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
