Bell training for potty

[Nikki & Charlie]

I'm just wondering if any of you use this method, and if so, at what age did you start? I'm wanting to start it with Charlie but he's just shy of 4 months and I know he will eat the bell lol.

 

What age did you start?

How did you do it? Did you leave the bell down all the time?

[Stephanie and Ragley]

Hey Nikki! Try typing "bell training" into the search bar at the top right- there are lots of helpful discussions on the topic! I did bell training with Ragley and started a day or so after she came home at 8 weeks so 4 months is not too young :)

[Nikki & Charlie]

Thank you!!

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

As soon as we got home from the breeder, I hung the bells on the patio door.  Each time, I took him out to go potty I would ring the bells and say "let's go potty".  Within just a few days he was touching the bells within the week, he would ring the bells lightly with his nose.  We had a beautiful set of bells - chocolate brown leather.  Then when Charlie Brown was 1.5 yrs,, we brought Beau home.  He loved the bells! By 12 weeks, he was swinging from them!  He love to grab them as high as he could and play tug with them.  He would yank them whether he wanted to go potty or ust because he wanted to go out and play.  Actually, we thought it was comical.  Needless to say, we went through 3 sets of cheaper bells and I finally made a set that was out of an old leash and left over bells from the previous sets and those lasted until Beau was about 14 months.  Then he quit playing with them and went back to ringing them only if he needed to go out.  LOL  Beau will be 2 next month and Charlie will be 4.  Both still use the bells.  In the directions, it seems to me it said to put them on the door they are to use to go out to pee.  Use a different door when you are going out to play and that way they do not start using them for just wanting to go out in general.  I did not do that though. 

My breeder told me not all of her dogs like the bells - about 1/2 do, and the other half bark or paw the door.  Personally, I prefer the bells.  I really think you could teach a dog at any age to use the bells.  Initially, you do the ringing and I made a point of really ringing them and quickly went on out the door.  If you buy the poochie bells, they come with instructions on training, etc.

Good luck 

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I started bell training just as soon as I received it, which was when Lucy was 8 weeks old. She was trained within a week to use the bells. She never tried eating the bells, but she did paw the ribbon on the Poochie Bells, almost to shreds. I contacted the company and they sent me a bamboo braided set for free that didn't fray in the least. Great company! FYI, we tried bell training on Oscar as a pup but he never did use them consistently. At almost 2 yrs old, he'll stand at the back door and stare at us when he has to go out. Lucy has rung the bells for Oscar on occasion when we've been in other rooms and couldn't see Oscar standing by the back door. She's so smart!

[Debbie & Gibbs]

Gibbs are also shredded, I think I will contact them and see if I can get a braided set.

[Helga, Nimbus, Sierra, Clooney]

We've been using the Poochie Bells almost from the start. The actual training with Nimbus touching the bells took only about 20 min. First you just use his paw or nose to touch the bells, then reward. After that you say "ring the bells" at the same time. We then asked him to ring the bells every time before we opened the patio door. The bells constantly hang there. Your puppy will soon figure out that the door opens when he rings the bell. After he gets this step, tell him to "ring the bells to go potty", Tell him to go potty when outside. If he does, reward. The harder part is to figure out whether he just wants to go out and play or if he actually has to use the bathroom when he rings the bells.

Nimbus tends to ring repeatedly and more intensely if he really has to go and I haven't opened the door for a while.

It's very nice, though, if we're upstairs and he is downstairs, that we can hear him ring the bells.

[Stefan]

We started bell training as soon as we got Sister. She only took about 2 days to catch on and now she's a potty bell master! (She's 13 weeks now). We just did a "hey no" when she tried to play with the bells and now she knows that they are for potty and her toys are for play :)

Good luck

[Debbie & Gibbs]

We did bell training when we brought Gibbs home at 8 weeks. It took him about 3 days to get the hang of it. After he would eat I would take him to the door and take his paw and ring the bells and I would also use his snout poke the bells. He caught on very quickly, and happy to say that we never had another accident in the house. He has now shredded his bells, but he will go stand at the door to let us know that he needs to do business. I thought it was the easiest type of training that I've done before. good luck!!

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

We too, started the day Enzo walked in the door at 8 weeks. She learned to hit them in 3 days! Yes, they will occasionally grab at the bells...but they soon learn what is expected of them. Enzo just turned 1 yr and she still uses her bells. Here are ours, hung on a set of French doors going out to the backyard.

[Helga, Nimbus, Sierra, Clooney]

Those look very solid, Ro! Here's ours. Patio door. Still look like new.

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

Never too early or too late to train them with the bells!  I started Kona on them at 10 weeks and he understood the bells opened the door within the first day, and then he understood it was about potty time within that first week, and he was fully potty trained by 12 weeks (meaning zero accidents ever again).  Then I got Maggie (rescue pup when she was about 10 or 11 months old) 10 months later, and she was AMAZING how quickly she picked it up.  Within the first hour she understood that the bell would open the door for her, and by the next day she fully understood that as soon as she needed to go potty, she needed to ring the bell.  I LOVE the bell!  I can hear it when I'm in my computer room and it makes life so much easier and there is no scratching at the door or barking.  Just a polite bell ringing!  (Or not so polite if I don't respond the first time). Mine was just a sturdy 1.5 inch diameter round brass Christmas jingle bell that I hung on a very sturdy chord and then screwed the cord into the wall right next to the back door via an eyelet screw so that it would not ring every time the door opened and closed.  It has to physically be hit by the dogs to ring.

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

Of course.....on the rare occasion when I go to the back door to answer their bell ringing, I discover that  they really just wanted to go outside to bury, eat, or destroy a special treasure they had found.....