Training The Dog To Ask To

[Nettie]

go out. How would you do this with a clicker, I'm trying to teach Bertie 'speak' and 'quiet'. I've taught him to ring the bell when he wants to go out and that's a bit hit and miss because he doesn't ring it loud enough, just pokes it with his nose. Any clues?

[selina]

You need to stay on the same lines but only click and treat for a stronger ding of the bell.

[JoC]

I used the bell, which was great but Charlie was a bit over enthusiastic about it and broke it!

 

I use speak, but I wait for him to bark before I even open the door whether I'm there or not. The door will not open unless he barks first. I do it one or two times with commands, and then once he realises that barking opens the door, I stop asking for the speak and wait for him to offer it, with one hand on the door handle if necessary to build up frustration.

 

Then I started ignoring him, pottering around the kitchen keeping one sneaky eye on him, and waiting for him to bark which is my cue to run to the door saying 'good boy good boy' and opening it for him.

 

I'm currently building up to getting him to bark when I'm not in the room, I go downstairs with him in the morning and hover around in the hallway, gradually getting further and further away from the door until he realises that barking at the door will have me running from wherever I am in the house to let him out.

 

However, should point out that Charlie doesn't really like going in the garden, and he's a bit too thick to realise he can get my attention that way, so I don't have a problem with it but some dogs might use it to their advantage.

 

If the bell is working for you, and you don't want a dog that barks for stuff (some dogs generalise the barking to anything they want at the time) then you can buy those doggy doorbells, the dog pushes it with his nose and it makes a barking noise. That way it doesn't matter how hard he shoves it, it should still be loud enough for you to hear. Or you could buy a normal wireless doorbell (with a big button) and train him to activate that.

Edited March 14, 2006 by JoC