Won't go outside alone

To get straight to the point...Lucy will not go outside and go potty if she's out there alone. If I let her outside by herself, she just stands by the door and looks up at me like "why aren't you coming out??" There have even been times where she's pooped and peed on the deck, she just simply won't go down the stairs if someone doesn't go with her. She sometimes follows Molly down, but I want her to be able to go outside by herself when she needs to go potty. Right now it's not that big of a deal, because 99% of the time I'm out there with her so I can give her a treat if she goes potty.

How can I fix this? In an attempt to solve it myself, I once stood on the deck and threw bits of treats down onto the patio, and she ran down the stairs to search for them...lol I don't know, I guess I was thinking that would get her to maybe think that by going down there she gets a treat? Haha. I only did it once though, I wasn't really sure if it was helping anything at all, so I didn't want to use up a bunch of treats.

I just need to get her okay with going down the stairs by herself...once she's on the patio, she'll go into the grass by herself and go potty, it's just a matter of getting her to go down there in the first place.

And, speaking of go outside...where do you get a bell? Lol, I want to train her to ring a bell when she goes out, but my mom and I don't really know where to get one.

I can help with the bell part of your post.
I just got one at the dollar store....in the craft section.
I tied it to a ribbon and hung it on the door, low enough that the pooch can reach it. He doesnt ring it yet. Anytime, and everytime Im taking him out to potty, I ring the bell and say the words "outside". Ive been told that eventually he will get the message that the bell means the door opens up and he gets outside, and he will just start ringing or nudging it on his own.

LOL. Sounds familiar!! When we were house breaking our pup, every single time we took her to go potty outside, we took her on a leash to make sure we were there to praise her. Now that she is 100% potty trained, we try to let her outside on a lead to go by herself-- and she won't go unless we are right there with her. Unfortunately, I don't have any advise for you for this-- but I'll be watching to see if anyone else does 'cause I could use it myself!

As far as where to get a bell... any craft store should have them.

I feel for you . . . . that's where having an older dog is a big help. Maybe if you go out first, leaving her inside, and put some treats in the yard - not letting her see you do it, then go back inside and let her out by herself. You might have to leave a one at the top of the steps and then a couple farther down to get her down there the first few times, and it would work best if you can go out and come back in by a door other than the one that leads directly outside. That way she won't associate the treats with you, just with being in the yard by herself.

Oooh I like that idea, Renee! Thanks!

As for a bell, my sister thinks she might have an extra one that we can have. I'm almost afraid to use a bell, I'm sure both Lucy and our cat will think it's just a toy!