Bells and Potty Training?

[feline13x]

Hello, We are getting our EM puppy, Fenway this week. He will be 11 weeks and I am not sure how far along he will be in his potty training. I have been hearing a lot about tying bells at the door so he can ring them when he needs to go out. This sounds like a great idea to get my attention as I have 3 (human) kiddos and know that it can feel busy at times.

I would live any thoughts or suggestions. We did pick up a crate on Craigslist so we are also intending to crate train as well.

Thank you!

 

[aaronl]

What worked for us was a goat bell from local feed store. Tried the Christmas bells (it was christmas time) but found they were not loud enough. We hung the goat bell on the door handle. Took her out every hour or so through same door. Rang the bell and touched it to her nose. We said "potty". We kept that up for a week. We also crated, which worked wonders. Its true what they say, good rule of thumb is for however many months she is, add 1 and that is how many hours they can wait to go. So the first few months, we were up once or twice a night. But at four months crated, she slept through night. Maybe younger, cant remember.
After a week or so (literally had two accidents in the house total) she rang the bell on her own. We had her on leash outside and took her to the same spot each time. She now has free rein of back yard and bell has been mved to a hook on the wall. The door gt anoying, since we use the door lot.

 

[bkcain]

I use bells on my door too. I love them. It is great when you are not in the room to see them sitting at the door. My EM even rings the bells so the cat can go out. THAT gets annoying. He rings the bell, the cat runs out and he goes back in the living room to take a nap!

 

[Smart_Family]

I tried the bells thing but all my EM puppy did was break them. I know a lot of people who swear by them though so good luck!

 

[Smokeycat]

I tried it with Jiggers. He liked the sound it made so much that it is now one of his favorite toys. Now I need to find something else before my basement reno is done.

 

[Tunride]

Snookums rang her bells, went out on the porch, stood there, came in for her treat. Sometimes she would potty. Mostly it was ring bells, go out, come in, get treat, wait a few minutes, ring bells, repeat....all day! Bells gone.

 

[SandraMCotton]

Very nice topic here in this thread. Glad to be here.

Dog Containment System

 

[Buddha's Dad]

we started using the bells right when we brought Buddha home at 8 weeks. We started out taking him out every 30-40 minutes, I would gently make him hit the bell with his nose and I'd say "go potty". We would carry him out with a leash to the dirt area we wanted him to use for his bathroom. Then put him down and say "go potty" and use the leash to keep him in the area and not run to the lawn.
If we didn't carry him he would just squat as soon as he got to the lawn.
Once he started knowing the dirt was the potty spot we started just fast walking him out to the spot on the leash. And then eventually we could just open the door and he would run right to the spot. If he had any lazy days and tried to test us, back on the leash for some refresher training. When it was done right we always went way overboard with the loving like he just won the lottery, sometimes getting a treat too.
He's now on total autopilot. The bell has worked out great, Except when my wife and I were both trying to get ready at the same time to leave one day and didn't hear the bell. Lets just say he was at the door as long as he could and then even tried to find us to tell us he had to go.........he didn't quite make it to us. I felt like such a bad parent right then LOL
So yea, I need to get a louder bell.
Also as an added bonus because of keeping him to dirt to do his duty, he will not go potty on lawns, when we visit family, I just take him to a dirt spot, say go potty, he goes potty and that becomes his potty spot while we are visiting, whether I take him or not.

 

[Todd68]

Works for us. Our girl knocks it around like crazy when she has to go. She often sits for a minute by the door first. If we don't open it, the bell gets a smack.

 

[aaronl]

Goat bells at the feed store work wonders. I have also heard of push button bells tied into door bell ringer. Works for if the are inside and can be installed outside.