How to Bell Train
1. Select your bell make sure the object is at a height your puppy can easily reach. The best location for the bell is either on the door itself or next to it. I choise a plastic change purse and a couple pennies because it was at hand, and have it hanging directly from the door handle.
2. Develop a "go out to potty" phrase. I ask Xena "Do you need to go out?"
3. Ring the bell yourself. Each time you bring the puppy to the door for a potty trip, say your potty phrase, ring the bell and give a treat. This way they associate the phrase and the action of going out with the noise. Repeat this as needed.
4. When you believe your pup is catching on, begin to coax the dog to nose or ring the bell itself. How you teach this can vary. I touched the "klunker" gently to Xena's nose while repeating her potty phrase then giving her a treat. Others suggest using a treat to get the dog to touch your hand, then moving it so the dog touches the bell to get the treat.
5. Continue as needed until the dog knows to go ring the bell to be let out. I found with Xena that as long as I was consistent, her progress was very quick and she became reliable fast.
6. Once the dog has caught on to the bell, make sure that they only use it when they want to go out. If they go out and try to play around, bring them back in, because walks and romps are separate. I gave Xena one minute to get down to business. If she didn't, then we went in and if she really had to go, she'd go back to the door and go through the routine. Most boxers are smart enough so they will still try to pull a fast one sometimes - Xena always conveniently had to go out when our neighbor was in the hallway - but generally use it for it's intended purpose.
And of course the key to any successful training - When the dog does recognize all or part of the routine, praise them to high heaven! For extra motivation, treats for ringing the bell (along with potty treats) can help.
This post was contributed by Julia (BoxerWB).
