Yes, you read that right! And no, I haven’t completely lost my mind! Today I’m sharing how we are potty training puppy using a BELL!
It all started with this email from Candace in Texas…
Hi Christine!
I recently found your website when I bought a new puppy and was looking for how to get rid of puppy accident smells. I bought your ebook and the pet sprays have really helped with removing the odors and keeping him from going in the same spots over and over but I was wondering if you had any advice on how I can teach Henry to tell me when he needs to go out. I have a hard time knowing and I think I’m confusing him! Thank you in advance!
You wouldn’t believe how many similar emails I’ve received with the same question these past couple of years, and while I trained Bentley fairly easily with no bells and whistles (pun intended) I decided to take a different approach when we brought home Porshia this past week using THE BELL method and so far SO GOOD!!!
The first thing you’ll need to decide is what type of bell to use. You can use jingle bells out of your Christmas stash, a small wind chime, a triangle instrument or a hand bell. All of these bells can hang on a door knob by a string or you can use what I decided to use, a service bell that sits on the floor by the door. I bought mine at Staples for about five dollars and change.
Whatever bell you decide to use, make sure that that it will be easily accessible to your puppy. If you choose a service bell like mine, the best place for it is on the floor right next to the door you use to take him/her outside. If you use a bell that needs to be hung, you can hang it on the door jam closest to the side the door opens or from the door knob, just make sure its low enough for your puppy to ring it with his/her nose or paw.
The first day we brought Porshia home, I was the one doing the ringing. I just wanted her to get used to the noise. So I would say “Let’s go out and pee pee!” very excitedly and tap the bell one time. Remember dogs understand tones in your voice, so use the highest pitch, most excited voice you can. Make this fun for them 🙂
The next day was all about familiarizing her with the bell on the floor and encouraging her to make a noise with it. At first I just simply laid a small piece of homemade apple chip treats near it, then on it as she got more comfortable. I wanted her to know that the bell was a wonderful thing and associate it as a positive noise!
In addition to getting her used to going near the bell on her own, every time one of us was about to take her out we would pick her up, hold her paw and physically make her tap it while saying “RING! Yay! Let’s go pee pee!” -again in our high pitched, excited voice and immediately opened the door to let her do her business. You can decide to say whatever you want to get your pup excited. I’m just sharing what we say as an example 🙂
The main key to this working is consistency. EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. you open the door to let them out THE.BELL.MUST.RING. Whether it’s by your pup or by you, they need to that the bell means POTTY!
It took four days of us doing the ringing with her, and then miraculously on the fifth day I thought I heard a faint “ding.” When I ran to the door, there she was…sitting by the bell!
“YAY PORSHIA! LETS GO PEE PEE!!” She did! She SO did and was immediately rewarded with a delicious treat!
She’s rung that bell a few more times since then! Most of the time I take her out before she tells me she needs to really go, but before I open that door I still touch her paw to the bell and make it ring. YOU MUST BE CONSISTENT!!! I’m hoping to have her fully potty trained by next week. Of course I’m realistic though and know an occasional accident might happen here and there because of my fault I’m sure, but so far she’s doing great, and most importantly telling me when she needs to go, by ringing the bell!
I hope I’ve inspired you Candace or anyone else for that matter to try bell training with your pup! It truly works, and you won’t have to play the guessing game anymore once they catch on to how to do it!
Questions?! Feel free to ask them in the comments below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I possibly can!
If you’re interested in my Pet Odor Be Gone EGuide, you can find it{ here }!
Talk to you soon friends, take care!
XO
katie says
What a cute idea!!! And cute puppy!
katie recently posted…Stay or Sell?
Shannon @ Fox Hollow Cottage says
I don’t even have a puppy but I just love this idea and method!!!! Pinned to share.
Shannon @ Fox Hollow Cottage recently posted…To Do List Update: Window Coverings
Christine says
Thank you Shannon! XO
Hillary says
Hi, I’m curious how old your puppy is? We got our first puppy 3 weeks ago when she was only 6 weeks old. I’ve heard that’s pretty young, so I wonder if she’s old enough to be even “getting it” when we work on potty training? She’s definitely getting better than she was, but I think that’s mostly because *i* have learned her habits for the most part and can meet accurately predict when she needs to go. She still will go right on the floor if we’re not watching her closely.
Christine says
Wow! 6 weeks is very young, yes! So she is about 9 weeks now, correct? Now is the perfect time to begin serious training. Our pup is 9 weeks old as well, she was 8 weeks when we brought her home and we started that very day. Keep in mind as well that some breeds take a little more coaching and time for numerous different physical reasons and personality traits of the breed. Hang in there! She will catch on, they key to anything is consistency 🙂
Hillary says
Yes, she was 9 weeks as of Monday. 🙂 I’ve been getting really frustrated because we’ve been working on it ever since we brought her home, but it doesn’t seem to be clicking at all yet. I’ve read that dogs can’t be considered fully trained until 6 months old, so I understand it’s a long process. After reading your post I have hope that we’ll see her start to get it a little bit soon! She’s a lab/boxer mix and looks a ton like your Porshia! She’s all black too. 🙂 I think I’ll try the bell method!!
Mike says
I realize your post is a bit old but wanted to let you know that 7-14 weeks is the best time to train a puppy! This is considered their learning period. You’ll still need to be consistent in how you interact with your sweet doggie, but after the learning period training is focused on conditioning and counterconditioning rather than actual learning. Hope the training is going well!
Kim @ Sand & Sisal says
I’ve totally pinned this! Our 2 Irish-Doodle puppies arrive home with us next month! I’m trying to get prepared and organized and this will help immensely! Thankfully the breed is very intelligent and hopefully will learn quickly. 😉
Kim @ Sand & Sisal recently posted…Waterlogue App
Christine says
Yay! How exciting! Irish doodles are SUPER SMART! So much so, they might figure out “bell means treat” instead of “bell means potty” LOL! Don’t let them play you for a fool 😉 Congrats!
Rachel says
I have a 4 year old boxer that I bell trained from 8 weeks old. People thought I was crazy and they are still shocked when they see the bell and ask what it is for. It really works great for us! 🙂
Christine says
That’s so great to hear Rachel! It definitely makes life easier when our pets can communicate with us 🙂
Cheyenne says
This sounds like a great method, but what if your dog starts to ring the bell whenever he or she just wants to go outside. And it’s frequently. How do you ler them know it’s for only when he needs to go potty?
Christine says
If the ring the bell, and just go outside but no potty then don’t give them a treat. That’s how I’ve been handling it. Sometimes the dogs associate the act of ringing and going outside with a treat. By not treating them, they’ll usually understand that that trick doesn’t work 🙂
Jenn says
I love this idea! Our friends used this for their dog when they got her years ago, and it’s so cute to watch her walk up to the door and ring her bells. 🙂
On another note, I cannot physically handle the cuteness of your puppy. It’s absolutely ridiculous. I want to squoosh her. 🙂
Jenn recently posted…Mickey Mouse Oreo Pops
Stefanie says
We have trained all of our dogs using a string of decorative bells on the door. It takes longer for some than others, but they all got the hang of it with in a month tops. Heck I even had a cat start using the bells to tell me he wanted to go out:). Definitely a great tool and better than barking.
Dillon says
I am getting a puppy and she will be living with me inside my apartment. She will only be allowed in my room and bathroom since my roommate does not want a dog in the living room atleast for now. My question is, since I am on the third floor and I am needing to potty train her, would this method work? I know the bell must be rang and them she emediatly is to go pee but will it work if she rings the bell at my bedroom door then go through the apartment the. Outside them down three flights of stairs?
Christine says
I honestly don’t know how well it will work for you since the puppy will have to be going through so many motions. But I think as long as you establish that the bell means potty, at least she’ll be able to let you know. You could just try using the bell and then putting her leash on right away. The leash symbolizes going for a walk, so bell=leash=walk. Does that make sense?
Sean Eaton says
I just got a small morkie that is 8 weeks old and I got him a pup pee poo palace, which is basically a crate with a potty pad as the floor and it has an elevated bed. I haven’t started training him because this is his 3rd day home. When should I start seriously training him? And can I train him to go inside in his crate and use the bell method to go outside?
Christine says
Small dogs are much harder to train in my opinion so I would wait another 2-3 months before seriously training. You may need to train him to use a pee pad first and then attempt outdoor training. He probably won’t be fully trained until around 6 months or so as long as you keep it up and are consistent.
Sean Eaton says
Thank you!!
Jo says
I think all dogs can start early. We have a small cockapoo and when we picked her up from her breeder at 9 weeks she was essentially potty trained. I believe her breeder started training her as she was being weaned. Training them first on a pee pad just confuses them!
Andrea says
Is it possible to train an older dog? Mine is 5 years old, she is potty trained on a pad, sometime it is hit and miss @ times. She is smart, can sit, lay down, bark and beg after her trip outside. Just to get a treat. Would it be possible to train her at her age? HELP!
Christine says
I’m a firm believer that you can totally train an old dog new tricks 🙂 It’s going to take a lot of effort and support from you, but praise the heck out of her when she does what you want. Find what motivates her (mine are totally food motivated and will do almost anything for a cookie) and don’t give up! It will take a little longer most likely since this is something new, but I definitely think you can get her to use the bell as long as you stay consistent with it! Good luck 🙂
Aileen says
I have an adult dog that needs to be house trained.. Will this method work with her?
Christine says
Yes. It may take a bit longer, but you can definitely train an adult dog like this as well. Consistency is key. 🙂 Good luck!
Melenie says
We adopted a three-month-old puppy two weeks ago and have been crate training her. It has worked pretty well. She is great about going “potty” outside when we take her out, but she hasn’t yet learned that outside is the ONLY place she should go…and we are quickly learning that in the early stages, giving your puppy too much freedom and turning your back for even a second can lead to an “accident” …Abbie peed on the kitchen floor this morning as I stood with my back turned, washing my hands at the sink. DOH!!!
She also hasn’t been taught to let us know when she wants to go out, and going into Week Three, I decided that we needed to somehow incorporate that into our training. I had read about using a bell to train a puppy, and a quick Google search this morning for “training your puppy with a bell” brought me here. The service bell on the floor is absolutely GENIOUS!! I went to Staples immediately and bought one and it is now sitting next to the door where we take Abbie out to go potty. I’m hoping we have as much success as you had with Porshia!! Thanks for the great idea!!
Christine says
So awesome to have you here, Melenie! Good luck with your pups training! She’ll catch on, just stay consistent! XO
Melenie says
She rang the bell!! SHE RANG THE BELL!!! After just one day!!! And when My husband took her out, she peed AND pooped!!!
She hit the bell with her nose, so I’m not sure if she rang in on purpose or on accident. But still…she rang it without any assistance from us!! And I made a REALLY big deal about it!!!
I may or may not have cried a little bit.
Christine says
YAY!!! A ring is a ring in my book! What a smart girl!! Keep at it 🙂 She’s catching on! XO