A few years ago, we bought an ingenious little product called a Pet Chime. The idea is that you put this oversized doorbell button on the floor by the door, and the dog presses the button to alert you that he needs to go out; you take the dog out, and save on carpet cleaning bills.
It was surprisingly easy to train two of the three Mini Schnauzers who let us live with them to use the bell. The third, our "human" dog, Lili, just didn't understand why she should take the time. Her needs are met in every way, so why bother?
We started with teaching the "touch" trick [see previous post - Teaching a Dog to Touch on Command]. This behavior was then fairly easily transferred to touch the bell - go outside. In a week or so, both Ivie and Trooper had this figured out (Lili did easily learn the touch trick, since she wouldn't pass up a chance to get a yummy treat, but she still can't be bothered to ring the bell to go out).
Fast forward a couple of years, and Trooper seems to have discovered a new use for the bell. Now after ringing the bell, instead of standing by the front door, when we come downstairs we'll find him standing by the food bowl (I'm hungry) or standing at the base of the stairs (please open the gate - I'm lonely and want to be upstairs with you), or even standing in the middle of the living room carpet with his favorite toy in his mouth (I'm bored and want you to play with me).
Lately, he's even started a new trick with the bell. We think he rings it when Lili needs to go out. There have been multiple occasions where he will ring the bell, get taken out, and then ring it again just a few minutes later. Yet, when we go downstairs to see what he wants, he runs from the door and curls up on the sofa, but Lili, the one who never bothers to ring the bell (unless there's a treat involved), is sitting patiently by the door waiting to go out. Our little canine companions never cease to amaze us!
"Jeeves, please have the car brought around."
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