Potty Bell
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any sort of bell/windchime/key rings/etc. is fine. As long as it makes an audible amount of noise when nudged with a nose or paw. And make sure it's well securred so it doesn't end up as a chew toy.
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Think of it as teaching two things. You want to teach the dog to ring the bell on cue. Once the dog can ring the bell on cue on a consistent basis then every time you take the dog to the door give the command to ring the bell, then immediately let the dog out.
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I admit I haven't read much of this thread, but if you are looking for a potty bell a good choice is to go to the camping section and find a "bear bell". We were going to bell train our puppy, but it turned out that we didn't really need to 
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imo..can backfire. when you start hearing "ding ding ding ding ding ding" every ten seconds..daily...it becomes more trouble than it's worth.
Yes we had an old Christmas (like a jingle bell bell) Bell on a red ribbon hung around our door nob (adjust to suit the reach of your dog) and ended up taking it down-- or may be it got knocked off one day (it is on the doornob!) .. and we never put it back-- the dogs love to abuse it once they realize they can train their humans to let them out/ escort them outside every time they ..ring your Bell!
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Not sure why this two year old thread was resurrected, but here's my standard response to bell training threads. I can't believe I missed this one two years ago.
My first two dogs were bell trained. I would poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick before I would bell train another one.
My first two dogs were bell trained. I would poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick before I would bell train another one.
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It kills me how clever they are sometimes. Sometimes I tell Deebs she is a liar and she will wag her tail and find something else to do, but if she REALLY has to go out again (in close proximity to her other potty break) she will stare intently at me and then whip the bell in the air as hard/high as she can like, "You think I'm lying? Test me, lady... I'll pee on your bed."
For future reference another two years from now; I stock up on jingle bells (necklaces/door jinglies) that are on sale in January. My mom uses a small windchime hung from yarn on the door knob. Both work, both drive me crazy, but it is so much better than having to ask my dogs every hour or so if they need to go... instead, they just tell me!
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In my experience, these are the events (in order of priority) that will trigger a dog to ring a bell:
1) You are sitting on the toilet.
2) You are talking on the phone.
3) You are enjoying a rare intimate moment with your SO.
4) You are eating your dinner - possibly with guests at a semi-formal dinner party.
5) You are in the shower.
6) Your dog has to go to the bathroom.
Here is the other half of my standard response: A healthy, adult dog is remarkably regular. If they eat and sleep on anything like a schedule, they will potty on a fairly predictable schedule as well. As the supposedly more intelligent species, we should be able to recognize that schedule and accommodate it without the dog needing to bark, scratch at the door, ring a bell or sing a song to be let outside.
If the dog has recently stolen 6 dozen cutout cookies, all bets are off.
I have also learned to recognize the signals from Esther that mean, "Molly has to go outside. NOW!" I learned that the day Molly came to live with us as a young pup and Esther was frantically trying to get my attention while Molly squatted on our new sofa an took a big dump.
1) You are sitting on the toilet.
2) You are talking on the phone.
3) You are enjoying a rare intimate moment with your SO.
4) You are eating your dinner - possibly with guests at a semi-formal dinner party.
5) You are in the shower.
6) Your dog has to go to the bathroom.
Here is the other half of my standard response: A healthy, adult dog is remarkably regular. If they eat and sleep on anything like a schedule, they will potty on a fairly predictable schedule as well. As the supposedly more intelligent species, we should be able to recognize that schedule and accommodate it without the dog needing to bark, scratch at the door, ring a bell or sing a song to be let outside.
If the dog has recently stolen 6 dozen cutout cookies, all bets are off.
I have also learned to recognize the signals from Esther that mean, "Molly has to go outside. NOW!" I learned that the day Molly came to live with us as a young pup and Esther was frantically trying to get my attention while Molly squatted on our new sofa an took a big dump.
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We used chimes attached to our kitchen door knob. I just hit the chimes with her paw every time we went outside. I think hearing them go off every time we opened the door helped a lot as well. She learned that making the sound opened the door. She does try to abuse it, but I can see it from our living room. If she hits the chimes and sits down to wait, then it’s for real. If she hits it then keeps playing with the cat, we can ignore it. If it’s serious she does a growly thing then hits it again. As for the bad timing issues, I just tell her, “I’m coming Josie” and she waits for as long as it takes.
With the chimes she is pretty much potty trained at 5 months. I do agree that dogs are pretty regular, but only as adults. Ideally we will take the chimes down once she is older and more constant, but for now it’s good that she gives us the “it’s been 1.5hrs” reminder.
She also has this weird fear of wet grass that we’re working on. Basically, if it’s wet, she wants nothing to do with outside. Since she was trained with the chimes though, she kind of does it out of instinct. So she rings the chimes, I open the door, she runs to the other room, I take her outside and walk her into the grass, she pees on her mad dash to get into the house. Without the chimes, I think she would just go and hide it when she didn’t want to go out.
With the chimes she is pretty much potty trained at 5 months. I do agree that dogs are pretty regular, but only as adults. Ideally we will take the chimes down once she is older and more constant, but for now it’s good that she gives us the “it’s been 1.5hrs” reminder.
She also has this weird fear of wet grass that we’re working on. Basically, if it’s wet, she wants nothing to do with outside. Since she was trained with the chimes though, she kind of does it out of instinct. So she rings the chimes, I open the door, she runs to the other room, I take her outside and walk her into the grass, she pees on her mad dash to get into the house. Without the chimes, I think she would just go and hide it when she didn’t want to go out.
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