Dante earns his first AKC title! But he still needs to work on expanding his definition of "den". Join us on a voyage of adventure and sitting around the house with our puppy!
As for Potty training - I went about it a strange way, yes we used the crate, but I also used the "pads" in a specific spot, and then eventually moved them closer and closer to the door, and then outside. We also took him outside of the weather wasn't foul, and it was daytime. (I have health issues and going outside all the time just didn't work for us.) Luckily, Ishin is also super smart (Sheltie), and he figured it out, and taught himself to get through to me when he wanted out by low growling at me (I often have headphones on).
We did get him those talking buttons and worked with those, he had about 6 of them down pat (Outside, Mom, Treat, GoodBoy, Help, Go for a Walk) and would use those properly. I had to start moving the buttons around, because he would step on "Mom", over and over to get my attention and then when I asked "what?" he would step on "treat".......So, yeah, the bell thing would likely be the same.
We took the buttons away, because we just don't have room in our house for them with the addition of the second dog. After our second dog, he will sometimes tell us when Tenshi needs to go out by doing his old growl. Tenshi will sometimes say he needs to go out by putting his nose under my elbow and flipping my arm up off the keyboard. Ishin will also put one paw on the arm of the chair and tap, tap my arm with his other paw to get my attention when he is wanting treats and not outside.
As for Potty training - I went about it a strange way, yes we used the crate, but I also used the "pads" in a specific spot, and then eventually moved them closer and closer to the door, and then outside. We also took him outside of the weather wasn't foul, and it was daytime. (I have health issues and going outside all the time just didn't work for us.) Luckily, Ishin is also super smart (Sheltie), and he figured it out, and taught himself to get through to me when he wanted out by low growling at me (I often have headphones on).
We did get him those talking buttons and worked with those, he had about 6 of them down pat (Outside, Mom, Treat, GoodBoy, Help, Go for a Walk) and would use those properly. I had to start moving the buttons around, because he would step on "Mom", over and over to get my attention and then when I asked "what?" he would step on "treat".......So, yeah, the bell thing would likely be the same.
We took the buttons away, because we just don't have room in our house for them with the addition of the second dog. After our second dog, he will sometimes tell us when Tenshi needs to go out by doing his old growl. Tenshi will sometimes say he needs to go out by putting his nose under my elbow and flipping my arm up off the keyboard. Ishin will also put one paw on the arm of the chair and tap, tap my arm with his other paw to get my attention when he is wanting treats and not outside.
That's so cool. One of Anna's friends told us about the talking buttons. We used them as the basis for the first story we ever wrote together. It's in the upcoming Black Cat Publishing anthology. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/black-cat-publishing/black-cat-tales-an-anthology-of-black-cats
Nice!