# Playing games with the potty bell



## Colbie (Feb 9, 2013)

So after using the bell successfully for months, Colbie now uses the potty bell whenever she wants to go outside. At times this can be every 30 minutes.

Some of the the times she squats and I assume she is going pee but a lot of the time she is just sniffing and picking up whatever leaf, stick or whatever she can.

When she rings the bell but doesn't go, I put her in her crate and go back out every 30 minutes until she does.

Any suggestions on anything else I can do?


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## swaye (Mar 28, 2013)

There is an article that says to ignore the bell ringing when you are sure they don't have to go. I rarely was confident of that and when I did ignore, she would ravage the bells until we took her out. Most times she only wanted to play. A month ago, we took the bells away and this is working out much better. She barks when she has to go. She still has a few times when she is just playing us, but nothing like the bells. We are more confident in ignoring the attention barking, because it is a different bark than "I really have to go" and although not regular, we are better at knowing her schedule and signs. BTW, she is a year old and has been house trained since 4 months with the bells. I have read on here before where others have had this same challenge. It seems if you use the bells, the constant ringing is a rite of passage. I don't know how many follow through adulthood with the bells. They initially worked for us till she realized the ringing was her way outside to PLAY!!! Didn't take long, either.


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## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

My first Hav, Bailey, used a cow bell affixed to the bottom of the door moulding until he crossed the rainbow bridge at 15 years. Every time he rang it, out he went, whether it was to play or take care of business. Eventually it became the signal to take care of business. Occasionally, he would ring it and when I opened the door for him, he would just look at me and not make an attempt to move toward the open door. At those times, I used a stern voice, not a loud one, and stated, if you ring the bell you go out and he did. I only wish that Tyler learned the bell because if I don't see him sitting at the door, I have no clue that he wants to go out, but he had no interest. Why should he, he had Bailey to do it for him!


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## sda (Jan 19, 2012)

I was just thinking that I needed to ask you all for some advice regarding ringing the bells just for attention & then I saw this.  Bentley has been ringing the bells to go out to our screened in porch to use his potty patch since very early on (he's 2 now). Recently he has started ringing them and when I open the door he just looks out and then walks away. He mostly does this when we are eating dinner but occasionally at other times too, it is always when we are not paying attention to him. So, I started putting him in his ex-pen (which is in the kitchen so he's still near us) whenever he does this for about 5 minutes. I was hoping he'd put 2 + 2 together and realize that doing that isn't in his best interest. So far he's not gettin' it. Any suggestions?


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## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

ound: I 'm only laughing because I can TOTALLY relate. Mae is an obnoxious bell ringer. She's pretty well potty trained so I just ignore her if I know she only wants to go out and play or gaze at the stars. The other day she rang to go out, which she did, and when Tim didn't follow her she turned around and rang the bells again when she was outside!


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## Colbie (Feb 9, 2013)

sda said:


> I was just thinking that I needed to ask you all for some advice regarding ringing the bells just for attention & then I saw this.  Bentley has been ringing the bells to go out to our screened in porch to use his potty patch since very early on (he's 2 now). Recently he has started ringing them and when I open the door he just looks out and then walks away. He mostly does this when we are eating dinner but occasionally at other times too, it is always when we are not paying attention to him. So, I started putting him in his ex-pen (which is in the kitchen so he's still near us) whenever he does this for about 5 minutes. I was hoping he'd put 2 + 2 together and realize that doing that isn't in his best interest. So far he's not gettin' it. Any suggestions?


Colbie's not getting it either. I guess I'm just going to have to trust my instincts and take some chances and ignore some bell ringing and deal with some accidents. Isn't adolescence fun, NOT.


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## dwurms (Apr 17, 2013)

We are experiencing the same with Samoa who just turned 1. She rings that bell every hour! Sometimes we take the bells away, but then I feel bad, like I am preventing her from going out for a possible needed potty. I would say we are more bell trained than she is!

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

Update on Mae the happy bell ringer, she's MUCH better. Once she became really reliable I did ignore the excessive bell ringing and I think it worked. She does however ring the bells for Timmy if he is standing by the door though.


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## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

So this is what I have to look forward to!


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## Colbie (Feb 9, 2013)

Colbie has gotten better, some days are better then others. If I play with her a lot and she gets lots of other attention the bell ringing is less. Just an attention getter.

What I started doing if I don't think she need to go, I just ignore it. By the third time she rings it I know she really needs to go and so far that works… most of the time


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## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

Colbie said:


> By the third time she rings it I know she really needs to go and so far that works&#8230; most of the time


Yep me too, or whining by the door too. Timmy scratches to go out and I can tell how badly by how quickly he does it.


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## Rayven (Jul 3, 2013)

It actually never occurred to me to not let Ivy out when she rings the bell if I don't think she needs to pee. To me her ringing the bell is her way of telling me she wants to go outside. I don't care what she does when she gets out there. Sometimes she pees, sometimes she plays, sometimes it's because the neighbour dog is out and she wants to go say Hi. I much prefer her to ring the bell than whine or bark or scratch at the door. Of course, if I had to go out with her that would be a different story!


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

I got one of those Pebble Smart ringers that have a pad to press and a remote that you can carry into any room; it worked wonderfully for the first month or so, then, as I've posted somewhere else, the Pebble Smart got stuck (there are various tunes or alerts you can choose) on "The First Noel"; by the time we got to around the Twenty-First Noel in the space of about an hour, my husband lost it and removed the battery!!! I've never had the courage to put it back in. Cuba will still press the pad before we go out, and I'm now about ready to try again, IF I can find another tune!! I'm not hopeful, though. All your stories ring [sorry!] horribly true here, too!


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## cathryn (Apr 5, 2013)

Lulah is an expert bell ringer. At first she was scared of them, but she caught on very quickly, and we haven't had to worry about potty accidents in quite a while.

The last week or so she's discovered that ringing the bells means immediate attention! If we have time, we take her outside so she can play. If we're in the middle of something (homework with the boys, making dinner, etc.), and we know she doesn't have to go, we just put her outside on her own.

We have a small, fenced in yard, and we watch her through the patio door the whole time. She will run down the stairs, run around the snow maze we've made her, and then right back to the door....because she didn't _really _want to go outside.

We're hoping this will teach her that there are better ways of asking for attention, and that the bells are only for going outside to potty. Who knows.

Honestly, I'm willing to put up with the bell ringing. If I have to go upstairs to do laundry, I know I can hear her bells if she has to go out.

Of course, I may not be so willing after a few months of bell ringing...I'll have to let you know!


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