{bell training}

Every time I hear of someone bringing home a new furry bundle of joy I want to share my best piece of advice for them-- BELL TRAIN YOUR PUP. 

This was the best thing we could have ever done for Polo. He was potty trained by 13 weeks. Since the day we bell trained him, he has not had one accident in the house. 

How do you go about bell training your furball?

Start by purchasing a quality bell. We have this one from an outdoor store. 

Attach some twine or yarn to your bell and adjust it to your puppy's height. Make sure he can reach the bell with his nose. Gather some treats. 

Take your fur over to the bell, physically take his head and make him touch the bell, making a sound. Immediately give him a treat, then open the door, take him outside directly to the grass. Give him another treat. Do this in about 5-10 min increments repeating dinging the bell over and over. Gradually move away from physical prompts to just holding a treat by the bell so his nose will go toward the treat and it will ring the bell. Don't give the treat yet, open the door, take him to the grass, then give him the treat. 

Your fur may be a bit apprehensive at first because the bell noise may scare him, but they learn so quickly that dinging the bell gives them access to the outdoors! 

Polo loves his bell and he knows that it also gets our attention. During dinner, some nights, we have to remove the bell because he realizes he doesn't have our full attention and will stand at the door and constantly ding the bell.

{here} is a silly youtube video on bell training your pup. We started by training him to give a high five but quickly realized how big he was going to get and didn't want him tearing up our doors with his paws. We then decided we would teach him to use his nose to ding the bell.

Good luck! Cheers to no more accidents in the house!