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How do your cavs let you know they have to go?

I just ordered the TellBell after reading this thread! Anyone have good tips on training or what worked best for you?
 
That's a great idea about the hotel bell. The tellbell thing we got has two bells and a manual and video. It was about $25 from amazon.

At first when Maggie scratched at the door, we'd pick her up gently and wap her front paw on the bell. She wasn't sure about it the first day but caught on really fast. My only advice is to be *really* consistent with bringing your cavvy back inside (after maybe a minute) if they ring the bell and don't potty, and of course, cheer and reward when they ring the bell and do potty.

The training manual says that you might have a couple days of potty accidents early on - we had one misplaced poop and then that was it.

When she got the hang of it, Maggie rang the bell just to ask to be let out, so we had a few frustrating days of getting up every five minutes. So I have been using treats and toys to distract her when she wanders off to the door. Good practice for recall, I guess. :D

good luck!
 
Murphy sits and stares at you, and if you don't see him he starts 'patting' at you with his paw:cool:

And if your on the phone, or not getting up quick enough he'll jump up and stand on you to stare:)
 
While on vacation this week, I picked up the bells at a pet shop. We'll start tomorrow morning. Up til now, it's been a stare-down. Rudy doesn't bark to let us know, just comes and stares. It has been a problem when we're occupied in other parts of the house - and that seems to be when accidents happen too.
 
Geordie and India scratch at the door, while Chocolate sits by the door and stares at us. If we're in another room, they manage to get our attention and lead one of to the door. :)
 
Update on the bell training....

Day one - We spent the first day getting Rudy used to the bells - he was afraid of the sound. Day two - we rang the bells each time we let him out and said 'outside? ring the bells!' He looked at us like we were nuts and just raced out the door to avoid the sound. (I'm sure he's wondering what is the big deal????) icon_nwunsure

Day three (today) - more normal exits, altho we are still ringing the bells and saying the phrase. Guess it's just going to take some patience.
 
Good luck with it im sure Rudy will be ringing away before long! Ive often wondered if my girl would use them as she never tells me i just clock watch for her so i look forward to hearing how you progress:)
 
Hoopy has a few different choices, she will sit & stare at us, if I'm on the phone she will jump up & tap on my shoulder with her paw (too cute) & the other normally in the evening when we are home & preparing dinner or distracted she will shake the blind on the back door. She never barks.

Now Tramp our rescue just goes whenever Hoopy decides she wants to go out, lol
 
Guinness is picking up the concept really quickly (2 weeks), so far all I get in warning is a mad dash for the door. We're going to start with a bell in December, I've only seen homemade versions where a bell is hung on a rope from the doorknob so the dog grabs and shakes to ring the bell.
 
Ruby will sit by the back door and stare- then if I ask her "TOILET??" she will turn in a circle. If she doesnt turn in a circle then I assume she wants to just go out and bark so I wont let her out.
Charlie just gets put out every couple of hrs and I f I tell him toilet he will go.
He hasnt decided on a way to let me know as yet- he has only been with us 2 months.
 
i have put a tinkle bell on the the back door for cooper about three weeks ago, he knows when he hears it that it means toilet as i say it every time it chimes, usually he will go when he goes out that door, and if he pushes it with his nose ( he doesnt do it nessesarily just when he needs to go!} i put him straight out and say toilet. he is a fast learner too with tricks and obedience but its very much a work in progress he has plenty of accidents and he is still young but ill persivere with the bell and fingers crossed:xfngr:
 
I always use the sliding glass door off the kitchen to take the dogs outside. When they need to go, they scratch the glass with their paw real quick. I never taught them this...Jato just started doing it and then I guess he taught Zoey when we brought her home. cl*p
 
Leo will stand in front of me with his tail going a mile a minute. cl*p

Remus will come up and start licking me on any exposed skin. cl*p

Loki will go to the door and start barking like he sees something and gets everybody barking. :lpy:
 
We got the Poochie Bells for Mika when she was 4 months old. She learned them in just one day and hasn't had an accident since. She's pretty smart though. She will use them sometimes when she just wants our attention because she wants a treat or something. As someone mentioned though, she will ring them like crazy when she really has to go.

I've never taken them with us to other places. Then, she just paces by the door. If no one notices her, she will start whining. Again, she's never had an accident.
 
We bell trained Kendall at about 4 mo. I just bought some jingle bells from the craft store and hung two of them from a ribbon that I tied to the back door. With Christmas right around the corner, it should be pretty easy to find jingle bells, and it only cost me about $2 to make.
 
I have missed this thread for some reason and only just caught up. Dougall will bark which is great. Molly just sits as the door and pats it, which isn't great if you are not in the same room. We have got a budgie bell with a suction pad on the door, we have taught her to touch it, which is a great . It doesn't always happen but she has done really well . She learnt "touch" in class so it wasn't to hard to teach her.
 
Both of mine will ring the bell. It is just a Christmas deco, that we removed the holly and stuff from. I have to say, Libby rings it very nicely. She gently lifts it and lets it go. Chase, swings from it like Tarzan. Definitely a difference in boy vs girl or personalities. Chase is 6 months and I say he was ringing the bell since he was around 4 months.
 
gocamping said:
Chase, swings from it like Tarzan. Definitely a difference in boy vs girl or personalities.
Click to expand...

That made me laugh. I can just picture. Usually Mika is quite the lady and just nudges it gently, but when it's a real emergency, you'd think she was going to put the things right through the glass door.
 
That is my worry some days too with the glass door! My husband laughed at me when I told him I was going to train my lab to ring a bell. We have been doing bell training ever since.

Of course, once Libby realized it would get her want she wanted for outside, she tried it to get food and water too! What they don't try!:)
 
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