gently nudge the bell with her nose head before opening the door. If she was bigger I guess I’d just use a tasty treat to get her nose into the bell. Wasn’t long before she rang it for herself, so treat and praise. She absolutely mastered it within a week or two. Maybe not as quick a result as the method in the other thread (wish I'd seen before I started!) but it still did the job. When it first appeared she had her moments where she'd just sit there and play and chew at it, making a right old noise owww my head! But I left her to it and she got that out of her system eventually. The last thing I wanted to do was ask her to leave it, or take it away, as I felt that would work against the bell training. One thing they don't prepare you for though, now she knows ringing the bell gets her outside. And it doesn't matter if that's to toilet, or go for a run on the muddy grass, or go looking for "desert" dirt/worms/stones/leaves. She had a routine where she'd eat, we'd go outside to toilet. Back in. Bell rings, back out, sniff around - back in because I realise she's looking for crap to eat. 20 seconds later, bell rings. Repeat, repeat grrrr! In the early days she could do 2 or 3 pee's in quick succession, so couldn't risk not responding. But I'm toughening up with her now I know she can hold herself, so if I know she wants to go out without a purpose, I ignore the bell. I think I can tell when it's without a purpose because she gets bored quickly and comes away. If she really badly wants to go out, she will keep ringing with increased intensity and frustration! I don’t know if that’s the right thing to do but I need her to learn now that it’s not a guarantee!
Re: Training to use a bell on door. Hi Maggie. I did this with Alfie a few weeks ago, as he was so silent I didn't know when he wanted to go out and I was fed up of watching him constantly. I hung the bells on the back door and I only had to show him once. But then he started doing it all the time so that I would come and give him attention! As soon as I came into the kitchen he jumped back in his bed! "Yes master you rang your bell" needless to say we don't bother with the bells haha.
Re: Training to use a bell on door. Ps I like johns reply...I might get the bells back out. As I've also started to realise when he is just wanting to go out for a mooch. I need louder ones though, mine are just Christmas decoration bells and not loud enough unless I'm in adjoining room. Sorry my reply wasn't very helpful really! How I taught him was I just knocked the bells with my hand when he went to back door. :
