Constantly ringing the bell to go outside and Demanding attention

[PatsyIppolito]

Hello!  I have an 8 month old yorkie/maltese/shitzu cross.  As a very young puppy, she would go to the door to ask to go out for potty, but would not make any sound.  I taught her to ring a bell which she learned very quickly and has been doing ever since.  She loves to go outside and unfortunately now rings the bell several times a day just to go outside.  I tried letting her out after a while on her own to do her business, but then she won't come in and is too fast to catch.  I have reverted back to taking her out on a leash to do her business and then bring her back in.  If she doesn't go she comes right back in.  Also, she gets a treat if she does her business, but none if she doesn't.  Part of the problem is that my neighbours have a puppy that is outside a lot of the time, so mine is always looking for her and wants to play all the time.  I don't yet trust her outside just to play on her own as she likes to dig and also barks at everyone and everything, and eats whatever she can find.   She has several toys and we play hide and seek, hide the treats, fetch, food puzzle games, go for walks....just to name a few.  She also can sit, lay down, roll over, play dead, high five,  etc.  She is constantly demanding attention and wanting to play and as soon as I am not giving her attention, she is then ringing the bell.  The bell ringing is driving me crazy!  Any suggestions you have would be helpful.  Thanks!

[Adrienne]

Hello and welcome to the forums!

I am happy to hear that your girl is so smart to have learned all those obedience cues and tricks! Kudos to you for training her all of that!

Bell training can be a great method for potty training, but it comes with some disadvantages, and one of the biggest ones is what you are exactly describing: a dog asking repeatedly to be taken out- but for other reasons than going potty. For this reason, I am really not a big fan of this method, but rather prefer taking dogs out at scheduled intervals and training them to go potty on command. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/potty-on-command/ However, there are ways to remedy to this common bell-training issue, although it sounds like you are already doing many things right (going out with her on leash and rewarding for doing her business).  

-I would suggest differentiating bell ringing due to a true need to potty from bell ringing because she wants to go play outside. You can do this simply by keeping track of your pup’s elimination patterns. I would make a log on when she goes  potty by watching her carefully every time she's taken outside on leash. If you took her out just half hour ago and she urinated and had a bowel movement on that trip, it is quite unlikely that she’ll need to go again within this brief time frame.

-Make going outside on leash boring. Take her to the spot and if she doesn't go potty within a few minutes, head back inside and watch her carefully for the next minutes. Be ready to take her out again as needed.

-When she does go potty, praise and give a reward, and then allow her some time to enjoy the yard sniffing around if you can allow that safely (see below about the importance of training leave its and drop its). 

-Make being indoors fun and rewarding. Brain games, clicker training, treasure hunts, nosework. Try rotating her toys to keep her interest in them alive. 

Buffering outdoor sounds that attract her may also help. She may likely hear the puppy outside and wants to join the fun. Playing music, keeping the TV on or white noise produced by a fan can help buffer sounds. However, you may ultimately want to work on teaching her to behave outdoors. 

-Provide a digging area for her where she can dig and section off areas where she can't dig.  Here are more tips for digging: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/digging/

-For barking at everyone and everything, you may find the look at that method helpful using a smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/

-For eating things try to dog-proof your yard as much as possible and you may want to train leave its and drop its:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/

For attention seeking behavior, encourage independent games like the muffin game, meals fed in Kong Wobblers, treasure hunts. Here are tips for attention seeking behaviors: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/whining/attention-seeking/

If she plays hard to catch, you can find some tips here: 

You may also find it helpful training her to come when called and enjoy collar grabs;

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/recall/

I hope this helps,

Best,

Adrienne 

 

 

 

 

[PatsyIppolito]

Thank so much for your response and the information.  We have some more work to do!  I am wondering about getting rid of the bell.  Is there a way to do that properly?  

 

One more thing I am noticing is that when she comes inside from a rigorous play outside with her buddy from next door, she is very wound up and wants to play more - almost hyperactive.  Today I tried something different and gave her a bully stick to chew on when she came in.  She chewed for a while and then went to sleep.  I'm also open to any other tips and suggestions.  

Thanks!

[Adrienne]

I hope I didn't overwhelm you with the exercises posted! They aren't meant to be worked on all at once. Baby steps. Some exercises may be more of a priority compared to others. For example, with pups who eat things outside in the yard, training a good leave it and drop it may be higher priority due to risks of ingesting harmful things compared to a digging or a barking problem. 

Are you planning to temporary get rid of the bells for good? If she has been doing remarkably well with it until now, it may be a pity letting go of this skill, especially if this is just a temporary glitch due to the arrival of the neighbor's new puppy. How long has this new puppy been around? If very recently, things may go back to normal once the novelty factor wears out. We don't want her to start having accidents in the home because you may have missed her trying to get your attention by walking towards the door to ring the bells. However, if the noise of the bells is particularly bothersome, maybe you can tape them to produce less sound? This way you may still know when she's asking to be let out and evaluate whether there's a true need to potty or not. 

What you describe sounds like a cranky puppy after playing. She is likely tired, but some young pups don't have the ability to self-soothe and settle and can remain overstimulated for some time. This is a skill that takes time to master. Puppies, just like toddlers, can therefore be reluctant to put themselves to bed when in this state of mind unless you help them. Giving her something to chew on can act as a "pacifier" and help her relax enough to snooze. 

You can help a cranky, overstimulated puppy relax or fall asleep by reducing stimulation so to help them settle down, relax and nap. Here are some tips:

-Bring your puppy to a quiet place where they usually sleep (crate, exercise pen).
-Remove access to overly stimulating toys
-Encourage calming activities like snuffle mats, Licki-mats and food puzzles
-Provide a chew toy or edible chew to gnaw on top of a mat/ dog bed (these can act as pacifiers)
-Talk to your puppy in a quiet, soothing tone of voice
-Act calm. This will help your puppy calm down too
-Close all curtains and blinds
-Turn lights off (or placing a blanket over the crate)
-Play calming music (like Through a Dog's Ear) so to cut down on background noise.

 

 

 

 

 

[JMFS]

I'll go ahead and admit I skimmed the post to get the gist of it because I also use a bell.  To drive home the point that the bell is for "business trips," I say "potty," after she rings the bell.  Initially when she was ringing it just to go outside I started putting her on the 50' lead I have.  That meant she still had plenty of room to sniff, but not a whole lot to play and outside got boring quickly.  If I initiated the trip outside I left her off the lead.  Eventually she got it into her head that bell = business trip <> play.  Now she rings the bell only when she's downright serious about needing to go potty. 

Rarely I have to reinforce the idea because she's a smart little toot and will ring the bell to play.  I've gotten to where I can read her body language to tell whether she's serious or not.  It's Usually after the cat has killed a squirrel, or something else interesting, is outside and she wants to get back to it.  She tattles on herself pretty quick because she goes straight to whatever it is so the rest of the day I'll put her on the lead to remind her the bell is only for true calls of nature.

I hope that helps!

[PatsyIppolito]

Thank you!  So appreciative of all of the ideas and tips.  I have been putting some things into effect and I think things are improving.  The puppy next door has been there since I got mine.  They love to play together which is great, but mine is constantly looking for her.  Unfortunately, there is nowhere in my yard where she can't see the fenceline where the other puppy hangs out so she is still looking every time she goes out to go potty.  We will keep working.  Can you tell I'm a first time dog owner - lol!  i love her to bits - she's just so darn smart!

[Adrienne]

Your puppy sounds indeed very smart and very sociable! She must really love playing with her pal since she's always looking for her.

If this neighbor pup has always been there, then one thing you can do is that, once your pup is doing better with the "leave it" and "drop it" cues, and therefore not eating things around (removing as much tempting things as you can, helps too), when you take your puppy on leash to potty, the moment she goes, you can praise and hand a treat and then unleash her so that she can enjoy some free time in the yard (always under your supervision). 

This may help her with time to "stay on task" (going potty) when she goes out as she will learn that going potty gets her multiple rewards: praise, a treat and then freedom to look for her friend or explore. Even better if she can be trained to go potty on command. 

On top of this, I always encourage puppy owners to form a strong bond with their puppies through fun play and many rewarding activities. We want to become the most fun and reinforcing figure to our pups. The more they bond with us, the less dog-to-dog oriented they may become. Being dog-to-dog oriented isn't a bad thing, but it can get out of hand sometimes. 

Happy training!

[PatsyIppolito]

Thanks again - so helpful!  We are working on the going on demand.  She does get play time with the other puppy - typically once a day.  Now that the snow is melting, I need to get on top of things and clean up the yard.  

I try to do lots of fun things with her - games, tricks, etc.  I'm always open to new games and tricks to teach her.  

 

[Adrienne]

Sounds like a plan! 

Keep me posted on her progress!

Best,

Adrienne