Teaching "speak" to open door

[MicheleMarie]

Can someone help me with mechanics of how to teach my dog to "speak" when she wants to come back inside the house? She already knows the "speak" command. The sweet girl is so well behaved that she doesn't scratch at doors and doesn't bark without a reason, so she just sits outside the door until I remember to let her back in. (We recently moved from a house I owned with a doggy door and now I'm renting.) I have a metal door and I can't see her to know when she wants back inside. Do I just start giving the "speak" command before I open the door to let her back inside? Any better ideas?

[kywildcat581]

that is exactly what I was going to suggest in this situation - to make her speak for the open door.... sooner or later it would seem she will catch on and know speaking out oud means opening a door. But then again I have seen dogs that assume this anyhow without training... may be something mother nature may teach her.... never know.. I am working with blitz the same... best of luck with it!

[VANCOUVERISLANDROT]

Just another option...but we've taught out little guy to ring a bell that we've tied to the inside of our door when he wants out for potty. He's caught on very quickly and when he's old enough to go outside on his own, we'll probably just tie a bell to the outside to let us know he wants back in. There's no missing the bell because he shakes it pretty vigourosly.

Rotti's are prone to be quiet dogs so we just figured instead of encouraging him to bark, we'd try a different approach.

Julie

[StephanieandToby]

Be careful what you wish for!!!!

I've also heard of the bell-ringing idea....

[carolkasper]

We taught our first rottie to bark at three months by just holding her food and making a barking sound, then she just copied us. Kasper our 8 month old male just sits and stares at us and doesn't make a sound.

[Canadianrotti]

I would be carefull about the barling while outside. It may be convienient for you, so you know when to let her in, but it may agrivate your neighbours!!

Our dogs only go out to do thier business, then come right back in, so I sat at the door for a min or 2, then let them in.

[Sargeant_C]

We do the bell too. Dakota my lab will speak until he goes to sleep and it is a constant Shut up! Sarge rarely barks inside and so when he had to go outside we had to come up with something to let us know. So we hung a bell and sure enough he caught on immediately and we knew what he had to do.

[scooterjohansen]

You can get inexpensive electronic door bells and instead of speaking to get in the dog just pushes the the button. Install yourself even in a rental. she will get the hang of it pretty quickly. best of luck.

[OWQ]

I, too, taught Baggins to use a bell. He picked it up quickly. The one thing you need to do is respond to the bell ringing immediately -- as soon as it rings, happily run and open the door.

[ShelbyGirl]

Could someone explain the bell training, I really like that idea!

[VANCOUVERISLANDROT]

I just went to the dollar store and bought 2 large round bells (about the size of a small peach?), some craft thread as it's a bit thicker and I hung it from the top hinge of the door. At first we hung it from the door knob but that got annoying really quick for us. So now I have it on a longer string coming down the opposite side of the door so that he can reach it. I also put one at every door he goes in/out through.

When he was younger every time we took him out for potty we would walk him to the bell, say "ring your bell" and take his paw and ring it once. He got it pretty quick and now (he's 18 weeks old) he just walks up to it on his own now and either taps it with his nose or grabs the string and gives it a heck of a good shake. Guess it depends how badly he has to pee?! haha!

Sometimes if I'm standing right there he'll just sit at the door and look at me. I'll still say "ring your bell" and Mr. Attitude will go to his bell and hit it with his paw really hard and give me serious looks. Like a "whatever Mom! you know I have to go!". He's a cheeky bugger! haha

[craftylady]

Wow.....what a great idea.....Sativa does a dance between me and the door or if I am sleeping I get a wet nose in my mouth.....I can't wait to go buy some bells! lol

[ShelbyGirl]

Originally Posted by VANCOUVERISLANDROT

I just went to the dollar store and bought 2 large round bells (about the size of a small peach?), some craft thread as it's a bit thicker and I hung it from the top hinge of the door. At first we hung it from the door knob but that got annoying really quick for us. So now I have it on a longer string coming down the opposite side of the door so that he can reach it. I also put one at every door he goes in/out through.

When he was younger every time we took him out for potty we would walk him to the bell, say "ring your bell" and take his paw and ring it once. He got it pretty quick and now (he's 18 weeks old) he just walks up to it on his own now and either taps it with his nose or grabs the string and gives it a heck of a good shake. Guess it depends how badly he has to pee?! haha!

Sometimes if I'm standing right there he'll just sit at the door and look at me. I'll still say "ring your bell" and Mr. Attitude will go to his bell and hit it with his paw really hard and give me serious looks. Like a "whatever Mom! you know I have to go!". He's a cheeky bugger! haha

That's great! Thanks a lot!

Funny story too.