The American Beagler Forum

how do you go about getting dogs use to the sound of bells,,,,,,i bought some thinking id start running them on my dogs put one on a female i have and she went nutts,,,,,,started running around jumping barking scared the hell out of her,,,,,she was still kinda skidish after i took it off,,,,,,,,,but just wandered if i should put them on when im out there cleaning pens or feeding,,,,,,

Thats interesting... Im assuming your dog is not gunshy? I guess I would train her to accept the bells just like you do breaking the dog to the gun. you should wear it or something when feeding or hunting. get them to associate the noise with something fun. My dog freaks out and gets excited now whenever he hears the bells.

Why don't you try putting one on one of your other hounds while they are in the kennel? I am assuming that you are wanting to use the bells for locating your hounds in the field, correct? Have you tried it on any of the other hounds?
Habituation is a process of "getting used" to something. Your female needs to hear the bell on a daily basis and learn to not react to it in any way.
I would try it on another hound for about a week, and then try it on her while in the kennel. Once she is used to the sound of it, she should be more comfortable while wearing it. If she reacts when you put it on her, leave it on her. She will realize that it is ok and relax. If she doesn't, then you will need to not use the bell on her while in the field.

We started ours on the bells at 6 months,, it was nip and tuck at the begining for sure!!! Didn't know their little heads could get in some of those positions they got them in trying to get those things off them!! Good luck and they'll learn to wear them don't worrrry....

Crew Chief

Ringtail, get some small sleigh bells, they are not very loud, put one on her and leave it on, she will get used to it, also if you have a dog that doesn't mind wearing it near her put one on them also. They get used to it very quick once they figure out it won't hurt them. Mine go billastic when they hear the bells because they know they're going hunting. Good luck. Hope this helps. Hare

type of bell makes a little difference. cow bells hang down and slap the dogs in the chest and legs and are a little harder for a pup to get used to. sleigh bells are about an inch round and sit up close to the collar. i prefer these type for beagles and cow bells or dog bells for bird dogs as the bird dogs stand a lot taller.

all the above posts were very good info in my opinion best of luck (they wiil get used to bells in time)

just put it on her in her kennel she will break herself.

I HANG A BELL DOWN FROM THE TOP OF THE KENNEL WHEN THE PUPS START TO CLIMB IN AND OUT OF THE BOX.
THEN TIE A CORD TO THE BELL, SO THAT THE PUPS CAN REACH IT.
MAN THEY PLAY TAG, AND GRAB ALL DAY WITH THE CORD.
AND DURING THE TAG AND GRAB GAME THE BELL IS RINGING, AND THEY GET USED TO IT THAT WAY.
AND WHEN I PUT BELLS ON THEM, THEY HARDLY PAY IT ANY ATTENTION.

JAMES DAVIS
YELLOW MT. KENNELS

Do you use the "tone" on your shock collars? Maybe that bells sound reminded her of that.

these are small square cow bells,,,,,i think the banging her in the chest is whats doing it,,,,,,,thanks for the advice guys,,,,,