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Ring the bell training video

:thnku: :thnku: :thnku: I so needed to see this. I followed the instructions that came with the bells but as yet, the dogs have completely ignored them. At first, Minnie thought we needed to be protected from them so she kept barking at them and ducking and diving at the door (so funny to watch) Then, they just looked at me like I was nuts and you know how dismissive that Cavalier look is.
So now we're going to start all over again .

:flwr:
 
That's a good video, thanks for that Karlin. I did notice that she used a food treat to praise the dog for ringing - in the instructions it says not to do this :shock:

Bella was really good the first day but hasn't touched the bell since - and they both now give me the "Are you crazy?" look :lol:

I think I might teach the touch command as Bella learned this very easily in her obedience class.
 
I'd definitely treat -- am a big believer in doing so initially to get a good association going. If you have done any clicker training then you can more easily link the ringing to praise without food, thru the clicker.

I suppose there are many ways to approach training this -- I have read of several -- this is a little different, to teach the dog first to target the bell, then hang the bell, then go from there.

I just love doing clicker work; it was like a religious conversion to see how fast dogs respond to a clicker and hom much more you can do once the dog is clicker-conditioned. :)
 
I have just trained the touch command with treats which took about 2 minutes. I'm not too sure where to go from here though. Do I keep treating when they ring the bell or do I also let them out each time they ring?

Bella is ringing every now and then and expecting a treat but I want her to realise she also has to go out (which she is not keen to do!)
 
I'd only open the door when the bell is hanging where it is supposed to be, not while you are holding it to teach the touch command to the bell.

From then on open the door and go out with her and stay til she goes, then reward and praise.

If need be I'd put a lead on once she rings the bell and take her out. I'd want a very firm association between ringing AND going out -- not ringing and a treat!

I'd just be treating the ringing *while you hold the bell*, only at the initial point of conditioning to the bell.

After that only treat once outside and she has done her business. If she is really reluctant to go out, I'd go out with her and treat for going out, then gradually shift to only treting for doing her business, but give her a jackpot treat for a while for doing that until going becomes her goal.
 
All 4 of our dogs and our cat ring the bells to go out. Consistency is the key. Each time they touch the bells/ring them, you will need to open the door and let them out (must be harder when you have to leash the dog and take them for a walk). The reward is the open door! Usually, they will ring the bell many times in the beginning. Soon though that novelty wears off and they will only ring when they need to go out.

Our Casey is really funny. He will madly ring the bells when he wants out. If we don't respond right away, he comes and finds us, stares at us as if to say "Are you deaf?" and runs back and rings them again. :badgrin:
 
Thanks for the replies. The treats have definitely made a difference! The problem is that my dogs don't particularly like going outside so thats not much of a treat for them ( icon_whistling ) - especially when it's snowing outside like it is now!

I will continue though as I really want to make this work.

At the moment they are curled up on the couch snoring so I will try again a little later!
 
Lucky goes out by ringing the bell - I don't have a fenced yard so I leash him. I make sure if I cannot jump up to take him out upon his request (for example: if I have a conference call for work) that I keep him in his crate or close the office door so he can't ring the bell. Otherwise, he lets me know when he has to go out and I throw on the layers and brave the cold with him! I still watch him closely too for signs that he has to go, but he loves ringing the bell.
 
Wow Molly all the dogs AND a cat! :) That is excellent. I considered training to a bell but as adults it didn't matter -- I have to take them out several times on walks anyway, not having a garden, so I didn't want them ringing bells at all different times.
 
Wonderful video and I just loved that dog. Anyway, it inspired me to go out and buy a bell. Now, I wonder who is going to learn to use it first icon_whistling
 
molly said:
All 4 of our dogs and our cat ring the bells to go out. Consistency is the key. Each time they touch the bells/ring them, you will need to open the door and let them out (must be harder when you have to leash the dog and take them for a walk). The reward is the open door! Usually, they will ring the bell many times in the beginning. Soon though that novelty wears off and they will only ring when they need to go out.

Our Casey is really funny. He will madly ring the bells when he wants out. If we don't respond right away, he comes and finds us, stares at us as if to say "Are you deaf?" and runs back and rings them again. :badgrin:

This has been exactly my experience. Pepper is quite hilarious (he's been using the bells for about a year now). Often he decides he needs/wants to go out just as we have sat down to dinner. Since we walk him on a leash, he has to wait until we are finished. So he'll really get those bells going, then comes back within eye-shot of us, to glare indignantly, and goes back to ring them again. He will do this at other times of the day as well--if he rings the bells and I don't hop to it immediately, or acknowledge him somehow, he comes back to find me to stare at me.

Milly is catching onto the bells gradually. She doesn't always use them to ask to go out, though--she'll just come and sit and look at me and I'm supposed to read her mind, apparently. (I do, so I guess that's whyshe keeps it up.) :lol:
 
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