Teach Your Dog Ring Bell

Rounder, a Rhodesian Ridgeback rescue, demonstrates how to teach your dog to ring the bell to go outside. This is a good alternative behavior to train to prevent your dog from scratching at the door to go outside. Also, you know your dog has to go out, even when you're not in the same room. You can also use an electric doorbell (the bell plugs into the wall; the ringer can be mounted anywhere).

NOTE: you can skip the blue tape on the target and just have your dog target the bell in your hand. That is a quicker way of teaching this behavior. Once he targets the bell in your hand on cue, put it on the door and follow the rest of the steps in the video. I like using a target stick and blue tape because they are both useful for teaching other behaviors. For example, you can use a target stick to teach spin, bow (slide the stick on the ground back between the dog's front legs) & crawl (when the dog is in a down, slowly slide the stick away from them on the ground). You can use the blue tape to teach the dog to close a door or drawer (touch) and as a body placement target.

I made this video for my sister, Lydia, and her beautiful dog, Belle.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• dog
• training
• positive
• clicker
• ring
• bell
• outside
• reinforcement
• Premiere_Elements_7

[cursiveK]

This was very helpful but I have a question. Training a dog usually means that the trainer asks for something and the dog will respond. This case is different because the tables will turn so that the dog will ask for something (by ringing the bell) and the trainer will respond (by opening the door). As of right now we are "touching" before we let her outside, but when (and how) will she know to do it by herself to let us know she wants to go out?

[rogersmmr]

@cursiveK That is a great question! I like the way you think. :-) You are pairing the two behaviors together - ringing the bell & going outside. If you are consistent, those two behaviors become linked. Dogs are economical in their actions to get to the reinforcement. The dog takes a behavioral shortcut, if you will, to get to the reinforcement. The bell predicts the door opening. Dog wants door open. Dog rings bell. This is similar to how you change a cue - new cue/pause/old cue.Does that help?

[lyssielover]

i am interested in trying this.i have a few questions. what could i use to substitute the clicker? and how long should i try each step? by that i mean, working with click, then touch, then ring.. how long should i work on each step/how long should i focus on each step before adding on and moving on to the next?

[rogersmmr]

@lyssielover Thank you for watching. You can substitute a word (like "yep") for the click. Pick a short, distinct word that you don't say all the time in normal conversation. There is no set time frame for each step. That will depend on the dog. When the dog is at about 80% accuracy, then you can increase the criteria. Count out 5 or 10 treats. Each time your dog gets it right, give a treat. If they don't respond, put the treat aside. Then, when the treats are gone, do the math. Happy training.

[cropleysd]

This is so brilliant. With a 10 week old RR, we're keen to get her well trained. Your videos are genius!

[rogersmmr]

@cropleysd Thank you for the kind words. And, congratulations on your new puppy!! How exciting! Enjoy puppyhood - they grow up so fast. Keep me posted. I look forward to seeing video. In the meantime - happy training. :-)

[cursiveK]

@rogersmmr It does help. Well, since she's smart enough to learn how to touch the bell, lets hope that with practice she'll start the "linking" soon :) Thank you!

[shadiaf98]

Very helpful. Thanks!

[whahappenwaz]

Very good

[poochiebells]

Very nice video - great instructions on how to use the cClicker. We have a lot of customers who use Clicker Training with PoochieBells - they are a perfect pair. BTW, your pooch is gorgeous!

[nuckkingfuts]

Gorgeous ridgeback by the way.

[nuckkingfuts]

This is a great video. You explain the steps on how to use the clicker and reinforcement perfectly. Thank you.

[toothyboy11]

BORING