[gregga]

Ok I have to say for only 6 months old my Sadie is doing great!!
She sits on command, does paw (both paws but who's bragging), lays down and is starting to come when called.
We have also been working on her with the bell for going outside and she just recently starting to ring it on her own.
The problem now is that she is constantly ringing this bell!!!!!!  At times she does go to the bathroom but more often than
not she is just ringing it to go outside and play.  I'm not sure how I can train her to use the bell for potty only?  
Technically she is not doing anything wrong by how she has been trained.

 

[ChloeAndBrodisMa]

That's one thing about bell training..it turns into an attention bell..Chloe is bell trained and she does the same, Ohh..look theres a kitty (ring ring)
A leaf just blew the wrong way (ring ring) it's endless..lol  I have noticed tho Chloe isn't quite as bad as she was when she was a puppy with ringing the bell every 10 mins

 

[gregga]

The problem is that every time she ring I feel obligated to bring her out because this is what I have taught her.
It is fuuny, my wife just called and said the dog is driving her crazy with the bell ringing (thank god at Im work).
So it sounds like there isnt a whole that can be done.  Just have to go with it and hope it slows down later on in life.

 

[ChloeAndBrodisMa]

When she rings the bell, take her out and give her some time to see if she actually has to potty if not bring her right back in. If she does go potty treat and praise her tons..I'm not sure what else to do. I know one time Chloe was driving hubby nuts with the bell and she rang it and he ignored it and she peed right by the door. He felt so bad. Now we can almost tell when Chloe is bluffing us or really has to pee..If she goes back and rings it non stop it's usually potty time..If she rings it and jumps up on the chair and lets out a big "sigh" it's usually because she just wants out.

 

[AbbyandBrady]

Yeah, it is the unfortunate side effect of this great technique! Brady did the same but over a couple months, he slowed.  Although it took some time for a couple weeks, what I did was not let him play if he rang the bell...I would take him outside, give him a couple minutes (not encourage play) and if he didn't go in a couple minutes, right back in he goes.  Play time was a separate thing.  Over time, he learned that ringing the bell was not going to get him a play session. BUT, in the meantime, you do need to encourage the bell ringing by going out each and every time, otherwise the training will be undone.  

At this point, I will occassionally put Brady outside on his runner and just let him hang out for a while. Their are several windows I can see him through to keep and eye on him. He greatly enjoys just sitting on our back step watching the wind blow, so now that he is over with the ringing every 2 minutes, I do give in occassionally and let him hang out for a while if he rings the bell to go out.  

Do you have a separate door you can make use of? One for going potty, one to direct him outside for playtime? For potty, we use the back door off the kitchen. For playtime,  I tend to walk them through the sunroom door...so I think they sort of associate the doors with what will happen outside once through them.