# Potty training...bells or no??



## momofthree (Apr 9, 2011)

I have been seeing some stuff online about bell training for potty training. Has anybody here found that to be effective? Is there a more effective method? 

If you bell trained, can you walk me through the process, and how long it took? Did you use treats to motive them to ring the bell? 

Is there a brand of bell that I can buy that is better than another one?? 

This little girl is so good, but she seems to not be able to differentiate between grass outside and carpet inside!!! I am really hoping to get her very, very reliable before we move her to our new home. Any advice will be so appreciated!


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

I bell trained Leroy at 12 weeks. He got it very quickly and to this day he rings the bell or stands by the door (he's almost 2 years old). It is very effective. Probably the most effective potty training tool is having a doggie door.

Here is a link to a thread about me bell training my older dog (I go through the steps on training to ring the bell). http://www.poodleforum.com/23-general-training-obedience/19466-housebreaking-older-small-dog.html

Hope it helps!


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## Poodlelvr (Mar 13, 2010)

At 10 weeks she is not likely to give you signals or hold it very long. Take her our as soon as she wakes from a nap. If she has been playing for a while take her out. Do not let her have the run of your house. If you can't watch her like a hawk, gate her off in a small area or crate her. If she suddenly stops what she is doing, pick her up and take out. If she starts circling, pick her up and take her out. She is a baby. She is no more likely than a human baby to ring a bell when she has to go potty. This may be useful when she is older.


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## PaddleAddict (Feb 9, 2010)

I potty trained my boy with a bell, but not until later on and it really was not until we taught him to ring the bell that all potty accidents stopped, I wish I would have taught him sooner. He still uses the bell to this day, it's great. He's even rung the bell to go outside to throw up when he had an upset tummy (he is so considerate, ha ha).

You don't need to buy bells made specifically for this. I just bought a single bell at Michael's and hung it on a string at his nose height on the door that leads to the backyard.

Everytime I took him out to potty (on a leash and brought him to the same spot in the yard everytime), I rang the bell myself as I opened the door. After a few days of this, hubby and I were sitting in the living room and we heard the bell! I jumped up, ran over to him and put his leash on and opened the door and took him outside to the potty area. I think he was just sort of checking the bell out, not ringing it on purpose, but my reaction of leaping up and taking him right outside definitely made an impression on him (poodles are very smart after all) and soon he was rining the bell to go out to potty--and also out to play, or just ringing it to get me to stand up and give him attention. To curb that behavior I just made a rule and always stuck to it: ringing the bell means you get your leash on and we go to the potty spot and if you don't go, we go right back inside. I never just let him out on his own when he rang the bell.

Even though he's fully potty trained I LOVE the bell! I never have to wonder if he has to go.


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## Lily's-Mom (May 31, 2012)

We bell trained one of our dogs the same way PaddleAddict did - ring the bell as you are taking him out. I was certain Lily would be a quick learn on this too, but she never once rang the bell and I gave up after about 3 wks. But she's a few yrs old and already housetrained and we are on a regular schedule anyway. There are bells for sale that are made specifically for this purpose, but I just bought a bell at the craft store and put a length of ribbon on it and hung it on the door frame.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Swizzle is trained to bells. I bought Poochie Bells but any bell they can reach will do. To train I made Swizzle swot the ball when I took him out when I knew he would have to go. I make him hit it so he wouldn't think it was something for me to do. After two days he started ringing the bells to go out but it was not reliable yet. That took another four or five days. After a while he started ringing the bell to go outside and not do his business. He got a few time outs (locked in mud room for 3 minutes) and within two days he was cured of that. I love the bells. He has only thrown up once and he rang the bells too.


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## dcyk (Nov 30, 2011)

Somehow, once you trained them where is ok to eliminate and where's not, they will try not to dirty elsewhere.

I train Mack to go on the tray when indoors, and he's still fine with grass outdoors.

90% of the time when he wants to vomit, he will go to the tray and vomit.


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## momofthree (Apr 9, 2011)

Thanks everyone! I am going to start trying it soon. Thanks for those who broke it down and gave me practical, step by step how- to's. Since we can't ( according to my husband) have a doggy door at the new house, I am hoping that this method will alert me to let her out no matter what I'm doing or what part of the house I'm in.

We had no accidents today, and really when we do, it's my fault for letting her out of my sight in the house!


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## Lily's-Mom (May 31, 2012)

_"I made Swizzle swot the ball when I took him out when I knew he would have to go. I make him hit it so he wouldn't think it was something for me to do."_
Very good point. Maybe that was my problem with Lily. Maybe will try again.


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

Lily's-Mom said:


> _"I made Swizzle swot the ball when I took him out when I knew he would have to go. I make him hit it so he wouldn't think it was something for me to do."_
> Very good point. Maybe that was my problem with Lily. Maybe will try again.


Yes, this is how my mother and I have trained three dogs between us to use the bells to ask to go out. My current dog I didn't train - no where convenient to hang the bells, so I taught him to come and bark at me instead. However, when we're visiting my parents, Kohl refuses to bark and rings the bells on the door instead. Guess he learned by observation 

BTW, for the OP: there will be a phase where the puppy's ringing the bells for attention, to go play, etc. A quick way to get rid of that is to take the puppy outside every time he/she rings the bells, but if he/she doesn't go, put puppy in the crate for 15min or so. Then back out, rinse and repeat until puppy goes. They get it pretty quickly that when you let them out they'd better potty or the fun ends until they do.


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## limonia (Oct 16, 2011)

*re: crating if ringing and not need to go*

thank you everyone, this is very helpful. have had pup 3 DAYS (intro and pics to come!), and it's a little exhausting:act-up:

he doesn't like being crated and still cries when i put him in it. and at night. he's 11 weeks old. i was told not to use the crate for punishment (perhaps mostly for when they're young?). would this be okay to do - to crate if using the bell incorrectly? this is the first time i heard about the bell and it sounds v interesting. Perhaps he is too little now, but soon?

Also, there was one time he was circling and pulling his bed/blanket on the floor all over the place b/c he had to pee...(took him out) and 1-2 times when it was just something he was doing. how to tell the difference?

kindly


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## shadow mommy (Jan 6, 2012)

Limonia, I would think that if he is only 11 weeks old he is definately too young to use a bell to signal time for a potty break. Up until he is at least a couple months old you will just need to take him out often and regularly especially after eating/drinking, playing, or sleeping because those are times they definately have to go. As far as how to tell when your pup has to go that will just take some observation. Getting to know his weird ways of acting so when he starts them you know what he needs. Like a common one for most pups is all of a sudden walking in circles sniffing the floor like they are looking for the perfect spot to go. My dog used to and still does stand in front of me and just stare or let off light whimpers which lets me know he has to go. 

I crate trained my dog instead of using the bells just because I had heard people say that after they trained their dogs with the bells the dog used the bells just to get their attention as they got older and it got to be a new way of begging which can be annoying. I dont however knock the method though because it is a great way to teach them to signal that they need to potty when they get a little older though.


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## Lily's-Mom (May 31, 2012)

Yes, he's too young to expect him to actually follow thru on ringing the bell when he needs to potty, but I think you can and should begin training him to use the bell. You'll learn his "signals" for needing to go potty. He'll teach you just as you are teaching him


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## sophiebonita (Jul 10, 2012)

Wow, that's a really interesting way to potty train!! Do you think a 3-month old mpoo that's already doing PRETTY good (a few accidents) would get it?


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

limonia said:


> he doesn't like being crated and still cries when i put him in it. and at night. he's 11 weeks old. i was told not to use the crate for punishment (perhaps mostly for when they're young?). would this be okay to do - to crate if using the bell incorrectly? this is the first time i heard about the bell and it sounds v interesting. Perhaps he is too little now, but soon?


About the crate - it isn't punishment unless you have an angry or disappointed attitude when you put him in. You're not putting him in to punish him. You're putting him in so he doesn't think he just play inside, play outside, play inside whenever he wants. The crate also encourages him not to go potty inside while you wait for him to need to go. Lots of puppies refuse to potty outside, then you bring them in and within 5 min of putting them down ... accident. Sound happy when you put him in, give him a toy or a chewy to keep him content, but don't make it _so_ fun that he thinks it's a reward.

BTW, he's probably crying because everything's new to him and he doesn't want to be by himself. It should help if you stay in view but don't pay attention to him or you'll encourage the crying. Over the next couple of days he should quiet down as he learns that you're not abandoning him, that it's OK if he doesn't have your attention every second of the day, and that the crate is an OK place to be.

He is not too young to start learning about the bell and associating it with going potty. I start training for this as soon as a puppy is home. I just do regular potty training, except every time I take the puppy out, I pause and take the puppy's paw and ring the bells before opening the door. 

2 out of three times, this has been enough and the puppy quickly starts ringing the bell on his own when you go to the door to take him out. Those particular puppies also started ringing the bells when they needed to go when they were really young, but they still couldn't hold it. By the time you'd get up to take them out, they'd already gone so stick to a potty schedule and don't rely on the bells. I would not be comfortable even testing the puppy's reliability on them until a puppy is 16wks. absolute minimum, and that is only if they have had no accidents in the house for weeks and are hitting the bells every time without prompting.

The third puppy had to be taught a command to hit the bells on his own and then once he could hold it for a bit I simply didn't open the door until he hit the bell. It didn't take long before he figured it out.


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## PoohFan (Jul 15, 2012)

I just started working on the bells. I figured, if at 3 months old, Aspen knows the "sit" and "come" commands, he can learn to ring a bell to potty. So, I make him ring the bell while I'm saying "outside" and "potty" while opening the door. We'll see how it goes.


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## dcyk (Nov 30, 2011)

Limonia. A pup is a baby. Lots of work to do to clean teach feed and basically care for it. 

Have loads of patience and teach now, it'll be returned 100 fold and make you happy and pleased


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## PoohFan (Jul 15, 2012)

*He did it!!!*

No sooner than I posted the last message, Aspen walked over to the bell and rang it to go out! :cheers2:


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## Lily's-Mom (May 31, 2012)

Yay for Aspen! Good going!


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## LizIsLame (Jul 2, 2012)

I ordered some bells for Otto a couple of days ago to start getting him used to them. I know he's way too young still, he'll be 2 months old tomorrow, but I don't see how it can hurt for me to start ringing the bells everytime I take him outside now. He actually hasn't had an accident in the house since the day he came home, and even then it was only one time.


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## Jacamar (Jun 2, 2012)

My ex's spoo was trained to use a bell. Very cool. The only downside is that if youre watching tv and want to wait for a commercial or something like that, youre out of luck because that poodle will pound that bell until you take him out! :doh:


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## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

Spike got the bells almost immediately. He was 8 weeks old and we started with the nudging of the bells, saying, "let's go outside", then once we were out, "Potty outside". 

We are home and he is in and out all day, but if he wants to go out and one of us is not already opening a door, he rings the bells. Of course, he rings them to go out - not just to potty... he's been known to get bored, feel abandoned and unloved, and ring the bells just to get someone to run outside with him... where he will pee, eventually, but not till he finds a toy or two...

We did buy poochie bells, but any old bell on a ribbon would work. we bought them because a local pet store was going out of business, and we were on vacation, and they were cute, and we felt like buying something to help her close out - otherwise, I'd have put a couple of jingle bells on a string and hung them near the door. 

OH! Hang them NEAR the door - NOT ON THE DOOR! If the bells ring every time the door opens, they have no association with pottying outside. You may be able to google the poochie bells instructions. 
sarah


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## jasperspoo (Feb 25, 2011)

Ugh... Jasper has learned everything so quickly- from bathrooming outside hasnot had an accident inside since he was 10 weeks, unless he was sick) to cute, funny tricks... But we could not teach him to use bells. We have bells, but despite using the recommended methods- he never got it.

I really wish he would figure it out though- he has a bladder of steel, but if he could tell me when he had to go, we'd both be happier.


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## schnauzerpoodle (Apr 21, 2010)

I started to bell train Nickel since the third day he's here (9-10 wks). I grabbed his little paw to ring the bell every time we went out to the balcony and then put him in the litter box and encourage him to pee. He didn't need much encouragement because he pretty much did his business as soon as I put him down. As he grew older, he ran to the door but stared at the bell until I told him, "I don't understand. What do you want?" Then he rang the bell and I opened the door for him. Expect to go through a phase when your dog would think that ringing the bell means he could get his maid to come running to serve him though


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## sophiebonita (Jul 10, 2012)

Hi all, I made a little bell thing for the door, so Sophie's playing w it for now, I went to Joanns crafts and got 3 large jingle bells, keyring hooks and a leather strap, looks pretty perfect and works great. Now I'm gona put her nosey by it every time we go out, hopefully she catches on!! Sophie is my 3-month old mini. Off to the vet for her 2nd round of shots :/


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## sophiebonita (Jul 10, 2012)

I tried to upload a pic of my creation hopefully it workd


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## Lily's-Mom (May 31, 2012)

sarahmurphy said:


> OH! Hang them NEAR the door - NOT ON THE DOOR! If the bells ring every time the door opens, they have no association with pottying outside. You may be able to google the poochie bells instructions.
> sarah


sophiebonita, the way you have your set up, the bells will ring every time you open/close the door. Better to have them next to the door (I have mine on a small hook in the side of the door frame). Good luck with the training. I'm re-starting bell ringing with Lily and putting her paw on it as well as ringing it. She still seems to have NO interest or connection. sigh...


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## sophiebonita (Jul 10, 2012)

Thanks for the advice... I'm glad I posted a pic!!!


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## StandardAdoration (Aug 8, 2012)

I had a mut puppy (PBGV and Pointer) in the past. He was potty trained but would sit by the door when he had to go out and not make any noise so if I wasn't paying attention he would make a mistake by the door. I used a Christmas bell hanging from the door and simply used his paw to move it the bell every time we went outside and he quickly learned how to use the bell (and he was not nearly as smart as my standard, though sweet as can be). It worked very well for me. I have also heard of people using pushbells (like you would see at a desk to get the clerks attention), from what I understand these are much easier to use because its easier for them to push the bell. I couldn't find any of that type at the time so I simply used the only bell I could find haha (Broke college student). Sometimes he would ring the bell to play early on, but I broke him of that by making it a quick trip outside and if he didn't go potty he wouldn't get a treat. 
I haven't tried the bell with my standard puppy, but I also take him out regularly and he knows the command go potty so he uses the bathroom everytime he is out. Tbis eliminated the needing to go outside in between convenient times for me. If you are on a feeding schedule I have also known people to schedule the times they take their pups out based off of their schedule, so they know exactly when the pup will need to go out since it gets on a schedule. Dunno if this helps. But the bell was extremely helpful for me in the past with eliminating the mistakes in the house. You can also try sopping up the mistake with a rag while telling him no potty inside then placing the rag outside to distinguish where they are supposed to go.. you also have to make sure you are using the correct cleaner to eliminate the scent on those mistakes so the smell doesn't make the pup continue to use that spot as a bathroom. Hope that helps, I am actually planning on getting a pushbell soon (when I come across one) to make it easier for my pup to let me know.. its always harder with carpet.


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## StandardAdoration (Aug 8, 2012)

*type of bell?*



PoohFan said:


> No sooner than I posted the last message, Aspen walked over to the bell and rang it to go out! :cheers2:




What kind of bell did you choose to use with Aspen? If he is anything like his brother he will learn just about anything quickly... I was recently thinking about it and trying to decide between the pushbell and a hanging bell. Just curious as to what worked with him so easily considering they are brothers :hug:


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## sophiebonita (Jul 10, 2012)

Voila!









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## StandardAdoration (Aug 8, 2012)

Nice!! Let us know how it works out for you


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## sophiebonita (Jul 10, 2012)

Finally!! Sophie used the bell twice today!! 


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

I've never used bell training. It sounds fairly easy. Jazz is starting to make a grumbly noise just like Bonnie when he wants to go out. I have to jump right up. Bonnie and Echo will go find someone if the bark/grumble doesn't work. Bonnie pokes with her nose then. Bells sound easy.


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## sophiebonita (Jul 10, 2012)

Ok so Sophie's kind of using a combo whining at door/tentative bell ringing now... ?


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## PoohFan (Jul 15, 2012)

StandardAdoration said:


> What kind of bell did you choose to use with Aspen? If he is anything like his brother he will learn just about anything quickly... I was recently thinking about it and trying to decide between the pushbell and a hanging bell. Just curious as to what worked with him so easily considering they are brothers :hug:


The hanging bell... But, I need to move it off the door.


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## sophiebonita (Jul 10, 2012)

How are your dogs doing with the bell training? One day, out of nowhere, and (shamefully) with hardly any reinforcement from me, Sophie just 'got it'. I'm so proud! She's 4.5 mos now and it just 'clicked'. Yay!!! She really rarely uses it to just want to go out and play too, mostly when she really has to 'go'. Go Sophie!!!


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## MiniLouie (Jul 17, 2012)

Bell training has worked so well for My mini Louie. He is almost 5 months now and hasn't barked. He is so quiet and I wanted him to have a way to tell me he needed outside. I didn't use treats for ringing his bell, but I gave him one for going potty outside after. Me opening the door was enough for him to understand. I started out with me ringing the bell to take him out for the first few weeks we had him. I then used his paw to ring it, I did this until he started doing it on his own to let me know he needed out.


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## Lily's-Mom (May 31, 2012)

Congrats to you all that got your dogs bell trained. 
Lily never picked up on the bell ringing. I still have it at the back door, but we both ignore it now. Oh well...


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

momofthree said:


> I have been seeing some stuff online about bell training for potty training. Has anybody here found that to be effective? Is there a more effective method?
> 
> If you bell trained, can you walk me through the process, and how long it took? Did you use treats to motive them to ring the bell?
> 
> ...


Hello there (I'm no expert but) 
I potty trainned my 4 and 1/2 month puppy (Ive had her for 1 month) by just taking her outside very often in the beginning (and before walking out the door Id say: "wanna go potty outside?" ): Id take her out: first thing in the morning, after naps, after eating, 1 hour after eating, before playing (when playing fetch she cant control her blatter) etc. and when she "goes" outside on the grass I say: "potty outside/goodgirl" and pet her and take her straight back home saying "lets go home" (in the beginning being outside was ONLY for potty) and when we got home from potty immediately I gave her a treat (cheese-she LOVES it ) and said "potty outside/good girl" again while she licks the cheese in between my fingers. Ive kept my eye on her 24/7 for this first month Ive had her so when I caught her in the act of having an accident in the house I'd yell "NO!!!" and immediately took her outside and said "potty outside" and she'd finish peeing outside, thats when Id pet her and say again that same exact command "potty outside/good girl" and gave her treat when back home the same way. After repeating it over and over (and watching her every move, especially when she was sniffing around in the house) NOW SHE SITS IN FRONT ON THE DOOR, AND TOUCH HER LEASH WITH HER NOSE (her leash is always on the same place on the table in front on the door) SHE SITS THERE LIKE A STATUE LOOKING AT ME UNTIL I ASK " Do you wanna go potty outside" (always same command) and she MOVES HER NECK FORWARD (kinda like: " yes!! come on! " LOL -( I moved my neck to show her how first after asking) 

I also have the "potty training pads" you can buy them at pet stores at one fat away corner of the house, in case for some reason I MADE THE MISTAKE OF NOT NOTICING HER SIGNALS, she can go on the pad , and she does (I DONT GIVE TREATS , OR SAY "NO", I JUST PRETEND I DIDNT SEE IT AND CLEAN IT UP) 

Hope this helps.... but like I said, I am not educated on this, its just what worked for me, and Im a perfectionist and I believe that:

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS: CONSISTENCY!!! same exact commands, and pick what you will say "no" to carefully because you have to stick to it forever, just like children, if you say no to something one time, and let them do it the next.... they kinda question your authoroty, dont they?

By the way, gotta go she is giving me the "potty" signal right now... cya later

Next step will be instead of just touching her leash with her nose, I will teach her to bring her leash to me, when she needs to go potty if Im not near the door.


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## Jacamar (Jun 2, 2012)

Panda learned to ring the bell in 4 days. :happy: I literally couldnt believe it the first time he walked over, rang it, and looked at me like, "lets go!". I had to wait until the next time to be sure it wasnt a coincidence. 


I was so excited I shot a video. :laugh: In this instance he got distracted by the vacuum cleaner for a minute, but then got back on task.


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

stealthq said:


> About the crate - it isn't punishment unless you have an angry or disappointed attitude when you put him in. You're not putting him in to punish him. You're putting him in so he doesn't think he just play inside, play outside, play inside whenever he wants. The crate also encourages him not to go potty inside while you wait for him to need to go. Lots of puppies refuse to potty outside, then you bring them in and within 5 min of putting them down ... accident. Sound happy when you put him in, give him a toy or a chewy to keep him content, but don't make it _so_ fun that he thinks it's a reward.
> .



I do not use crate as punishment... she loves her crate and when I need to leave or run errands, i put her in there and she stays calmly and sleeps. 
She feels safe in there and thinks it's bed time/nap time...
I put her in the bathroom (puppy proof) for punishment... Just wanted to say that because I think crate punishinhg can make then bark/cry instead of giving us a break to accomplish something we need to do.
================================
I may also start using the bell. I hired a trainer (just because Lou is so smart and she already knows so many commands, that I'm having fun with it, and want her to do amazing things LOL And also her "I need to go potty signal is very subtle, she moved he neck forward and toches leash with nose, and sometimes Im not watching so... )
Trainer told me how to teach her to use the bell: She said teach them "TOUCH" command.
I say "Lou Touch" and I touch her nose with the palm of my hand while saying it, by the 3rd time, I waited for HER to touch the palm of my her hand with her nose to get the treat. 
So then we put a post-it on the palm of our hand, and do the same thing I said above with the "touch" then after a while put the post it on the wall, and do the same thing and then replace it with bell... I think we can skip the post it, and go straight for the bell, since she is so smart. Just gotta touch her nose with the bell and say "Lou touch" then she will do it on her own by the 3rd-5th time, then after she figured out she can touch the bell with her nose,(from this point on its my guess) start doing it every time right before going out to potty I guess. 

I still would prefer to teach her to bring her leash to me, but everyone says that's a hard thing to teach because there are so many things involved/like thought process and steps.

We'll see.... I'm gonna look it up online


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