Ever want to learn how to train your dog to ring a bell to go potty? I was on of those new doggy mommies who wanted to do just that! I wanted him/her to tell me when he/she had to potty! I knew it was doable — and much as easier to do with a puppy because my sister and I had trained her schnauzer (Sydney) on the bell when we lived on the third floor of an apartment building. We learned this technique at a puppy training class and it’s been a lifesaver!
For years I’ve told people about training my Parker Posie on the bell and many people said — you need to write about that. Well, today I’m finally doing that! Now, keep in mind that all breeds of dogs are different and may respond differently to training. It may take some time, so be patient and, most importantly, be consistent.
Training your dog to ring a bell when they need to go out and potty is pretty brilliant. We learned this process on using a call bell (ding ding). Below are the steps we took to train our dogs (when puppies) to ring a bell to potty!
How to Train your Dog to Ring a Bell to Potty:
1) Purchase a bell. We bought a call bell that you put on the floor. With this type of bell, you train your dog to push/press down on them with their paw.
2) Place bell by door. You want to place it by the door that would be used to go outside. If you have multiple doors, put it by the door that the dog would use the most to go out and potty.
3) Ring the bell every time you take/let your dog outside. There are different ways to train, but every time we would take our dog out to potty, we would ring the bell and say “potty, potty”.
It’s important to have a routine. First thing in the morning, lunch, dinner and before bed are the most common times; however, as puppies, you need to keep a close eye on behaviors. They start to sniff a lot more before going, so immediately pick them up, ring the bell, say “potty potty” and head outdoors. Catching them before an accident will really reinforce the “potty potty.”
From time to time we might sit and encourage him/her to ring the bell, but you don’t want to force it or spook your dog, so positive reinforcement is important.
4) Put leash on your dog if you are taking dog out.
5) Once outside, say “potty, potty”. You want your dog to know that they are out to potty, not walk or play.
5) Be consistent. Your dog will eventually pick up on the association that ringing the bell equals potty.
Don’t be afraid to reward positive behavior while training your dog. It may take some time to see results. I’ll never forget days that both Parker and Sydney walked up to bell and rang it!! It’s like winning the lottery, friends {giggle}. Immediately take them out and say, I remember saying “potty, potty”.
After returning inside, reward your fur baby with a treat! The rest was history, as you’ll find your dog using that bell to communicate when he/she needs to go out (and sometimes when they don’t).
If your dog starts ringing the bell more than it should because he/she just wants to go out, take them out, but if they don’t potty bring them back in. It’s important that the dog knows the bell is for potty, not for play. Many people are in awe of the fact that our dogs rings a bell to let us know they need to go out and I have to admit it’s a beautiful thing. I’m a proud dog mama.
On another note, Buster (our rescue), joined the Rowe clan at the age of four or five and we’ve never been able to get him to jump on the bell routine. That’s why I mentioned that our successes were when training them as puppies. I think it was circumstantial with B (Buster), he wasn’t even house trained and that was the most grueling training process I’d experienced. I cried on many days wondering if he was ever going to stop pottying in the house.
What do you think? Seem feasible? It is! Patience, Consistency and rewarding good behavior is the key! Well, I hear Parker at the bell… I’m off to do a little pottying {wink}.
Care to stay in the loop? I’d love to have you!
Catch me snapping + sharing pictures over on Instagram.
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Cat @ MaryMarthaMama says
This is awesome! We have a 6 month old puppy and it might be too late but I want to try this. Thanks for sharing how you did it!
Kelly Rowe says
Thanks so much! Appreciate you stopping by. It’s a great tool…and I’m sure that your 6 month old puppy will catch on. 🙂 Have a great Monday. xo.
Emily @ Two Purple Couches says
We bell-trained our Bichon puppy and it’s awesome! We tied a ribbon around a large jingle bell I found with my holiday decorations and hung it from the handle of our back door. We reinforced her training the same way – ringing the bell, saying “potty”, immediately taking her outside and rewarding her once she’d done her business. She got the hang of it pretty quickly, and now even uses the bell to alert us when she needs more water in her bowl!
Kelly Rowe says
It’s a wonderful way to train to a dog and is very effective! Thanks for sharing how you trained your dog on the bell. Appreciate you stopping by. Have a wonderful day. HUGS.
Gilly @ Colour Saturated Life says
Who knew you could do this? I am going to try this with Coco, she currently sits by the door when she needs to go but I don’t always see her so this would be great to prevent accidents. Thanks Kelly
Kelly Rowe says
It’s a great option in training dogs to notify their owners of needing to go out. I bet Coco will catch on pretty quick if she currently sits by the door to let you know. Have a great week. xo.
Jenna says
Oh my goodness…yes, you needed to write about this! First, your doggie looks exactly like our Daisy. And second, I spent about 6 months straight saying “Let’s go potty” every time we took her out. It was so simple, I’m using it to potty train my boys lol. I would love to share this post on our weekend features article with a link back to your blog. It’s just too sweet to pass up.
Kelly Rowe says
Thanks so much Jenna! Aren’t Maltese’s the best? 🙂 The bell is a great tool, but it’s great to hear how other dog owners have trained their dogs so readers can see how effective various methods are. I appreciate the feature with link back as well! Have a great weekend! HUGS.
Jenna says
Our post went live this morning with this great tip. Feel free to share on social media 🙂
Elizabeth says
This is so doable and smart. I have a Great Pyrenees rescue. His foster Mom started him on a bell hung from her doorknob when he was one. He only had to raise his head. Now at my house twelve years later, he can open the door handle with his nose. We still use the bell, but now the door stays bolted too. The bell also saved his life and our carpets when he was diagnosed with diabetes. The first symptom is frequent urination. Great Pyrenees bladder accident!!!! Oh my!!
Kelly Rowe says
Thanks Elizabeth! I appreciate you stopping by and sharing how your dog is trained on a bell. 🙂 It’s a great tool and can be so effective …and sounds like it was seeing that your dog had a medical issue. Have a great weekend!!
Jenn @ EngineerMommy says
We’ll be getting a dog soon… great tips here! Thanks for sharing!
Kelly Rowe says
Thanks for stopping by Jenn! I think that you’ll be pleased with the results of training with a bell. Good luck! xo.
Tara Siudy (Little Miss Dexterous) says
Ha! I did this with all of my dogs. I hung a jingle bell from a string on the door knob! My pups would swat at the bell and ring it when they needed to go out. Bell ringing works so well!!!!
Pinned and sharing!
Kelly Rowe says
Thanks for sharing how effective bell training has been for you! …and for the Pin. 🙂 Enjoy the rest of your week. HUGS.
Lisa @ Cooking with Curls says
That is such an awesome idea, Kelly!! My little monster is already 5 years old so it might be too late for him, but I’m going to give it a try anyway….I love it!
Kelly Rowe says
Thanks Lisa! They say it’s never to late to train to a dog on new things, so you maybe pleasantly surprised. 🙂 Have a great day. xo.
April Wright says
This post excited me. I had just spoken with a customer about this very thing, but she didn’t go into detail how she had trained her furry baby. We just rescued a chihuahua a few months ago and we are still struggling with this issue. It’s safe to say..I’ll be picking up a bell soon. Thank you for sharing this!
Tammy says
Kelly, may I ask how you ended up training Buster, since the bell didn’t work.
We live in a gated townhouse complex and dogs have to go outside the gates to go potty. Our Daisy used to go on pads because I was unable to take her out. Now she won’t go on the pads and I want her to tell us when she has to go outside. We usually just take her out 4 times a day but every once in awhile if we have company she’ll go on a rug in the kitchen.
Kelly Rowe says
Hi Tammy! Buster took forever to train because we adopted him a little older. We still used the potty potty terminology and watched for signs, lots of sniffing, etc. If I saw him even starting, I would pick him up and quickly take him outside and say potty potty. When he did go inside in large amounts, on a few occasions we would rub his nose in it and say naughty. Of course we didn’t want to punish him, because he didn’t know better. It was a long, hard road — but I was persistent and he finally started to sit by the door when he has to go (PRAISE THE LORD). If we don’t see him, he tends to whimper so we know.
Did you ever crate Daisy? We did set up a pen for Buster in the beginning as well. Dogs won’t “potty” in their crates and slowly opening up the home to them teaches them that the house is their crate. Does that make sense?
Cal Driver says
Super cool idea, it would be so nice if my dog could let me know when he needed to go potty. Right now, he just sits by the door, and waits for me to see.
Debbie Kay Martin says
I have two little dogs, a five yr old shih poo and a three yr old Teddy Bear. Unfortunately, my husband and I were in the middle of some ugliness so neither dog was crated ore really taught to go outside to pee. I tried for a while with a big pen but Jacob (teddy bear) refused to pee in in, no matter how long I stood there. They are small, seven pounds and 1o pounds so I introduced them to diapers on the floor and most times they were good about that. I am now separated, haven’t seen them in a yr but am moving again and will be getting them back! I am so worried as the townhouse as new hardwood floors and the upstairs, new carpet. I plan on putting some sort of fencing outside the sliding door to get them out to pee but I am afraid they will stick with their old habits and pee/poop anywhere they want. And picking them up when they start-I never understood that. with Jacob, I picked him up when he was peeing and just kept on peeing all the way out the door. With Molly, if she was pooping, she kept on doing it out the door. I’d rather have them in one place. Any suggestions?
Angela Rohe says
How do you keep the puppy from playing with the bell? We just got our 8 week old golden retriever two days ago and this seems like a great tool! Thanks in advance!!
Kelly Rowe says
My Parker never really played with the bell — in the beginning your the one tapping it and saying potty-potty so they’ll eventually put the two together. Does that make sense? Since the bell is by the door, it seems to be out of the way to be considered a toy.
Sandy says
We trained our doodles to hit bells hanging from the door knob. It worked well.
Carole Tafoya says
The bell works real well when house breaking a puppy. I tried it for my Shi Chi puppy. I had a small bell (like a school bell) tied it with a shoe lace and tied it on the door knob. Every time I took him outside to pee or potty I would ring the bell and him “ring the bell, go outside pee potty”. In less than 2 weeks, he ringing with his paw or nose ringing the bell to go outside.
Judith Larkin says
Permission to reprint? I an editor of The Gordon Report, Newsletter for the Gordon Setter Club of Canada. This would be a great article for our members.
Kelly Rowe says
Hi Judith. Thanks so much for your e-mail. Unfortunately, reprinting would not be permitted. Including a link to the article is an option. Feel free to e-mail me at kelly(at)livelaughrowe(dot)com with further questions. Cheers!
Bryan says
The benefits of having a trained dog are endless. A few months ago I started to train mine with some online videos.
Pauline S. Huguley says
I think it’s a great idea! The bell will signal you when the dog needs to go #2. This training will save you loads of hassle. I loved the training menu. I will surely give this a try! Thank You.
Kate says
Our maltepoo stands by the door and looks at us until we get the message. Every night before he finally goes to sleep I take him outside and tell him to do a wee
and he does every time!
Abigail says
I love this it worked great for my dogs thanks so much
Brenda Thompson says
Thank you for sharing your experience and tips on how to train your dog to ring a bell to potty! I agree that this is a brilliant technique that can be very helpful for dog owners, especially those with puppies.
Consistency is key when it comes to training dogs, and your suggestion to ring the bell every time you take your dog outside is a great way to establish a routine. It’s also important to pay close attention to your dog’s behavior and catch them before they have an accident, as this reinforces the desired behavior.
I also appreciate your reminder that different breeds of dogs may respond differently to training, and that it may take some time and patience to successfully train your dog to use the bell. However, with persistence and a positive attitude, this can be a fun and rewarding process for both the dog and the owner.
Thanks again for sharing your tips, and I hope that more dog owners will consider using this technique to help their furry friends communicate their potty needs!