RING THE BELL

TRAIN YOUR DOG TO RING A BELL WHEN HE WANTS TO GO OUTSIDE

Dogs are so intelligent; they can learn tonnes of different tricks! In this issue, we look at teaching your dog to ring a bell when he wants to go outside. Amazing right? How cool and convenient would it be if your dog had a mechanism where he could effectively communicate his needs?

This fun and useful trick is excellent for people who live in cities and apartments where their dogs don't have free rein to nip into the garden when they need to. You can teach this skill to new puppies or mature dogs, and with a little patience, your best buddy will be ringing that bell in no time.

WHY TEACH YOUR DOG THIS TRICK?

Teaching your dog to ring a bell whenever he wants to go outside is a fun and effective twist on house training. It covers a wide range of skills, including enabling your dog to cross the language barrier and communicate in a way everyone can understand.

Teaching your dog skills is essential to sharpen their minds. Think of the early days of their puppyhood as the development phase of their upbringing. Focus on teaching him a wide variety of skills. It will give him excellent manners as he matures, which means better integration into our suburban lives.

WHAT WILL YOU NEED FOR THE TRAINING?

Now that you have decided to embark on this challenge, here are the supplies you need to 'bell train' your pooch. With these essentials, the training will be even more enjoyable for you both. You will need the following:

• A touch target: This can be a milk bottle lid or something similar in size.

• A bell: Electronic chimes would be ideal, but a good old-fashioned bell tied to the doorknob will work just fine. The bell must hang low enough so your dog can reach it with his paw and be loud enough that you can hear it from anywhere in the house.

• Training treats: For tricks like these, it's always a good idea to bring out the extra special treats.

• Time for training: Although this isn't a particularly difficult trick to pull off, you must set a routine. Choose times when your pup is more likely to do his business.

• Verbal commands: Choose a command and stick to it, for consistency's sake. Get as creative as you like but make them easy for your dog to remember. The verbal commands you will need:

• A command to sit.

• A command to touch.

• A command to tell you he needs to go outside.

By teaching your dog this trick, you will particularly practice the 'sit' and 'touch' commands. If he's unfamiliar with the individual aspects of this trick, break it up into stages. You don't want to overwhelm your willing student with too many unfamiliar commands.

The next part is split into two sections; the first covers teaching your dog to ring a bell, and then we progress to making the association between ringing the bell and going outside.

Gather your supplies to begin your training, and remember to enjoy the process. In no time at all you’ll have a housetrained genius!

TRAIN YOUR DOG TO RING A BELL

The first part of this trick will teach your dog how to ring a bell. You'll ask your dog to sit by the bell and touch his paw to it to make a noise. Dogs do a lot of communicating with their paws, and we just need to refine this natural behaviour and turn it into a habit. First, we will teach our pup to touch his paw to an object and then associate it with ringing the bell.

TEACHING TOUCH

The touch command is a classic skill to teach your dog. It allows you to do a whole range of things like high-fives, touch specific objects and push buttons. Once you nail the touch command, this trick will become a whole lot easier to perfect.

1. Take your touch target and place it in front of your dog on the floor.

2. Wait for him to show interest; he should start to paw the target.

3. Immediately, as he touches the target, give the touch command and praise him heavily.

4. If he does not paw the target, tap on the target with your fingernail.

5. Repeat this until he understands that touching the target with his paw results in a reward.

6. Now try moving the target to another place in the same space and ask him to touch it.

7. If he touches the target, he is really starting to get the hang of it. If not, keep calm and try again.

RINGING THE BELL

Now that the touch groundwork is done, it is time to ring the bell!

1. Stick the target on the chime button or on the bell itself.

2. Have your pup sit within paw's reach of the bell.

3. Ask him to touch the target so that it makes a noise.

4. When the bell rings, get excited, and praise and treat him with as much enthusiasm as you can muster.

5. If he doesn't immediately understand that he needs to touch the bell to make a noise, show him by ringing the bell yourself.

6. Repeat until he understands that touching the bell plus the noise results in a yummy treat and some praise.

It may take your dog a few days to grasp the concept. Keep consistent with your training, and soon he'll associate ringing the bell with his reward. At this point, your canine friend is one step away from becoming a house-trained master. Now it's time to associate ringing the bell with going outside.

RING THE BELL TO GO OUTSIDE

Now that your dog has begun to grasp ringing the bell, it's time to turn him into a genius. Let's teach him how to communicate his needs. The goal is to associate ringing the bell with going outside to do his business. We are going to achieve this association by combining the two behaviours.

To achieve the desired association, you need to correlate toilet time with bell ringing. The next time you take your dog out into the garden, ask him to sit and touch the bell. If he's still getting the hand of it, practice the touch command a few more times. As soon as he gets it, take him outside. Some dogs learn faster than others, but they all get it eventually.

The final step is teaching him to ring the bell independently and indicate he would like to go outside. Go through the entire process until your dog can complete each step without extra encouragement. Once your dog associates ringing the bell with going to potty, he will begin to ring the bell all by himself - when he needs to.

PRO TIPS!

Are you experiencing some frustration while teaching your dog a new trick? Try these tips to reinvigorate your training sessions.

• Pause the training session: Distract yourselves for a while and resume the training with a fresh mind.

• Give your dog a confidence boost: Ask him to do something he is already good at, even if it is the 'sit' command. Reward him heavily and let him know how clever he is.

• Give him tons of positive reinforcement. Show him how much you appreciate his contribution towards the lessons. Use a kind and friendly demeanour, show lots of patience, and provide yummy treats!

• Keep the training sessions short: Start with 5-10 minute training slots to avoid him losing focus, and gradually increase the time as he improves.

• Exercise your pooch before training sessions. Getting rid of his excess energy will help him to focus more in training.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It truly is amazing how clever these animals are. With a bit of time and patience, you can teach your dog almost anything. Now that he knows the touch command, you can take it a step further and teach him how to switch the lights on and off, open doors and give doggy high-fives. We hope you enjoy teaching your pooch this neat trick!