Imagine if your dog could tell you that they needed to go potty. How much better would that be for both you and your pooch? For your dog, they’d have the reassurance that you’d let them outside if they needed to go potty. And for you, your reassurance would come in knowing that you won’t have to deal with cleaning up accidents from your carpet or floor. Sounds like a win-win, huh? Well, with bell training, that’s possible.
What exactly is bell training and does it work?
Bell training a puppy
In a nutshell, bell training a puppy involves getting them to ring a bell to alert you every time they need to go outside. Training your puppy to do this takes some patience because there are a few steps involved in this process. In essence, the steps are as follows:
- Train your dog to touch a bell with their nose. Reward them with a treat when they do this.
- Train your dog to ring the bell at the door. When they do this, reward them and then take them outside to go potty.
- Train to your dog when to ring the bell. You only want to offer a treat when they go outside to go potty. After all, you don’t want them ringing the bell all the time.
The bell training process itself is quite detailed; if you think bell training is something you would like to explore further, you can learn further details of bell training your puppy in detail here. Likewise, if you think that bell training is the option for you, there are bells specially designed for dogs to ring when they need to go potty.
Potty training a stubborn puppy
The key to teaching a pup to go to the toilet outside is patience and vigilance. Puppies that may seem stubborn are actually just immature; they don’t have the maturity to know if they need to go. And more than that, they don’t know how to communicate with you.
Puppies don’t soil inside to be naughty. This is why the responsibility lies with YOU to take them outside every few hours to give them the chance to have a sniff around and relieve themselves. When they do their business, praise them vigorously. They’ll figure it out eventually. After all, dogs are pretty smart!
What to do when my puppy goes potty inside
Your puppy doesn’t know how to tell you that they need to relieve themselves. Older dogs will generally give off signals, such as pacing restlessly and staring at you. But a puppy is still too young to even really know when it needs to go.
As frustrating as this is, it’s important that you never shout at your puppy. Also, don’t rub your dog’s nose in their mess. This is a silly wives tale and will only make your puppy more anxious about potty training.
Does bell training work?
Absolutely. Dog trainers swear by this method, so it’s definitely worth trying at home.