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How to Teach Your Dog to Ring a Bell for Potty Breaks

Author: K. Marie Altoby K Marie Alto Updated 8 min read

How to Teach Your Dog to Ring a Bell for Potty Breaks

How do you know when your pup has to go?

Experienced pet parents develop a feeling for it, or just set a schedule to take their pooch out on a walk around the yard or the neighborhood. Maybe it's a bit of a whine, maybe it's going to stand by the door, maybe it's a lot of pacing or a pointed look.

Unfortunately, some of those signals are pretty subtle. If you aren't as experienced with the signs a pup needs to go, it's easy to miss. Then you end up with an accident to clean up.

A lot of people have tried to come up with different solutions to this problem. Indoor potty rooms or puppy pads, exotic kinds of training, that kind of thing. Out of all of them, one has stood out as something that is a) effective, b) simple, and c) inexpensive. It checks all the right boxes.

It's bell training!

What is Bell Training and How Does it Work?

Bell training is a simple concept. All you do is teach your pup to chime a bell when they have to go potty. Easy!

It's a very useful technique because it's a clear form of communication. Your dog learns that, when they need to go out, all they have to do is ring the bell. It's a clear signal to you, so you don't ever misinterpret or miss their signals when they have to go.

What Is Bell Training And How Does It Work Image by Toe Beans

As for how it works, it's just like any other kind of training. You build an association between one thing happening and another thing happening, usually with a treat or praise as an intermediate reward to reinforce it. In this case, the association is between the bell ringing and going out to potty.

As long as you don't do things wrong, leave it to be inconsistent, or otherwise break the training, it will work just fine for most of their life.

In addition to reducing accidents, it can make it clearer when an accident is cause for concern. Under normal circumstances, a misinterpreted cue or something you didn't notice or ignore can lead to an accident, just because they don't have supercanine bowel control. When they have an effective means of alerting you, like a bell, an accident is more likely to be caused by something like an illness or something they ate. Either way, it's useful information.

How to Train a Dog to Ring a Bell to Potty

The good news is, it's really easy to train a dog to ring a bell for potty breaks. It works best with puppies as part of their basic potty training, but you can even train older dogs the same way. In fact, I've read several stories of dogs who have even trained themselves with a handy bell, even if their parents didn't plan it that way! It just goes to show that your pooch wants to do the right thing, and if given the chance to do so, they'll take it.

How do you do it? Easy.

Step 1: Get the Supplies

First up, you need supplies.

Step 1 Get The Supplies Image by Toe Beans

The list is pretty short.

  • A ribbon, rope, or other cordage to hang the bells from.

  • A bell. You want something loud enough you'll hear it no matter what you're doing. It doesn't work if you can't hear it when your pup rings it, after all.

  • Treats. Sooner or later, most dog training involves treats as a reward, though if you happen to know your pup is more praise-motivated, that's fine too.

That's it!

Step 2: Hang the Bell

You want to hang the bell at snoot level, so your pup can bop it when they have to go, without having to stand up and bat at something, or otherwise develop habits you might not like. The specific height, then, obviously varies depending on your pooch.

This is why something like a ribbon is a good option: you can adjust it as your dog grows.

Step 2 Hang The Bell Image by Toe Beans

Where should you hang the bell? Most people hang it near the door you'll take when taking them out. After all, the goal is to make it part of the process of going potty. There are a few different schools of thought, though, and I'll discuss those in a bit.

Step 3: Associate the Bell with Potty Time

There are a bunch of different ways to build this association.

  • Manually swing the bell to ring it when you go out, often adding your designated word like "potty" to go along with it, and take them out.

  • Swing the bell to lightly tap your pup's nose with it to cause a ring when it's time to go, again with the vocalization, and take them out.

  • Put a dab of a treat on the bell, like a touch of peanut butter, to get your pup to make the noise themselves, then take them out.

  • Combine the bell with clicker or hand-target training to associate a new cue.

Add in treats and praise as necessary, depending on how you've been training your pup to date. There's no one right way to do this; it can depend on the breed and even the individual.

Step 3 Associate The Bell With Potty Time Image by Toe Beans

As with any training, iterate until you're not the one taking action. Wait until they ring the bell, or swing the bell so it's close but they have to touch it, or use fewer treats but more praise, and so on. You're building up to the point where they have to ring the bell to let you know it's time to go out.

That's all there is to it! With a clever pup, this might take two weeks or less to train. With some of the more headstrong or troublemaker pooches out there, it might take a bit longer to iron out the kinks.

Just make sure you never ignore the bell. It's an important signal, and if it doesn't work, it weakens the training.

More Information on Bells and Potty-Training Dogs

There are some other details I wanted to cover in the earlier sections of this post, but they didn't quite fit in. So, I'm putting them here.

Different Placements for the Bell

First up, what about different places to put the bell?

On the door itself is one option. I know some people train their pups so that they associate the door opening with the bell noise. This can be fine, but to me, it's less specific. If the bell rings every time you open it like the chime in a store, it loses some of the association with potty time. If your goal is to make it solely a potty-training tool, having it near but not on the door might be better.

Different Placements For The Bell Image by Toe Beans

A central location is another option, and one I see for people who have large houses with multiple doors. If you have trouble hearing the bell ring from all the way across the house, you could try having more than one bell (one for each possible door), or you can put it somewhere centrally located so your pup can always get your attention. Because, really, your attention is the key here. If they can't alert you to their needs with the bell, the bell isn't doing its job.

One thing to be careful of is the placement where your pup needs to stand up and use a paw to ring the bell. This can be useful if they don't like nudging it with a nose, but it does train them to bat at things with paws, and that can damage doorframes or walls over time.

Again, there's no one right answer here. Put the bell where it works most effectively.

What About Speaking Buttons?

You may have seen " talking buttons" for sale at various pet supply stores and in gimmick TikTok videos. I've seen everything from a set of 3-4 buttons with words like "potty" and "ball" on them, to elaborate setups with dozens of clips to allow surprisingly deep communication with a pet.

These can work. They can also open up a ton of possibilities with words and phrases you wouldn't normally think about teaching your pup. If you're going to use them, you also have to build up to them. You can't put ten buttons on the floor and expect your pup to figure them out.

What About Speaking Buttons Image by Toe Beans

There are a couple of drawbacks, though. One of the big ones is floor space. Some of these button communicators take up a ton of space, and that's space you can't really use for anything else.

You can also run into prankster pups that sit there and hammer the "treat" and "hungry" buttons over and over, or otherwise try to exploit the system. It's funny at first, then annoying, then enough to make you put the buttons up on Facebook Marketplace.

They're also costly. A single button for one of these systems can run you $16+, and a whole system with a handful of buttons, tiles to put them on, and identification stickers can easily be over $100. They're also technology; if your dog likes to chew on things like that, replacements add up. They have batteries, which cost money and need replacement.

Meanwhile, the non-name-brand copycats are cheaper, less durable, more prone to breaking and wearing out, and won't work as well. Some of them can even be dangerous if they shatter into sharp plastic shards, or if they're coated in toxic chemicals.

Meanwhile, a bell on a string is under $10. No-brainer, right?

Common Questions About Bell Potty Training

Have a question I didn't answer yet? Let me know in the comments! I'll try to answer you there and, if the question is relevant enough, even add it here.

How early can you start bell training a puppy?

The moment you bring them home, really. It can be part of their potty training in general, or it can be trained any time thereafter.

How Early Can You Start Bell Training A Puppy Image by Toe Beans

You can even work on it before they're old enough to walk out on their own; just ring the bell when you pick them up to carry them out. They'll build the association between the bell and potty pretty quickly.

What if my dog doesn't like the bell?

Some dogs don't like the loud jangling noise a bell makes, especially right up next to them. That can make it hard to train them with it.

What If My Dog Doesn't Like The Bell Image by Toe Beans

You have a few options here. You can try different bells, first of all. Sometimes a lower-pitched or higher-pitched bell can be better. You can also try moving the bell somewhere that they have to tap with a paw instead of their nose. The added distance between the bell and their ears can make a difference.

If those don't work, the speaking buttons can be effective here too, if they're loud enough for you to hear them from the door. You only need the one (with a phrase like "potty" or "outside" to complete the association), and not the whole kit, so a lot of the drawbacks are alleviated.

My pooch rings the bell just to go outside, and doesn't potty. Help!

Some dogs think they're being clever by doing this, and honestly, they kind of are. Just not in the way you want them to be clever.

All you need to do here is make sure not to reward them for the bad behavior. If they ring the bell and then go potty, great! A treat, praise, or whatever reward works best is in store for them. If they ring the bell just to go out and try to play, though, don't give in. Don't play, don't engage, just ignore them so they learn that they aren't getting what they want out of the ring. That helps break the association and keep it just for potty.

My Pooch Rings The Bell Just To Go Outside And Doesn't Potty Image by Toe Beans

If all goes well, you'll have a dog that has a clear, autonomous signal they can use to get your attention to go out when they need to. It's certainly a lot nicer than a dog that has to walk up to you and whine until you figure out what they want!

Do you have any questions about anything I covered in this article? If so, I'm always more than happy to help, so be sure to leave a comment down below!

K Marie Alto
K Marie Alto

K. Marie is an animal lover, wife, kitty mom, dog auntie, writer, and co-founder of Toe Beans, a proud American family-owned online boutique pet supplies store focused on the improvement of the life of furry family members via pet parent education, better products, and advocacy. She has over 20 years of experience as a pet momma. She loves sharing her personal journey and experience as a pet parent via her blog and Facebook page where she currently has more than 50K followers (@furrytoebeans) and counting :-). Read more

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