Bell training..Pros and Cons?

[Kirby]

Just wondering what you all thought of bell training Frenchies...the pros and cons? We are thinking of doing it but are concerned that Kirby will be confused if we are at someone else's house for an evening or at daycare and not have his bell. (I doubt everyone who has bell trained their dogs bring the bell everywhere they go except for lengthy or extended stays!) Will he have to use the bell for the rest of his life if he gets accustomed to it now?

[bulldoggin30]

We tried the bell with Dutchie, but he didn't take any interest in it. I know alot of people have done it sucessfully so maybe they can help. We use the "stop and stare at me" method! :lol:

[gmacleod]

I don't think it's a major problem having a bell trained dog and not taking the bells with you everywhere you go. Dogs are generally smart enough and adaptive enough to figure that they need to use a different technique when they're not at home. Bells or no bells, you generally have to be extra-responsive to their needs when you're in a strange place.

[wendykei]

Sidney and I have had mixed results with the bells... He will go sit by the door when he needs to go out and often inadvertently makes the bells ring. He only occasionally actually uses his nose or a paw to ring the bells.

I don't know if it will hamper his ability to tell me when he needs to go out when we're at other people's houses... He's just not that reliable yet at our house OR anyone else's house!! :D

[bulldoggin30]

Wendy, how old is Sydney? Just curious!
Amy

[slakker]

I'd say we have mixed results as well with Belzie. If anything, she's trained to 3 different signals... sitting by the door, ringing the bell or sniffing around which is a pretty good sign. I wouldn't say she's 100% housetrained either though... :)

[mdenglund]

Hi all,
Ruby has done very well with the bells. When we are at our friends house there often aren't any bells by there doors. What has worked best for us is to immediatly take her to the door we want her to wait at to go to the bathroom. Then we take her out and have her go to the bathroom, and praise her afterward. From then on we always use the same door and she will usually go to that door and bark. She may not be perfect in all of our friends homes, but the ones we visit the most usually find her to be an unmessy guest. They seem to associate the bell with attention when they have to go, and if there is not a bell they will do what they have to for attention.

[Carolyn]

I always thought that bell training was a great idea....haven't done it but have heard many success stories. If it were me...I would do bell training along with verbal commands. Ex: when they ring the bell you say "outside?"
That way if you are at another home you can ask the question with the same results. In my house...I AM the bell...at least with Abby. If she needs to go outside she will tap my arm and I say "outside?" .... she will run to the door. Ferris has a more direct approach....he just goes to the door and stares at it until we let him out. :rolleyes:

[Kirby]

Thanks everyone! I think I'm going to give it a shot. I have found Kirby sitting at the door a couple of times now...staring. Down the road, when he is allowed free roam of the house, it would be nice to think that he would dingle a bell so that if I were in another room I would know he is wanting to go outside and not just sitting there staring silently. BTW, he knows what "Wanna go outside?" means...and sometimes he'll run back to his bed to avoid the trip. What is frustrating about this is that I KNOW he has to go because it will be first thing in the morning! As for the bell training, maybe he'll go for it, maybe he won't! We'll see...I'm sure he'll do it whatever way he prefers to in the end...:rolleyes:

[Carolyn]

he knows what "Wanna go outside?" means...and sometimes he'll run back to his bed to avoid the trip

I got a chuckle at your post. My Ferris is one strange creature...he will also avoid going outside in the early AM even if I give the command! I KNOW that his bladder is full but he decides that he'd rather stay in the nice warm bed with my husband and totally ignores my command. In the evening...it's a different story...he will go out if I ask him...which reminds me of another post....is your dog a morning or evening doggie. :lol:

Let us know how you do with the training.....

[Kirby]

Hi Carolyn...our doggie is an evening doggie for sure! And I will definitely keep you posted on how the training comes along :) Thanks!

[slakker]

What is frustrating about this is that I KNOW he has to go because it will be first thing in the morning!

Belzie's got a strange protocol in the morning too... if I let her out of her crate, she has to go visit Tracy first, then checks out her bed and then makes sure her toys are still where she left them. If Tracy let's her out she just checks out her bed and toys... NEVER does she go and look for me... evilicon

I think I'd be better off if I was chopped liver, at least she'll come to greet me. :mad: appicon

[mfixx3]

One little warning, my 3 and a half month old has taken to bell training like a pro (I'm so proud) EXCEPT he also uses it when he's not being paid atention to - like, say when I am doing the dishes. The bell is on our kitchen door and if he is not being attended to right then and there, he rings the bell - even if we just went outside 5 minutes before. I think bell training is a great idea but I also think Frenchies are pretty smart and will learn to use some tricks to their own advantage.

[imogene]

One little warning, my 3 and a half month old has taken to bell training like a pro (I'm so proud) EXCEPT he also uses it when he's not being paid atention to - like, say when I am doing the dishes. The bell is on our kitchen door and if he is not being attended to right then and there, he rings the bell - even if we just went outside 5 minutes before. I think bell training is a great idea but I also think Frenchies are pretty smart and will learn to use some tricks to their own advantage.

I like to refer to that activity as bell abuse, and our 10 month old is great at repetitive bell ringing - today I left her alone in the house when I went out to bring our recycling to the curb, and I could hear her ringing the bell every few seconds, all the way up the driveway. Silly puppy:)

[ashley1135]

You should give bells a shot. Sulley uses them like a pro and they are such a help when you're not in the same room and the dog is waiting by the door to go out. He is ocassionally a "bell abuser" and will ring when he gets bored. It's so funny to watch him ring them...when he really has to go, he'll nose the bells and jump at them like mad. If I don't get there fast enough he'll start screaming at the door. I don't bring the bells when I travel and Sulley seems to be ok with it. He knows what "go outside" means, so that helps. Let us know how your dogs takes to the bells.

[Carolyn]

He is ocassionally a "bell abuser" and will ring when he gets bored.

:lol: :lol: That is just too cute!!!

[chrestomancie]

he also uses it when he's not being paid atention to - like, say when I am doing the dishes. The bell is on our kitchen door and if he is not being attended to right then and there, he rings the bell -.


Pearl does this also. I begin feeding my rehab bat, doing the dishes, or anything else that requires my attention and she marches over to the bell and rings it. Not just once either. If she doesn't get a response she rings them again and making them continuously louder. She is such a mommy's girl and she wants to be the center of attention at all times.:lol:

[Bouji]

I love this forum!! You can find almost any topic.

I was trying to decide if I should bell train Bouji and decided two days ago to give it a try. I can't always see her sitting/waiting for me at the front door. She'll wait for me there and eventually go potty at the door if she's been waiting too long.

I coudn't find a bell anywhere so I ended up buying a cat toy which is a ball with a bell in it. I hung it on the front door knob and showed Bouji how to ring it while saying "outside." She immediately took to it!! The next time she had to go out I heard her playing with the ball/bell...I said "outside" to see if she really needed to go or was just playing. But then she did her little I'm excited to go outside dance. I am so proud of her. She's been consistant with using it so far...but I am just waiting for her to abuse it! :lol:

[Bouji]

Hi,

Bouji immediately took to the bell using it whenever she had to go potty. But now she wants nothing to do with it. What happened??!!

I am home with her during the day and very quick to respond to her bell w/ lots of praise and a trip outside. But this week she reverted back to her old ways-- sitting in front of the door (and now staring at the bell). Couple of times I waited for her to ring it but she decided to pee on the floor instead.

Has this happened to anyone else? Is she trying to tell me she doesn't like the bell?? How do I get her to use the bell?

[mfixx3]

Could it be age? Adolescence? One option might be to change the location. Is it too low? Maybe moving it a few inches and go back to ringing it everytime you go out maybe she'll pick it up again?

Augie is 6 months now and still uses it religiously. But, even when he uses it, I still ring it when I say "outside" and go out the door.

[ashley1135]

I'm not sure how old Bouji is, but they seem to get moody at times. Sometimes Sulley, who is great with bells, decides he doesn't feel like using them and will sit in front of the door or cry a little. There have been a few times I have reminded him to touch the bells before we go out. You might try some reminder sessions with Bouji just to reacquaint with the whole procedure. When I taught Sulley to use bells, I first taught him targeting...i.e., to touch with his nose what ever I wanted him to. So when I say 'touch' he knows what I want him to do. This is how we started and especially at his onery age, he needs reminding on occasion.

[Bouji]

Thanks for your suggestions and giving me some hope. I've been reinforcing her training and will keep trying! I think you two are right...I think it is her age (5 months). She's been showing some other adolescent behavior—pouting whenever she doesn't get her way (lying on the ground refusing to move), ignoring commands (especially “off” for no jumping on people), and hey she just ran out into the living room with my husbands socks trying to start her favorite game of “chase me.”

I hope she picks up on all her training again once this phase passes!