I Taught Her How To Sit...now To Teach Her To Yell A Me To Go Potty

[Guest chickenpotpie]

So I taught my puppy how to sit. I think she knew how already, it was eally quite easy for her to get it. Also, she knows lay down and go to your room. She's a funny girl, very willig to please (but can be stubborn about some things)

 

One issue I'm having is the potty thing is tricky, she's such a quiet dog that I need to know hows the best way to get her to tell me she's gotta go? Sometimes she'll whine, but sometimes she won't and then there's an accident. I've been checking on her every few hours, which I have to admit kills my work day. Should I try bell training, and is that something hard to do?

[Guest Clawsandpaws]

Buy a training bell! I don't think it's very hard, our family dog did it easily growing up. You can get a cheap one and try it out (you could even make one yourself, buy ribbon and bells from a craft store, attach them together and tie them to your door

 

I am not sure what people do now a days, but everytime we took the dog out, we would ring the bell, then we would start telling him to sit by the bells, put up his paw and have him ring them himself every time we would take him out, eventually, he just did it himself.

[greytpups]

Put her on a routine. Take her out in the morning, noon hour, before dinner and then just before bed. If she needs to go more often, I'd check for a uti. Ensure she does her business each time she's out and you should avoid accidents. Our pups know the routine and let me know if I miss a turnout. Brooke doesn't go to the door though, she comes to me all excited so I've learned what I'm excited, lets play vs I'm excited and need to pee.

[Guest chickenpotpie]

Put her on a routine. Take her out in the morning, noon hour, before dinner and then just before bed. If she needs to go more often, I'd check for a uti. Ensure she does her business each time she's out and you should avoid accidents. Our pups know the routine and let me know if I miss a turnout. Brooke doesn't go to the door though, she comes to me all excited so I've learned what I'm excited, lets play vs I'm excited and need to pee.

I've got to learn to be more excited about bathroom times apparently! The routine is loose, I'm working to tighten it up (at least during the day) she dosen't have any night time accidents, and that is pretty set because Im with her at that time and she will walk to the door, then back to me, and when she does that, I take that as an indication of her having to go (she always does). I give her plenty of praise when she does go for sure. during the day, she isn't at liberty to do that because of where my office is in the house.

 

@clawsandpaws, where would I get a trainig bell (or does it matter?) I have some christmas bells around....lol I could certainly put them to good use (we don't even decorate for Christmas...long story)

[Guest Clawsandpaws]

I've got to learn to be more excited about bathroom times apparently! The routine is loose, I'm working to tighten it up (at least during the day) she dosen't have any night time accidents, and that is pretty set because Im with her at that time and she will walk to the door, then back to me, and when she does that, I take that as an indication of her having to go (she always does). I give her plenty of praise when she does go for sure. during the day, she isn't at liberty to do that because of where my office is in the house.

 

@clawsandpaws, where would I get a trainig bell (or does it matter?) I have some christmas bells around....lol I could certainly put them to good use (we don't even decorate for Christmas...long story)

As long as they drop low enough for your pup to ring them, and aren't scary looking (like a giant red bow or something weird) that should be fine http://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Dog-Design-Ding-Celtic/dp/B008J1WF7I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1368839752&sr=8-2&keywords=training+bells

is pretty cheap!

[Guest chickenpotpie]

oh great! I remember seeing something like above at The Christmas Tree Store. Will certainly go back and get it! (the bells we have here are pretty darn garish...lol)

[Ragsysmum]

Well, if you are actually in the house with her, why can't you just take her out every three hours or so anyway so she can go if she wants to?

[Guest chickenpotpie]

Well, if you are actually in the house with her, why can't you just take her out every three hours or so anyway so she can go if she wants to?

Being I'm a developer, sometimes I get sucked into the code. I'll admit I do lose track of time, so having something outside of my head as a reminder would work best. This is why I want to bell train her because then she can tell ME when its time to go instead of me worrying that I have to remember every few hours. (I'm doing that now and it just doesn't work well!)

[TheFullHouse]

If the bells don't work and they don't with some dogs, try setting an alarm on your watch or clock to go off every 3 - 4 hours to remind yourself to take her outside if you're busy.

[Tallgreydogmom]

I set a kitchen timer and keep it with me. We have senior greyhounds so an hour is vital.

[sobesmom]

Routine. Set a feeding and potty schedule. DO NOT wait for the dog to "ask" you to go out. I've had two greys of my own, and 14 fosters , and only one scratched at the door to "ask" to go out. DO NOT expect that the dog will "TELL" you when it needs out.

oh great! I remember seeing something like above at The Christmas Tree Store. Will certainly go back and get it! (the bells we have here are pretty darn garish...lol)

I really don't think that's the answer.

[3greytjoys]

I agree with others. After regular breakfast and dinner eliminations (soon after each meal), try to keep your hound on a 3-4 hour elimination schedule with your own alarm reminder. Newly retired hounds have never needed to "ask" to go outside in a racing kennel since kennel staff keep Greyhounds on schedule. Many retired hounds don't show a clear signal to "ask" to go outside. Many owners mistaken a hound walking over to them for affection/petting - when the hound really needs to go outside, or hound might walk over to sip from water bowl, stand or pace a little, or sniff or circle carpet/floor. Some hounds awaken from a nap and lie on their bed just watching and waiting for their human to offer a business outing! These are not clear indicators in human language. A medical issue could compound this with a strong urgency problem.

It is possible to teach some Greyhounds to ring a bell to go outside, but it requires patience, especially with a newly retired hound trying to learn everything about living in a home. I woud not recommend multiple small bells attached to a long fabric strip or leather strip - it's too dangerous. Many hounds would chew up and ingest that type dangling item. It's not worth the potential deadly blockage risk.

A single (slightly larger) standard bell is safer, and is much less appealing to a dog as a potential item to chew. (Some specialty garden centers carry a nice single bell for doors.) Hang bell very short on door knob (keeping bell up high, close to door knob). Greyhounds are tall, and can ring a bell by nudging it with their nose. (I'd avoid teaching hound to use a paw; that's an invitation for scratched/damaged doors, car doors, a claw catching on something, pawing at human legs or anything else whenever dog wants something.)

 

Here is a bell training snippet from one of my previous GT posts:

 

"I've taught all of our Greyhounds to "touch" target a door bell when they need to go potty. The key is to respond to the dog's bell ring immediately, so dog is assured it works (for their bodily function needs) every time.

 

Here's a method to teach a hound to ring a bell for elimination outings:

(Do not exceed 3-5 minutes total per training session. Stop immediately if dog doesn't respond to any step; then try again another day.) If bell has any hard or sharp edges, cover edges with sticky-backed soft felt.

 

1. First, let dog only see/smell extra smelly high value treat (best if never dog tasted it before).

2. Let dog see you hide treat under bell (on floor). Happily tell dog to find the treat. Wait for dog to touch bell with nose = instantly reward with treat and praise.

Repeat a few times adding words like "touch bell".

3. Then person holds bell (with hidden treat under bell) on flat open hand (near hound's nose level, while practicing near door knob of potty exit door). Nose touch = reward with treat and exciting praise. Practice this step a few times.

4. Then hang bell on door knob (or hold up in air near door knob level). Nose touch = reward with treat and exciting praise.

5. Thereafter, reinforce daily by telling dog to "touch bell" (or "ring bell") once before that door is opened for an elimination outing. Dog is now receiving a double reward for each bell touch. First reward is a treat, combined with the door magically opening every time dog touches bell. After the bell ring is well ingrained in the dog's mind (within a week or two) you should be able to stop the food treats, then simply consider the door opening (and dog relieving her/himself) the dog's reward."

End snippet.

 

Again, training takes time, so please keep yourself on a schedule to let your hound outside every 3-4 hours. It's important to thoroughly treat any previous accident area with Petastic (or whatever) enzymatic pet odor remover to help keep dog from revisiting previous accident area. If possible, avoid allowing dog full range of house while housetraining. It's worth the time investment to help your hound develop a solid foundation of good habits now.

Edited August 25, 2017 by 3greytjoys

[Guest chickenpotpie]

To everyone; thanks a lot for the tips.

 

I do try to take her out every 3-4 hours but I'm human (clearly!) I do a better job at night because I'm not stuck in work mode, so thats easier to see when she has to go. At the moment she doesnt' like the stairs to my office (thats a whole other ball of wax though) So because we're not on the same level, I thought having her signal to me to come up would be a good idea and a bit of fun for her and me really. Thus far, the accidents have been minimal, she shart everywhere once because she had diarrhea, but I don't count that one.

 

I do have a good enzyme spray, though twice its been in her room! She also doesn't like it, and she gets this entirely mortified look on her face because she knows its not the thing to do. She does have a room where she is in most of the day, however, she does whine because she can't hear me, so, I've blocked off 2 rooms that she can inhabit during the day one of which is at the top of the stairs to my office. Her room is adjacent, so, she can go in these two areas without issue during the day. In the evening, she's with me in the other part of the house...and because there's no stairs its not a big deal.

She realizes she can be in certain rooms at certain times. She does not have free run of the house.

 

Please understand I'm not trying to put it all on her, absolutely not! The title is a bit tongue in cheek because while I'm a new owner, I've come to realize that my girl loves to learn stuff, as much as she likes to please me, I really wanted some other ideas of something else she can work on and have fun with, and I can also have fun with it too. I'm not ever going to neglect taking her out, thats not in my mind ever, NOR do I plan on rushing her to learn this. Its all at her pace, which surprises me how fast she picks stuff up tbh... She actually shows interest in ringing the bell for treats, which is a start IMO.

 

At any rate, I do love the thought of bell training, just because I see she's showing interest in doing it. I tell her to 'ring the bell' and she gets a treat and plenty of praise for doing it. at the moment, the treat is cheez-its (yes I know, she doesn't get them any other time though) At some point when she's ready I'll go to the next step.

 

So no worries y'all, she's far from being abused and doing slave labour!

[dante2zoe]

My dogs will stand on their heads for Cheez-its! Hoping it all comes together for you quickly.

[Guest chickenpotpie]

My dogs will stand on their heads for Cheez-its! Hoping it all comes together for you quickly.

Thanks. She is like her momma apparently, and loves challenges....except running through the water sprinkler! The only thing she won't do for ANYTHING at the moment is stairs to the basement. She will however peek her head in the doorway but thats as far as she wants to go.

 

I saw the big monterey jack cheeze-its at the store today. lol At least with cheez-its I don't have to worry about them smelling bad...unlike the hotdogs.(gross)

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

Please understand I'm not trying to put it all on her, absolutely not! The title is a bit tongue in cheek because while I'm a new owner, I've come to realize that my girl loves to learn stuff, as much as she likes to please me, I really wanted some other ideas of something else she can work on and have fun with, and I can also have fun with it too. I'm not ever going to neglect taking her out, thats not in my mind ever, NOR do I plan on rushing her to learn this. Its all at her pace, which surprises me how fast she picks stuff up tbh... She actually shows interest in ringing the bell for treats, which is a start IMO.

 

At any rate, I do love the thought of bell training, just because I see she's showing interest in doing it. I tell her to 'ring the bell' and she gets a treat and plenty of praise for doing it. at the moment, the treat is cheez-its (yes I know, she doesn't get them any other time though) At some point when she's ready I'll go to the next step.

 

That's good. My grey was the same way about training. She still loves to learn and I like coming up with new things to teach her. Bell training was really simple for us. I had already taught her the "touch" command, and it was only a matter of training her to target the bells instead of my hand.

 

One thing I did that really cemented it in her brain that ringing bells = going outside was to require her to ring the bell to go out on her regular potties for several days. After, of course, the dog already knows to touch the bells on cue. After the first couple days I stopped asking her to touch the bells, and waited by the door when it was time to go out until she reached over and did it on her own.

 

It clicked, and now we're slaves to the bells. . . sometimes.

 

Jayne is pretty regular in her potty habits. Out first thing in the morning, when DH gets home, when I get home, and at bedtime. She mostly uses the bells on the weekends, when we're not opening the door fast enough, or when she sees a squirrel. Occasionally we do tell her to knock it off, because she's only wanting to go out to bark at a feral cat, etc. We can tell though, which type of ringing it is. If she's just standing at the door repeatedly ringing the bells, she doesn't "need" to go out. If she rings the bells, then circles near the door, she has to potty.

 

Every dog is different, of course, but learning your dog's cues, and teaching her is part of the joys of having them! Keep us updated on your progress!

 

 

 

 

Also, braunschweiger. Jayne would learn algebra for that stuff. Don't use much at a time, it's salty. I roll it into little balls, roll those in corn starch so they don't stick, then freeze them. I'll pull 3-4 balls out for a bit of training, that way one bit of braunschweiger lasts me for months and months.

 

 

ETA: My bells are from a christmas wreath that I loved for it's obnoxiousness, but DH hated for the same reason. I cannibalized it. I took 4 bells and put them on a chain. You can see in the video that they are attached to the counter next to the door, not on the door itself, that way we don't have bells ringing every time we open the door.

 

 

Edited again to add: If your girl is enjoying touching the bells for a treat, you might try making a game of it with her toys. Here Jayne is asked to get her sheep, which is just to touch it. I got her to the point where she could pick out her sheep, rabbit, or monkey when all three were lined up on the couch. It's a completely worthless trick, but it was something fun to do after we'd gotten all the basics down. I rarely do it anymore, but she still enjoys it when we do.

 

Edited May 21, 2013 by Jayne

[Guest giantsfan]

We do the christmas bell thing too. It works great. Even if you have a routine, every dog is going to have a time when they need to go out in an emergency.

[Guest chickenpotpie]

Yeah I'm learning that in spades. Like early this morning I woke up to ringing bells. thought I was dreaming but uh uh, she was by the door because she couldn't get me up any other way apparently! Why do I have the feeling she won't do this when we're having training sessions?

 

She doesn't like the cowbell I got. hmmm sometimes more cowbell isn't whats needed I guess....

 

I think we're starting to settle into a routine finally...lets hope anyway!

[Guest chickenpotpie]

So as an update, she does the bell thing VERY WELL! Not only does she use it when she's gotta go, but when she wants to take a walk I would have NEVER thought it was that darn easy to teach her but it really was!

 

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

Awesome!

[Guest giantsfan]

Great! And what an adorable picture.

[Guest kkaiser104]

The bells literally saved my floors last year. Not that Teddi was bad at potty training--he wasn't--he's just very quiet and had a hard time telling me he had to go out if it differed from our normal routine. He learned fast, and my roommate's puppy learned too! Now he rarely uses them since he has regular times and then I take him out before/after I leave to avoid accidents, but it's nice when someone is watching Teddi for me since he won't bark or whine at them. I bought these..

 

https://www.etsy.com/transaction/116824084?ref=fb2_tnx_title

[Guest chickenpotpie]

The bells literally saved my floors last year. Not that Teddi was bad at potty training--he wasn't--he's just very quiet and had a hard time telling me he had to go out if it differed from our normal routine. He learned fast, and my roommate's puppy learned too! Now he rarely uses them since he has regular times and then I take him out before/after I leave to avoid accidents, but it's nice when someone is watching Teddi for me since he won't bark or whine at them. I bought these..

 

https://www.etsy.com/transaction/116824084?ref=fb2_tnx_title

ooooo those are nice! way better than what I rigged up Knowing she LIKES the bell system has been helpful, and the fact that she also uses them helps too. She only bothers during the day, in the evening we have a set schedule that works. I'd consider getting a better looking set but I don't want to mess her up. I'll just tell people she made it.

[3greytjoys]

So as an update, she does the bell thing VERY WELL! Not only does she use it when she's gotta go, but when she wants to take a walk I would have NEVER thought it was that darn easy to teach her but it really was!

 

 

Congratulations! She sounds like a very smart girlie, and I'm sure she will appreciate her new, clear method of communication with you.

 

I'm sure you'll figure this out, but whenever you are about to do something important and don't want to be disturbed, an outing before a hound's bell demand can be a good thing. Murphy's Law is the most determined bell ringing happens just after sitting down to human's warm dinner, or making an important call, etc. Our hounds have also learned the butler's door person's "I'll be right there" in a high happy voice.

 

Hope you and your smart girl have fun with other training, games, and activities too. They love to use their minds after they retire from their previous racing jobs.

[Guest chickenpotpie]

 

Congratulations! She sounds like a very smart girlie, and I'm sure she will appreciate her new, clear method of communication with you.

 

I'm sure you'll figure this out, but whenever you are about to do something important and don't want to be disturbed, an outing before a hound's bell demand can be a good thing. Murphy's Law is the most determined bell ringing happens just after sitting down to human's warm dinner, or making an important call, etc. Our hounds have also learned the butler's door person's "I'll be right there" in a high happy voice.

 

Hope you and your smart girl have fun with other training, games, and activities too. They love to use their minds after they retire from their previous racing jobs.

 

 

HAHAHA So true, she does this often enough that I've learned to ALWAYS get her outside before a conference call. She did it in the middle of a call once, the client was understanding and as he takes his dogs to work with him, it wasn't a big deal (he said I was well trained!)

 

I've got to get her some more food toys, she's a brainiac and its interesting to see how much I have to stay ahead of her. Plus even after walking 1.5 miles 2x a day (and I don't walk slow!), she wants to do zoomies in the house. I'm starting to wonder where the hell all this energy is coming from..... But thats a whole other thread!