That rings a bell.

I think I mentioned before that we have a mission to get baby Izzy the pooch to stop biting when he has to go out and start alerting us by other means. Tralfaz would whine; Nipper would walk to the front door and back, which was very civilized. Izzy just can't seem to understand that biting is unpleasant, and also nonspecific -- he bites because he's hungry, bored, or overtired, so he needs more tools in that toolbox. As the lone dog now, Izzy can't just piggyback on another dog's trip out -- he has to signal his own. 

So, we're back to the bells. 

Potty Bells from Caldwell's Pet Supply are an inexpensive way to get the dog to alert his owners. Simply train the dog to nudge them when he wants out -- the jingle bells on a tough nylon leash hang right on the doorknob -- and give him high praise for signaling properly. Everybody wins.

So far, Izzy has shown little interest in learning. Like a Vogon guard who would rather just go on shouting, he'd rather go on biting. 

Actually I blame myself. It takes patience and time to train the dog on such a weird action, and I have precious little patience or time. Yet I'm the guy who usually takes Izzy out, so it's up to me to train him. 

Yesterday I had a lot of work to push through, but was awakened in the night by the sharp pain of an ingrown toenail. I'd been to the pootie doc the week before and he sliced that sucker off, but I don't think he did a thorough job, because I woke up feeling like a had a knitting needle shot through the end of the toe. (The doc is out for the Jewish holidays and not available now until the 19th, btw.) I couldn't walk Izzy -- and since the remains of Hurricane Ian were making the day a rainy mess anyway, I didn't want us to be outside. So it was a lousy day for training anything.

Well, thanks for letting me get that off my chest. These problems are pretty minor, and I'm hoping a good foot soak before bed will help this stupid toe so we can get back in the training groove tomorrow. This dog has got to stop thinking it's okay to chomp people. Even Nipper had stopped doing that at this age, and I called him Nipper because of all the chomping!