Day 1: from inside to outside pottying using a bell.
 

I am going to attempt to get my yorkie and chihuahua outside potty trained (which they are currently indoor potty trained on puppy pads) using a bell on the door. I am able to do it the way I am because I stay at home all day. So it will be easier for me. Today, I am going to keep them crated, but I am going to let them out EVERY 30 MIN. So I will be taking them out starting 9:30am to 10:00pm which is when they go to bed. This will be 25 trips outside per dog. (50 trips outside total) I am going to use the key word "outside?" and I will have them use their paw to hit the bell and then out we go. I am kind of speed training them in a way (instead of having them hit the bell for a few days etc.) After they hit the bell, treat. When they go potty outside, treat. And I will be putting one of their soiled pads outside so they know where to potty. They will then come inside to get a drink and go back to bed and we start all over in 30 more min and so on for the rest of the day. I will keep updating their progress on here for a week. They are only staying in the crate for today. Which tomorrow they will be out of their crate for an hour at a time. Switching off each dog every hour. But still going out every 30 min. I will have to only keep one dog out at a time because if not, I think they might slip up. So after one week, I will see where they are in their progress and they might be able to come out together. Wish me luck!

Well, after doing it for a few hours, my yorkie is doing pretty good. I make him ring the bell with his paw (I'm thinking about putting a little dot of peanut butter on the bells though, that way they will get the hang of ringing it themselves) and he goes out and pees in 5 seconds on the pad. Super proud of him. Now my chi however, I make him hit the bell, and he goes outside, but he still hasn't pottied on the pad. He stays on the pad, but he just looks around at everything going on. Lol. And it is really windy out, so that doesn't help. But, he will have to go eventually. :)

Thank you for creating this. I am potty train my puppy and at first I tried to take him out but he didn't go at all, just played. So I settled for wee wee pad. I'm planning to make the transition to outside after he consistently goes on the pad so your post will be very helpful for me as to how it's done. I'll be watching your progress! Thanks.

Ps: is the bell annoying for you to open the door when it's not potty business for your babies?

I am happy that this information will help you. That is the main reason I wanted to start this, so it would help others who are wanting to do the same thing.

I ended up moving the bell to the side of the door instead. It wouldn't brother me at all, but I didn't want them getting confused when someone came in through the door.

YAY!!! My Dojo (chi) went pee on his pad outside! He got some major praise for that (belly rub, a big yummy treat, claps, kisses and hugs) Lol. Way to go my little boy. Now the only thing I have to do is get them to poo outside. I feed them at certain times a day, so I know when they have to go, but it's getting them to do it outside now.

I am glad you are having good luck with the Bell training. I have been working on my yorkie for months with the bell, she is still afraid of it after all this time.

Lola is 100% bell trained, I also take a string of bells with me on vacation both at other peoples homes and hotel rooms and it works well. Are you taking them out by leash. I do it by leash and I highly recommend that, the leash and the bell means potty no play which I like since it gets it over quickly.

Lola also knows the difference between pee and poop, which comes in handy, on her second trip out of the day she tends to just poop and then head for the door, I say no go pee, go pee, go pee, and too funny she turns around reluctantly and goes back down the front steps and squats and wets. I also like to use the word potty for bathroom trips because it's right to the point and not confused with going outside to play.

Sounds like your two are catching on real quick, you will be very happy you are using this method

Well, both my guys went poo tonight before dinner (just like they normally do) without a problem. That's what I was worried about the most, but I was surprised. :) Going to finish the rest of the night off just like what I was doing during the day. Every 30 min until 10:00. Then I'll start over in the morning. :)

I will be transitioning my boy from wee wee pads to the yard very soon. Please post updates on this!! I will be reading them for sure. Thanks for posting

Day 2: Update.
 

Well, today was a good day. No potty accidents inside. They went poo outside at their normal times (morning/night). My yorkie is very excited to get to go outside to potty. He will actually run to the door when I say "go outside?" and he will sit there by the door to go out. He's a smart cookie. :) My chi is still taking about I'd say 3 min before he will go pee, but it's better than yesterday and will only get better. I am ringing the bells still when they go out. I really want them to use the bells, but if they don't want to it's no big deal as long as they don't potty by the door or on the carpet. :) As long as they learn to hold it until they go outside, I'll be happy with that.

That is funny. Galen it is poopy. He will go pee pee then he is done. I tell him you have to go poopy. I tell him if He doesn't go poopy then no zoomies. All of a sudden he will poop lol

I can not get him to ring the bell.

How interesting. I will enjoy watching your progress! Good luck!

My second dog seems like he is ripe for bell training, so I'm very intrigued by this. Where did you get the bells?

I actually made my bells. I used ribbon, 1in. jingle bells and key rings.

Attachment 396939

Day 3: Update.
 

Today was pretty much the same. But, my husband and I made a fence in the front yard so they can just go out and potty when I open the door and I don't have to worry about them running away. They love it. They were so excited. They would come and jump on me and run around and come and jump on me again. :) They are both doing really well though.

Wow, sounds like it is going great!

sounds like it is going well, I also made mine, I bought a bag of jingle bells at the craft store, and ran pieces of thin ribbon through a bunch of them and then tied a clump of them on to the end of the ribbon. If Lola has to go really bad, she bats the hell out of the bells and you can here it clear through the whole house.

LOL that's funny how he knows the word zoomie. today my DH let Lola out around 10 am he said she probably does not have to go since she went out about an hour earlier, she just wants the treat when she comes back in. I said I bet she has to poop, this her poop time, so sure enough that is what she did. He was going to let her back in, but I said no I want her to pee again and I know she can, he said, I DOUBT IT, I said oh yes she will. So just when he was going to let her back in, I said NO Lola go pee, go pee. So down she went back down off the steps and after a little bit of sniffing squatted down and peed and I said see I TOLD YOU SO:D I did this because I don't want to have to put her back out in an hour or so.

Day 4: Update
 

They are both still doing really well. My chi doesn't take as long to go pee which is nice. But I'm wondering about something. And maybe someone could let me know. My yorkie likes to lift his leg on things outside now. He is neutered and never marked in the house before, but will him marking things outside make him want to do it inside? He hasn't, but I'm just curious about this.

I don't think so although all dogs are different. My yorkie baby is not fixed he is 2 when he goes outside he marks everything even my other dog (jeez) but inside he never marks. Good luck on the bell I used the trick speak when I was training so now when my 3 need to go potty they go by the door and bark.

Thanks for the info on the bells!

Day 5: Update
 

They are still doing really well. I wasn't able to just take them outside since I had roofers working, but I was able to take them out on their leashes to the back yard and they still went potty without any problems. I was surprised about that. My chi was hesitant at first, but only for a minute.

I envy your success! I've had potty bells up for months and my two have no idea why I'm jingling bells and talking to them when I'm standing right there by the door and all they can think about is going outside.
My 15-yr-old dog who died last year wasn't with my little male long enough to model the "speak-to-go-out" system we had then. I can't even get my female (7mos) to speak on command yet, so if that were our system now, she'd be SOL. lol
(We're having moderate success with an indoor potty pad, but even that's a challenge because my female doesn't like anyone to see her "go" and freaks out if someone walks in on her. haha)
OT: I love the word "zoomies"--it pops into my mind every time my two (plus the cat) get going at top speed. :)
Wishing you continued success!

Day 6&7: Update
 

These past 2 days were pretty much the same as it has been. They absolutely LOVE going outside to potty. Today was a bit different though because when we got up this morning, there was about a 1/4in. of snow on the ground. I didn't know how they were going to react with that one. But it was a very good test for the upcoming ice and snow we are supposed to be getting. Surprising enough they went out to potty like it has always been there. They also enjoyed eating some if it. :)

I'm so glad that you are having so much success!! I was wondering are you still crating them at any times? Also are they having accidents in the house?
Either way thanks so much for the progress updates!

I do still have to crate them at times (anytime I have to leave the room and I can't watch them) but it's usually only for a few minutes. And by doing this, they haven't had any accidents as of yet.

Update
 

Well, it's now been a week and a day. Their training is going really well. I still have to ring the bells for them (I use their paw) but I knew it was going to take some time for that. But I am very happy with their progress with going potty outside. I'm glad I don't have to wash pee pads anymore also. :) This weekend will be a big test since it is going to be raining. I hope they want to go out and potty as fast as they can. We'll see. I am going to continue to update their progress every few days for a month or so from now that way everyone who was interested in this will know how they are doing. I'll be trackng their progress on the bell training (or their own way of letting me know they need to potty), any kind of accident they may have in the house, how they do in differnt types of weather, how long they can hold it on their own before they let me know themselves they need to go potty (I've been taking them out every 30-60 min without them giving me a que, but I'm going to "test" them soon) and any other improvement or set backs they may have.

I have the opposite problem, mine speaks for everything but to go out :-) he does very well though with potty pads inside between walks, as he wants you to see him go so he gets his cookie :-)

Update :)
 

I just wanted to do a quick update on my 2 guys. They have been doing awesome with their transition from potty pads to outside pottying. So far our weather has been warm, cold, rainy, windy, icy, snowy and muddy. All thanks to living in Missouri. Lol. And through all that weather, they actually do better in the rain and snow. :rolleyes: I guess it's because they don't like it, so they do their business as fast as possible to get back inside. :) They have had 1 accident each (both poo accidents) and that's it. I still take them out every hour just in case. They still aren't ringing the bell to let me know they want to go outside (but I still make them ring the bell). But recently, my chihuahua has started to let me know by going to the door and pacing. I might train them to speak to go outside if they don't catch on to ringing the bell. :)

Well, I wanted to update again on the progress of my outside potty training. I am happy to say that they have not had an accident in 2 months. :D Also, they are no longer using their crates. Even at night. They are sleeping in bed with me. Which is really different since I've never had a dog sleep in my bed. But I did get a portable completely enclosed exercise pen for them when we need to leave the house. I trust them when I am home, but it will be a little while before I can trust them while we are out. They'll get there. Also, they don't ring the bell still, but they do pace by the door. But just to make sure, if they don't do to the door, I let them out every 3 hours.