Day 3: Potty Bell continued

Basil rang the bell all on his own today! It was jingling away which means he was probably licking the bell. Keith took a peak at him. Basil gave Keith an "arf" (that's a first!) and with lots of praise, he let him outside. We were so proud! He went potty and then gave him a treat.

Later in the evening, he went up to the bell and sniffed it, nudging it back and forth a bit. We waited to see if it was with intention rather than jumping up and asking him to ring it. He stepped back and looked at us which usually means he wants to go. We asked him "outside?". Got him close to the bell to nudge it again to reinforce the idea as we cheered and praised him. Then immediately let him outside while saying "Outside, good boy, ringing the bell". This time he did #2 and got a special treat.

We're trying to reinforce the idea now and to get him to associate that bell = potty. To do that, we mention "bell" while he goes potty. Also, no dawdling. If he doesn't go within 10 minutes, he comes back inside. We think this bell is too heavy so we're going to get a new one. Also, we wait for him to send us a signal as oppose to asking him if he wants to go out.