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[Jean Cote]

Hi CJSophie

What you are trying to do requires you to reinforce two behaviors.

1) You can reward your dog for ringing the bell by letting him out. Over time, you will indeed be training your dog to ring a bell whenever he wants to go outside. I don't think you can really train your dog to ONLY ring that bell when he really needs to go.

2) You must reward your dog after he's done his business with a treat and praise. This means that yes, you have to outside with him even if it's winter (I did this with my puppies). You can even say a command while he is doing his business (I use the command "duties"), and after 3 weeks you'll be able to say "duties!" and your dog will go on command.

 

[CJSophie]

Ok, perfect! Thank you so much!
I'm really anxious to get her doing a lot of things! We travel with my boyfriend 8 months out of the year so it's always been me and her. So it's been somewhat hard getting her familiar with her "duties" spot. But each time his jobs are over, Sophie and I return back to my parents house so I think she has become familiar with their house.
However, they have a dog so usually when it's time to do duties, they usually go together. Also, I always go outside with her telling her to potty because most of the time she gets distracted and sometimes follows the other dog around instead of doing her duties. She's never outside without me.

But I think I have a small problem because I'm not sure if my parents are following the same ritual (as of now, and using the bell) as I am and therefor I'm thinking this might confuse Sophie. But I will continue to be patient and have her ring the bell and take her out with click and treats.

Thanks again for your helpful information. I'm so excited that now I can find help and ask questions about specific issues. This is much easier than trying to look it up online.