Doggie Door Bells-Teach your dog to "ring the bell" to ask to go outside

[Lani]

I put a treat behind the bell, and then gave him the treat once he rang it.

Then, told him what a good boy he is, and then took him out. Small treat, consistently, every time he went out. And then one day, I heard the bells ring on their own ... he made the associate that the bells mean he gets to go outside.

Now, I must warn you that when they first learn this, they don't necessarily associate going out with going to the bathroom, but might ring just to go chase leaves and squirrels. I still struggle with that a bit, but now Lucky mostly just does it if he really has to go out. And he'll be persistent about it as well.

[casshon]

I did exactly the same as Lani. Bella had already learned the "touch" command so when she touched the bell I would say "ring" and give her a treat. For Molly (because she is deaf) I put the treat behind the bell so she had to touch it and then gave her the treat. Now I say "Bella ring" everytime she goes out and she will ring the bell. I still have to lure Molly to ring. But they both will ring the bell by themselves if they decide they need to go out.

I also have the problem now that Bella rings the bell just to get the treat and not go outside. If she has been out recently I just ignore her but otherwise I treat her and let her out. (Then she sits by the door feeling sorry for herself if she doesnt need to go to the toilet )

Once there's food involved they usually catch on pretty quickly

[Reagan]

We use a desk bell with Reagan. It took him a while to figure it out but we just rang it every time we went out with him, and now he rings it on his own. We chose the desk bell because we travel frequently so we can take it anywhere with us!

[Tania]

When Molly and Dougall were puppies, we taught them to touch. Molly doesn't bark to ask for a pee, so we taught the both to ring the bell. It works
really well except sometimes Dougall continually rings the bell at 3am

[Nicki]

It works really well except sometimes Dougall continually rings the bell at 3am

Ah he has YOU very well trained then

[Charlifarley]

I wish I had taught my two to do this
Trapper (aged 7) is on Frusemide for his heart and frequently has 'accidents' in the house. At the moment we are able to leave the door to the garden open most of the time, but sometimes he just decides it's nicer to go inside . I'm not sure how we will manage with him during the winter, but I'll keep him confined to the kitchen where it's easier to mop up.
I guess at this stage it's a bit late to teach an old(ish) dog new tricks?