Kyzer and the Bell

Well, it's a Monday. And if your Monday is anything like mine, you could probably use a good laugh. Lucky for you, I'm always here to share stories with you of my daily comic relief! That's one joy of having a dog as energetic and unpredictable as Kyzer. No day is uneventful or boring.

Last summer I wanted to try a completely different approach to the whole "potty training" ordeal. We initially trained Kyzer so that he would bark when he had to go to the bathroom. Growing up I had a Yorkie, and that's what we trained him to do. Lance would come over and "ruff" at us whenever he had to be let outside. But Kyzer doesn't have a soft, "inside" bark, though. He doesn't have a little, polite "ruff." For some reason, when he has to go to the bathroom, he finds it necessary to bark as loud and enthusiastically as possible. It's almost like he's yelling, "GUYS. YES. I HAVE TO POTTY. LET ME OUTSIDE. NOW." Living in an apartment, having a dog bark as loud as he can is kinda problematic. We tried to do the whole "Shh, quiet bark" thing to try and assure him he doesn't have to bark as loud as he can for us to let him outside, but it never worked.

So instead of getting him to bark at us whenever he needed to be let outside, I thought I would try to hang a bell on the door so that we could teach him just to ring the bell when he needed to use the restroom. To save money, I even went to Hobby Lobby and got bells and ribbon so that I could make my own potty-bells. When I started to assemble the bells, Kyzer was instantly intrigued. He managed to grab one of the bells that hadn't been put on a ribbon yet and treated it like a new toy.

I thought it might be a good idea so that he could get all his fascination and curiosities over with so that he would lose interest in the bell as a toy.  I was wrong.

I finished putting the bell on some ribbon, taking my time to measure to make sure that the bell was the appropriate length. I placed it on the door. Kyzer had other plans. He knocked it off the handle and began running around the room with it. I fussed at him and put it back on the door. Kyzer grabbed it again and ran around with it some more. For the next couple of hours I tried to get him to leave the bell alone. I would think I made progress, but then about 20 minutes later I would hear the bell jingling again.

I quickly gave this idea up. Kyzer loves playing with things, ESPECIALLY items that aren't really toys, so I knew he would never get the idea that this fun-sounding object had a purpose other than being his toy. Although I couldn't use the bells to help with potty training, I didn't let Kyzer have the satisfaction of them being a toy, either. Especially since the bells were as loud as breaking glass. I still have the supplies, though, so maybe one of these days when Kyzer turns to a fat, older dog I can try the strategy again.

(Kyzer: "This is what I think of your potty-bell!")

So there you have it! When it comes to some training aspects, it's better to be consistent and to follow the same strategies that you use when you first get your puppy. I'll get more into potty training at a later date :) I hope this story gave you a good laugh to make your Monday a little brighter.

Do any of you have any funny experiences of training "fails?"

~Kathryn and Kyzer