Training A Dog To "ask" To Go To The Toilet

[Aidan]

My article is the "belt and braces" approach that seeks to eliminate all the problems people have reported with using a bell this way (such as nuisance bell ringing, or failure to get the dog to ring the bell audibly or reliably). It isn't necessary to follow it to the tee for most dogs but it's worth reading if you get stuck with any of the other approaches.

[KitKat]

One of my GSD's is a barker, never learnt to bark on command...but gives a particular kinda 'yip' that he only uses when he needs to go out My older dog who does bark on command, isn't a barker...just crosses his legs until i notice his eyeballs floating But since the other one has the smaller bladder (i'm sure of it!) they both go out at the same time..lol

[Didles]

I came to this area to post this exact same question, my 6mth old british bulldog won't let me know when he needs to go. I just take him out often ie first this in the morning, after breakfast, after naps, after dinner. He goes every time but he will still have accidents like this morning poop and a wee, some days we have only one and other are terrible. Lucky we have tiles and we now need shares in Handee ultra!!!. Everytime I take him out I tell him toliet and he walks along (there aren't the best dog for being quick!) he can be on the deck and I call toliet and he comes, its just that I need him to let me know he needs to pee/poop.

I think I will give the bell a try nothing to lose, he goes out the front so I can't get a doggy door, we supervise him which he has no problem with.

[~*Shell*~]

My dogs ring a bell when they want to go out. Doesn't take long for them to learn. I have a foster dog and a friend's dog here and they were both ringing the bell the same day they arrived.

I love the ringing bell idea ... was thinking of getting a battery powered door chime from my pup as they have a wider base for the paw to hit on than the "counter bells" that I can find, and hanging a string of bells on my door isnt practical for my joint.

I hang a cow bell at the door.

I have resigned myself to the fact that its just my problem and I have to make sure she is toiletted regularly.

She shows no reliable signs and is not a barker.

I am also not all that talented at training.

Oh well...

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

If you wanted to try the bell ringing idea, it's really a no brainer. All you need to do is every time you take her out, ring the bell yourself before you open the door. They make the connection very quickly and start ringing it themselves.

Zero watched Jedi and Ahsoka ring the bell a couple of times and made the connection that way. He'll now go and ring it to be let out when we're at Nik's place.

They really do cotton on to it really quickly!

[Skitch]

I have an Italian greyhound with this problem.. we've tried everything and cant seem to get him to ask us to open the door! It's so annoying because if the door is left open he has no problems with going out but due to the way our house is we cant have it open all the time . Good luck with your girl!

[Aidan]

Just a note, bell training is really for dogs who are already house-trained. It may have some small value in house-training a pup but in my experience it's best left for after you have house-trained pup and he is already reliable and you are ready to stop sticking to a strict schedule.

[TerraNik]

I disagree - I taught it while Jedi was learning toilet training. I would ring the bell every time we took him out. I never relied on him to let us know whn he wanted to go out but it sure helped him understand HOW to let us know once he had put the two together.

[Aidan]

I disagree - I taught it while Jedi was learning toilet training. I would ring the bell every time we took him out. I never relied on him to let us know whn he wanted to go out but it sure helped him understand HOW to let us know once he had put the two together.

He's a clever boy! Good that he put it together early on, and that you didn't rely on it - which is what a lot of people are hoping for when they want to use bells to help with house-training. You still need to house-train.

[TerraNik]

I disagree - I taught it while Jedi was learning toilet training. I would ring the bell every time we took him out. I never relied on him to let us know whn he wanted to go out but it sure helped him understand HOW to let us know once he had put the two together.

He's a clever boy! Good that he put it together early on, and that you didn't rely on it - which is what a lot of people are hoping for when they want to use bells to help with house-training. You still need to house-train.

Oh absolutely!!!! Bell training is only a communication tool - they still need to understand toilet training to use it.

[bobchic]

I am loving this bell idea!!

We leave our lounge door open all day and night for the dogs and it gets FREEZING!!!

I am going out to get a bell ASAP

Thanks so much for the idea

[TerraNik]

Our new addition (8 weeks old) learned what the bell meant within 2 hours of being here just by us ringing it whenever we opened the door to take her out. She rings the bell when she wants to go outside. But as I said before - she is still taken outside for regular toileting but I think this technique really helps to speed up toilet training because it's such a good communication tool.