Anyone using bells with potty training?

[Kim Elder]

Hi all -

Is anyone using bells to help with potty training? Ellie is 12 weeks and has us trained pretty good! She isn't having mishaps more than about 1 each week inside so we have added bells at the door that we use to take her outside. After just one evening she will nudge the bells and seems to associate that she then gets to go outside. It's not all sinking in yet and she has not once during the past month let us know when she needs to go outside. We're just well trained! If anyone is using bells I'd love some input! Thanks!

 

Kim

[Kim Elder]

Spud gives me hope! I think the bells sounds so much more pleasing than a bark at the door. Ellie tends to want to bark to get our attention so anything to deter her is helpful. I started out with a "home made" version of the bells and if Ellie picks up on it I'll look into something that might hold up better.

[Stephanie]

I made my own too! I bought a 4-pack of bells for 99 cents at the craft store and sewed them on to the collar that he got from the breeder when we brought him home. It was quick to make, still in great condition, and saved me some money =)

[Vivian & Mojo]

I made my potty bells also with bells and embroidered trim I already had...I love the idea with the puppy collar from the breeder, how sweet.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Kim, don't give up. Some get it right away, others take a few MONTHS.   I did not start Spud until 12 weeks and I think by 4-5 months we had it down.

I'm a little hyper and get distracted easily.  Spud knows he has to get my attention someway. 

[Stephanie]

Beckett started using the bell at around 11 weeks and still uses it.  He used to ring for attention in the beginning, but he's always had a strong bladder and I knew he could hold it for at least 2 hours so I ignored any ringing unless it was about time for a potty break. He caught on pretty quickly that he won't be let out every time he rings. He occasionally still does it for attention, but I've gotten really good at reading his real signals by now so it's not a big problem. It's kind of cute to see how smart these dogs are though! If I leave the room and he wants me to come back, he rings. If my back is turned and I'm working on the computer, he'll ring to get me to turn around and then run off to play.  Now that he's got potty training down and consistently waits around 4 hours in between, I'm trying to transition away from the bells and train him to hold it until I let him out. That way I won't always have to drop what I'm doing every time rings and I can wait until a more convenient time for me. But the bells served us well!

[Kim Elder]

Good info! How old is Beckett now?

[Stephanie]

He is 7 months old =)

[Candice & Bailey]

We started Bailey on the bells on the weekend. By Tuesday he was nosing them, and the last 2 days he's been actually ringing them so I can hear them in another room! I took him out every hour and each time I took him out, I put the bells in his mouth and gently shook them, and also tapped the bells with his paw. (I didn't know if he was going to paw them or mouth them, so figured I'd teach him both) He hasn't had a mishap since Monday! He's 9 weeks 2 days old today.

[Rachel and Ollie]

Ollie took some time to figure it out, but he did. :) I used to pick him up and rush him to the bells...I would nudge his body into them two or three times (every time we went out) on our way out the door and say "Ring the bells". Now he goes over to the bells and tries to run into them lol when he misses I say "ring the bells" and he looks at me like "come on lady, I need to potty" but he goes back and rings them. He doesn't really need them as much now because he can hold it so long, but I LOVED them for his first 8 or so months. 

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Wow, sorry I'm just now seeing this. We started Lucy on the 'Poochie Bells' from her 1st day home with us. When we'd go out we'd ring the bells and say, 'Ring the bells, go potty'. After countless potty trips, it took 3 days for Lucy to figure it out. She was house trained within 2 weeks (meaning 0 accidents in the house). It was truly amazing. She's 3 now and still uses the bells to signal to go potty. In the summer she'd ring the bells when my husband would get home from work to go out to play, but now that the wet weather has settled in she no longer does that. At 3 yrs. she doesn't need to go out very often, but its nice she can let us when she does (and the ring of the bells travels really well). We'll be starting little Oscar (our new doodle puppy that's arriving home next month) out on the bells from day 1, and hopefully Lucy can help with the training as well. It will be interesting to see how much we actually have do to potty train Oscar. Lucy might just take over that role.