Training Your Puppy to Use a Potty Bell

There are alot of things that go in to dog/pet ownership, and some are more fun than others.  Like, taking your dog on a hike or to the park for an afternoon. Spending time with your pet is the best way to build and strengthen the bond between animal and human. 

On the other hand, taking your dog out for a potty break can sometimes be a drag.  Sure, when the weather is nice and you aren't too busy - it is easy to make time.  

But what about when you have a lot going on, and you've taken your dog out but they don't seem to want to "use the bathroom"? Maybe it is raining, or perhaps snowing.  It is definitely a pain in the rear to have to take your pet out, or stay out with them, until they choose to go.  

Teach Your Dog How to Communicate With You

Wouldn't it be amazing if your dog could simply tell you when they need to go outside for a bathroom break?  Of course it would!  That would eliminate a lot of guesswork, and be better for everyone involved (human and pet alike)!

The great thing is that this is totally possible. You CAN teach your dog how to tell you when he/she needs to go outside. It does take some discipline and training, but even older dogs can be taught how to use potty bells. But how do you do it?  We'll lay out each step below. 

It's important to know that this isn't an overnight process. It will take a month or two to completely train your dog to ring a bell to go potty. Train your dog and reward them when they do well - hard discipline doesn't work well for training dogs. Make your dog want to please you - not obey commands out of fear. 

1. Choose a Suitable Door Hanging Bell

This is an important step and it depends on the size of the dog you are trying to train. For a small breed (or puppy) you will need a bell that hangs close to the ground. Puppies aren't the most agile, and the bells need to be accessible!

Naturally, we recommend our leather strap hanging bells - but any sort of durable, long leather hanging bells will do!

2.  Get the Puppy to Ring the Bell

The next step is to associate the bell with good feeling - in other words - TREATS! We always recommend having training treats at hand for any training exercise.  Training treats are just small pieces of tasty dog treats that you can easily and consistently reward your dog with.  

There are many brands out there - any will do. Some are even human-grade! But they don't take very good - don't ask us how we know!

In a pinch, you can break out pieces of your dogs soft treats, like Milk-Bones, but that can get messy with all the crumbs.  Get the training treats! We will need alot - this process can take weeks.  

How to Get Your Dog to Touch the Bell

This is straightforward, but it can take some patience on your part. Don't get frustrated - you dog can learn how to use a bell to signal it is time for a potty break. 

Simply bend over, and present the bell to your dog at a reasonable height. Your dog will need to be able to touch the bell enough to make it jingle.  

Try to coax your dog to touch the bell on its own.  Sometimes, a treat behind or close to the bell will get your dog to investigate, sounding the bell in the process.  When your dog touches the bell - quickly praise and reward the dog with a treat!  You need to build the positive association that tells your dog "Ring Bell - Get Treat!"

After a few days of this exercise, your dog should know that bumping the bell gets them a treat.  When you present the bell and the puppy bumps the bell without you saying anything or using a treat - this is great. 

Anytime your dog touches the bell, say "Potty" and give the dog a treat. You will need to do this for a few more days as well. You will build association between the bell sound, the word "Potty", and of course treats!

Note: You can say any word you want - but we find simple words are understood and picked up by dogs better.  

Try holding the bell further and further away from your dog, so he/she has to make a clear effort to ring the bell and recieve the treat/praise.

Once your dog will ring the bell everytime you say "potty", you can move on the next step. 

3. Hang the Potty Bell on a Door

The next step after a few weeks of training is to actually hang your bell around a door.  If you have multiple doors, we recommend first using the one you will use more often to let your dog out (usually the front door). You can always get another bell or bells to hang on other doors, but at the beginning additional bells can confuse the dog. 

So hang the bell on the most used door, and tell your dog "Potty". If he/she touches the bell, quickly reward them with a treat!  Stay on this step until your dog knows that everytime you say "Potty", he/she should go ring the bell on the door (and will receive a treat in return.)

4. Associate the Bell with Potty Time

How to do this:  First approach the door with your puppy, and say "Potty" (or whatever your signal word is).  When your dog touches the bell, take your dog outside.  After doing this for a few days, your dog will know that ringing the bell will result in going outside with you!

This can be a tricky step. If you aren't careful, the puppy will learn that ringing the bells results in play time. That is not what we want to teach your dog! The bell and its ring need to be associated with potty time.

When your dog rings the bell on your command, quickly leash your dog and take it outside for 2-3 minutes. If they use the bathroom in this time, quickly give them a treat and praise! If not, take them back inside.  Do not allow any sort of playtime during this training excersise, as that will only associate the bell with play time in your dog's head. 

After spending a week or two on this stage, your dog will know that ringing the bell results in a potty break (not a play time break!).  At this point, the training will be done! Feel free to hang additional bells on your doors to give your dog a chance to choose where he/she wants to go for their potty break. 

We hang leather hanging bells on our front and back doors, which lets the dog choose if he wants to go in the backyard to be let out for a potty, or if they want a walk!

The best thing is, is that once you teach a dog how to use it bell, it won't forget.  You don't need to keep rewarding your dog everytime they ring the bell and go potty, but definitely give them a treat every so often. It will help to reinforce the training you did.