# Switching from Bell to Door Chime



## CaseysMom (Jun 10, 2008)

Casey is doing remarkably well with her bell training, but I am considering switching to a wireless door chime because I don't always hear the bell. My concern is that she is only 3 1/2 weeks into the bell training and I don't want to confuse her. 

Should I wait until the bell training is further reinforced before I try to switch her over?


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## Me&2Girls (May 11, 2007)

Not having done this, I can't speak from experience, but she's so young perhaps you can treat it like teaching her a new trick?


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## MaddiesMom (Apr 1, 2007)

Maddie uses bells to alert us she wants to go out. She knows the difference in the sound of the doorbell. She's never been confused. However, let someone ring a doorbell on t.v., and she'll immediately run to the front door. :biggrin1:


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## CaseysMom (Jun 10, 2008)

Ha, ha, that's pretty funny, Jeanne!


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## LuvCicero (Mar 31, 2008)

Hey, I don't know if Casey will get confused or not, but I think the door chime needs to be a different sound from your regular door. You don't want it to chime and Casey wonder who rung 'her' bell.

The jingle bells were not loud enough for me either and I got a parrot bell at PetSmart -- they have different sizes. Cicero rung it to death at first, but now only does it when he wants out.

This picture shows the wooden attachment that DH made to tack on the door frame so it wouldn't make a noise everytime anyone opened the door.


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## JanB (Oct 26, 2007)

I think she won't be confused if you are consistent with the new chimes. Dogs, like kids, are amazingly resilient. 

Dale, that is tooo cute 

Tessa uses the jingle bells but if I don't hear her (or ignore her because I know she just wants out to play) the first time she becomes increasingly aggressive with them, even so far as to fling them off the door, LOL!!! So not hearing them is not a problem around here especially since she never strays too far away from me. I love the bell system and hope Tucker picks it up soon.


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## Poornima (Jun 29, 2007)

Dale, that's such a CUTE picture. Cicero is adorable.


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## LuvCicero (Mar 31, 2008)

Jan - Poornima, Thanks for the compliment. I wish he was still that small -- but he is still that cute and sweet. He takes his paw and wacks the heck out of that bell and he doesn't let up till we open the door. Half the time he just wants a stick to chew on.  Yep, Jan, I know what you are talking about. I'm afraid to ignore him right now because I don't want him to have an accident or think it doesn't work. He's good now, but the first couple of weeks he ran my legs off with that dang bell. ound:


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## JanB (Oct 26, 2007)

LuvCicero said:


> Jan - Poornima, Thanks for the compliment. I wish he was still that small -- but he is still that cute and sweet. He takes his paw and wacks the heck out of that bell and he doesn't let up till we open the door. Half the time he just wants a stick to chew on.  Yep, Jan, I know what you are talking about. I'm afraid to ignore him right now because I don't want him to have an accident or think it doesn't work. He's good now, but *the first couple of weeks he ran my legs off with that dang bel*l. ound:


Oh yeah, I think I started a new thread to that effect not long after Tessa began using the bells. LOL!! She even used them several times to lure me away from the sofa so she could backtrack around me to grab my knitting. These guys are just TOO smart, lol.

And now I have two dogs "fighting" over the same stick and choice pieces of mulch ound:

But all in all I LOVE the bell concept!


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## EstrellaVila (Nov 30, 2007)

Dale - That picture is too adorable! I love the attachment you made, very clever.

I love bell training, and it is definetly fun for the silly clown puppies.


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## MaddiesMom (Apr 1, 2007)

Cicero is so adorable! The bells are great. I use a couple of painted cow bells attached with a ribbon. Maddie rings them like mad. But its not just to go out. She rings them when she's hungry too. She also rings them when my daughter's Westie is here and he sits by the door. She thinks she should tell us that he needs to go out.


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## CaseysMom (Jun 10, 2008)

*Juuuust about there.*

Arrrrh! I have been raving about how well Casey has been doing with her potty/bell training....and she has........but obviously not 100%.....the little trickster peed on my bed last night!! I felt guilty that she was on the floor while I was watching TV on the bed, so I picked her up and plopped her on the bed, and she quickly squatted! Nooooo!!!! Puppy pee on my pretty comforter!

Seriously, though, I really can't complain too much, she is probably 80% there at only 4 months old. I still think she is a little genius (in my objective, unbiased opinion! LOL!)


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## Trish (Jan 15, 2008)

I would love to try again "the bell" for potty alert!! I tried it when they were young and they knew it meant a treat at some point..if they pottied!! They eventually just rang it to make me come and take them out..never really connecting potty with bell!! They loved the attention!! I wanted to try again, but I cannot find a bell... Any ideas where to find one????? Trish


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## CaseysMom (Jun 10, 2008)

One thing I have never done is confuse 'potty time' with 'play time'. When she rings the bell, I take her outside and literally stand there with my arms folded. Some times she dawdles, and I will say "go pee-pee, go pee-pee", but if she tries to make it play time, I refuse. If I happen to be doggie sitting for my sis-in-law, I take them outside separately so they don't have an opportunity to confuse "potty time" with "play time". Also, I never praise her or give her a treat unless she makes potty. In other words, I don't praise her for simply returning to the door.


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## CaseysMom (Jun 10, 2008)

So far, not so good. She just doesn't seem to be catching on to the door bell. We have velcro-ed it to the floor beside the door and take her paw and push the button when she hovers around the door, but she has never once pawed the button herself. I am wondering if I should go back to the bell, or just keep trying the door bell. Maybe if I put the doorbell on the wall at eye-level she might be more inclined to hit the button with her nose. Any advice/ideas?


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