[nagdu] Re-Teaching a Dog to Alert for Off Schedule Break

[Julie J.]

Okay here's how I taught my two dogs to ring the bell to go out.  Or at 
least what happened. *smile*

I purchased a set of very large round Christmas bells already strung on 
a handy ring intended to hang on a door knob as a holiday decoration.  I 
removed the large red velvet bow, so they became a year round 
decoration.  I hung the bells on the back door and then promptly got 
busy with the 1,701 things that go on around the holidays.  I had 
intended on coming up with some sort of brilliant training plan.  I 
never did find the time though.  When it was time to go out I would 
remember the bells, so I'd give them a jingle and then open the door.  
It was Pavlov's classic conditioning, but I wasn't thinking about that 
at the time.  I was thinking about all the presents I had left to wrap 
and the cookies I needed to bake.  Belle, my older dog, figured out the 
purpose of the bells and was ringing them by the second day.  Monty 
wasn't far behind her.

That was three years ago? I think.  Since then I have seen training 
plans that include things like:
teaching the dog to nose target the bells, then moving them all around 
until the concept is generalized
putting something tasty on the bells to encourage touching them
working up to the door from a variety of directions

In my particular situation I should note that the back door is used 
exclusively with the bells.  I have never put them on a different door.  
When at home the back door is the only one used to take the dogs out to 
relieve, or at least 99.9% of the time.  Monty is very good about 
ringing the bells only when he needs out to relieve.  Missy Belle will 
ring them whenever she'd like human service...when it's feeding time, 
when the water dish is empty, when she'd like to go for a walk, when 
she'd like to sunbathe or when she's bored.   Remember I mentioned that 
teaching the bells was classic conditioning, ring the bell open the 
door.  Yeah, well it works on people too.  Now if those bells ring the 
humans pop up from the couch and are half way to the door before we even 
realize what we are doing. *smile*

Good luck!
Julie