Is your dog the strong silent type? Ever wish he or she could tell you when it is time to go do their business? This Reddit r/DIY user found a simple solution — a doggy doorbell!
The dog in question isn’t very vocal, so his owner sought a simple solution, similar to Pavlov’s bells — the only problem? He needed some range on it, as you can’t always hear a few bells throughout the entire house. The solution? A wireless doorbell that he repackaged into a dog friendly button!
Compared to our last post on an automatic pet watering system, this one is a very simple hack that requires absolutely no electrical experience. It could be improved upon quite easily though, by wiring a second switch in parallel so the dog can ring the doorbell from the outside of the house too!
According to the owner, it only took a few treats to get the pooch trained well enough to use it whenever he needs to go out!
[Via Reddit]
Could a dog person explain in more detail how you get the dog to understand that it needs to push the button when it needs to do its business? I’ve never quite understood how something like that is done. Getting it to step on it to get a treat, sure, but to make it understand it should do it when it’s time to go poop?
Dogs want to go out side to do their business and some times just to go out side and do whatever. So you’re more telling it that door bell = let out side, not door bell = business time.
as from the reddit thread:
“Update: the dog learned immediately!!! Better than expected. Showed her 3 times and gave her treats, took her outside, etc. Then im sitting upstairs and DING! Poopy time.”
http://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/1pnrss/wireless_doggy_doorbell_so_you_can_know_when_fido/cd4wyvz
Dogs were one of the first animals domesticated, possibly the first. They diverged from wolves around 40,000 years ago, and since then have been bred not just for temperament, size, shape, etc, but also to work alongside humans. They are very, *very* good at learning by association (ie “when A happens, B soon follows”).
There have also been studies showing they look to humans for cues, something wolves don’t do. Dogs will (some breeds/individuals better than others) look to where you point, look at what you look at, and imitate what you do.
Example:
Growing up, my family had a Labrador retriever. We trained him to come on command, always using a gesture with the command to make it easier to understand. We’d say “come” and point down at our feet, and he’d come over (if he felt like it). As he got older we discovered he’d generalized this concept: you could point at particular point on the floor, eg to make him move out of the way of the vacuum.
This dog liked to make us laugh. If he did something naughty and anyone laughed, he’d do it again. This is how my mom accidentally taught him the command “bite daddy.”
>/r/Diy
FTFY
A lot easier and cheaper to simply hang bells on the doorknob. and train the dog to nose them when it wants out. I’ve been doing that for years.
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/teaching-your-house-trained-dog-ask-go-out
Dogs dont need anything low to the ground unless it’s a tiny rat dog. Heck I had ours trained to use the actual human doorbell button when it wanted back in.
Even simpler, my dog is train to bark at me wherever I am
one of my dogs just stands there and stares at the door when it wants out. When it wants in it makes a racket though, especially when its cold.
Well done in both concept and build.
My dogs ring their bell to go out but I wish I had a dog bell outside to let me know when they want back in.
Dog-Door with RFID-Locking mechanism possibly?
We just give our dogs they own keys – that way they can let themselves in and out when they want.
Excellent training device, the dog will have him trained in no time.
Please remember that if a dog wants to do it’s business,
it must first contact ‘Companies House’ when setting up the business.
Companies House will then inform the dog if its business name is already registered or not.
If my dog could operate a business he’d soooo be in federal prison by now.
I like it. But, dogs lie. My dog also does the “staring” thing, like ALL the time. My dog would never be IN the house if it could. This thing would be ringing all dang day long.
I like it, but no thanks.