There are a couple sides to this issue.
Many people say that they have been using bells on their door for years for many different dogs, and that it works really well. I’m not going to speak to those people.
My question is why you would want to create an active alert in this situation in the first place.
Most of the time, dogs are going to associate barking at the bells with the door opening. That is very different than a dog pawing at the bells when it has to go to the bathroom.
One client asked me recently if she should say a command when her dog paws at the door. She wondered if she should say “go potty” and then hit the bells, or if she should say “go outside” and then hit the bells.
To be honest, it doesn’t really matter, because I personally wouldn’t advise using bells. As part of potty training a puppy, it’s the handler’s job to make sure that dog is outside when it has to go to the bathroom. I don’t rely on the dog to tell me when it has to go. I would bet the dogs that are potty trained and that ring the bells in order to go outside would be potty trained without the bells just as well.
That being said, I really think those dogs are just hitting the bells because it means they can open the door versus when they have to go to the bathroom. Those are two separate things. I would prefer that my dog not think that they have control about when they can go in and out of the house. From a potty training perspective, I would like my dog to wait until I take it outside so it can go to the bathroom. My dog should know that I will always provide ample opportunities to go to the bathroom outside. What if you’re not home and your dog is just hitting the bell, not understanding why a person isn’t there to take them out?
I personally prefer a passive alert. I allow my dog to tell me that he wants to go outside by lying down on a mat in front of the door. If my dog is lying down in front of the door, I know that he wants to go outside. I do not have to let him out immediately, but now that I know, the next time I stand up, I can walk over and open the door.
The way that I create this behavior is actually quite simple: Every time I am going to let my dog outside, I have him lie down on the mat. When he is down, I open the door and then release him.
I also like to add this in when the dog comes inside. I’d like to create an automatic down so that my dog doesn’t just storm through the house with muddy paws or something in his mouth. As soon as my dog comes in the house from outside, I immediately ask him for a down on the mat. Over time, the dog is trained to do that, and makes it part of his pattern. As I open the door, the dog steps inside and lies down. It gives me an opportunity to clean off his paws or toss a dirty ball outside if he had one.
I think it’s best to separate these concepts from potty training. Potty training is mostly happening between 8 and 24 weeks old. During that time, it is your job to convince your dog that you will always be there to let him out before he asks for it. You should know when your dog has to go to the bathroom by keeping track of how much your dog has been eating or drinking, when it has last been outside, and its general schedule. That is your job.
Separate from this is the ability for your dog to ask to go outside. Your dog may want to ask to go outside for a myriad of reasons. The dog could want to chase squirrels, bark at the neighbor, sunbathe, or possibly urinate.
You will find plenty of people who swear by the bells, but it’s not something I’m interested in training. There’s enough noises in life, I don’t need to give my dog extra reasons to make it. If you really wanted to create an active alert, you could allow your dog to bark in order to go outside. However, I think that’s quite intrusive. Keep in mind that this is my opinion, and you can go about potty training in a lot of different ways. Do whatever suits you!
