More Cow Bell!!

Somewhere along the lines, I have made a mistake with my intentions vs the results. My intention was to get Brock to ring a bell (by the door), go outside, THEN potty. There's been a lot of pottying in the house, which needs to come to an end here soon. I remembered that I hung a bell with Berdy - she would ring it and then go outside. So I hung the bell a week ago. Brock seemed to have little to no interest in actually ringing the bell himself...until Sunday.

After speaking to the vet, he suggested I not only praise him when he potties outside, but also give him a treat right away. So, off to the pet store I go to get some high value treats. I decide to start this late Sunday afternoon. Since he had no interest in ringing the bell for the past week, when I got him to do it Sunday, I gave him a treat. I'm sure anyone reading this can see this was the pivotal moment in the story where the hero makes a HUGE mistake while trying to conquer evil (the house pee-er). He rings the bell, I give him a treat, we go outside and he pees, I give him another treat. I'm VERY proud of both of us at this point. I'm thinking - he is going to LOVE to pee outside. This is so great.

We come back inside. On the way in, he rings the bell. I ignore this as a mistake. A few minutes later, he rings it again. So as not to discourage him, I take him outisde to pee (which he does) and I give him a treat. Notice - no treat for ringing the bell, only pottying outside this time. Not that this matters to a Labrador. I did it once, I might do it again. Good Lord, what a little monster I've created. So now all Sunday night he's ringing that bell - MORE COW BELL = More treats!!!!

Luckily, he has decreased the Pavlovian efforts to ring the bell and get a treat. However, being a little boy dog, he is able conjure up a few tablespoons of pee whenever he likes. So now, when the whim hits him, he will ring the bell, we go outside, he dribbles and he gets a treat. Am I being played??? I think so, but at least I'm getting plenty of exercise going in and out the door and taking my coat off and on. Next week: I'm going to get Brock to go DOWN the stairs from the kitchen to the landing by the side door.