DIY Puppy Potty Training Bells

“Did that dog just ring a bell to go outside?”

Without fail, every guest is going to utter these words on their first visit to our home. It’s kind of like our version of “It’s bigger on the inside.” And the answer is always yes. The dog did ring a bell to go outside.

When we first moved into this house, Dexter was already potty trained and Daphne was just a wee pup. Dexter would scratch, bark, etc to let you know he needed to have a little private time outside. (Anyone catch that Toy Story reference?) Daphne, however, would just sit politely by the door. You only knew she needed to go out if you happened to see her sitting there…. or found a puddle in the floor. gross.

After a bit of googling, I saw a tip to hang a bell around the your door knob. The bells will ring every time the door opens, so your pupper quickly makes the connection.

My first version of these potty training bells were simply a line of jingle bells hand-stitched to a wide chevron ribbon. These worked perfectly for years, until a certain toddler started pulling them off. (Y’all, there are jingle bells all over my house. I keep finding them. lol.) The ribbon had also frayed from years of use. It was time to make new ones, and of course I wanted to share it with you!

What you’ll need:

1-in ribbon (length will depend on the heigh of your dog)
thread in a matching color
3 D-rings
9 jingle bells
sewing machine
2 pairs of pliers
muscle (you’ll see)

Step 1. Determine the length of your ribbon

Dexter and Daphne are both weenie dogs, which means they’re super low riders. Consequently, our bells hang almost to the floor. If you have a taller dog, you probably won’t need for your ribbon to hang quite so low. Target to have the middle bell line up with your dog’s nose.

Measure from the top of your door knob to where you want the bottom of the bells to be. Add about 3 inches for the D-ring pockets and about 3 inches for the door knob loop. Don’t forget to use fray check or take a flame to the ends of your ribbon.

Step 2. Place bells on D-rings

Next, we gotta pry those D-rings open to to slide the bells on. Maybe (hopefully) you’re stronger than I am, but I found it easiest to grip each side with a pair of pliers and pull them open. You only need to separate them a little to slide the jingle bells on. Three bells per D-ring is a good number. Then close the D-ring back up. It’s not necessary to line the ends back up perfectly; this side will get covered by the ribbon. Repeat for all D-rings.

Step 3. Sew the D-ring to the ribbon

Starting at the bottom of your ribbon, loop a bit through the D-ring. Sew the end closed. From the other end of the ribbon, slide another D-ring on, stopping it a few inches above the first set of bells. Fold the ribbon below the D-ring up, creating a little loop for your D-ring to hang on. Fold the bottom part of the ribbon back on itself, and sew all three layers together. Repeat for the third set of bells.

Step 4. Sew the door knob loop

Take your ribbon to the door and double check your length. Loop the excess end around the door knob, adjusting so that the bells are at the desired length. Place a pin where you need sew (or take the lazy way like I did and just pinch it). Sew to secure. I actually put two lines of thread here just for a little something extra.

Step 5. Hang bells and impress your friends.

And you know, train your dogs to use them. 🙂

For reals though, getting Dexter and Daphne to use the bells was pretty easy. We just showed them how to hit them with their noses and made a big show about jingling them like crazy the first week every time we opened the door. They picked it up in no time.

Good luck training your pups! May you have no more potty accidents.