Ring a Bell

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“There is within each one of us a potential for goodness beyond our imagining; for giving which seeks no reward; for listening without judgment; for loving unconditionally.” – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

I’ve hung a yak bell on the inside handle of my back door for decades. I bought the bell in Nepal when I trekked to Everest base camp so I find it a pleasing sound for many reasons. It’s been useful so that my dogs can signal when they want to go out. Neither Cooper nor Biscuit before him were big barkers so it was pretty easy to train them to ring the bell when they want to go outside.

It’s a lot harder to train them to just do it when they NEED to go out instead of just want to go out. <Squirrel> But hey, I won’t complain about a system that works most of the time for canine to human communication.

Lately, I’ve been noticing that Cooper rings the bell for the cat. That is, if he sees her sitting outside the door wanting to come in, he’ll ring it. Or, if she’s sitting next to him and wants to go out, he’ll ring the bell. When I open the door, he sits back down and doesn’t go outside as if to say, “I’m just doing this for my friend, the cat. Who could do it for herself but doesn’t want to appear trainable.”

Who says chivalry is dead?

86 thoughts on “Ring a Bell”

      1. I will ask him on his next visit. BTW, I looked for you at Printer’s Row in Saturday. In any case, I hope you were there and enjoying the acclaim you deserve!

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  5. My sweet Charlie quickly learned how to ring the bell—but alas, never learned how to pare it down to necessary potty stops! Sad to say, the bell didn’t last for very long. I wish you success with Cooper—sweet, considerate, mind-reading gentleman that he is! He’s already way ahead of the bell-ringing game plan!

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  8. Hahaha. Cooper is totally onto the psyches of cats. 🙂 I really like how you purchased a bell from Nepal. (!) You brought adventure and something unique all the way home and it is an active part of your life. Cool!

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  13. Cooper is simply fantastic! And cats don’t want to be trained because someone has to be at their service. Mine responds only to food, the rest you can forget, even if it’s for cuddling!

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  25. What a marvelous idea! I love our dog Lulu, but we’ve never owned a dog who barked so much. The most endearing part of this post is that Cooper rings the bell for the cat. That is about the sweetst thing ever.

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  26. What a sweet boy Cooper is, loving the cat like that. I remember when our man would ring his bell. In the winter only strictly for business. In the summer non stop, I had to confiscate the bell a couple of times. 🤣 He’s never though rung it on behalf of anyone else. And especially not a cat. 🤣

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  28. I love this, Wynne! Both the canine-feline companionship, and the untrainable cat. I grew up with cats and dogs and observed the same cross-species friendships and it was so sweet to see those interactions.💕

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  32. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross has so many fantastic quotes! In my book club we had a short discussion about animals’ emotional capacity. It certainly appears as if Cooper instinctively knows that it’s ‘kind’ to ring the bell for his friend the cat. What a sweetie!

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  35. Thank you for sharing this heartwarming story! It’s truly delightful to see the bond and friendship between your pets. Pets have an incredible way of showing kindness and consideration towards each other, just like Cooper’s chivalrous act. This is a beautiful reminder of the unconditional love and care that animals can bring into our lives.

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  40. Awwww I loved this. Love how to cat trained the dog to the work for him! You know the cats probably like “I’m not ringing that bell…” because then it’d be doing what we humans want LOL

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