How to Housebreak a Dog

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Step 1

First attach a small bell to a string and hang it by the door, at about the height of your dog. This will become your dog's signal to you that it has to go outside.
Step 2

Take the dog outside as often as it seems necessary. If it pees outside it was necessary. If not, try waiting a little bit longer next time. For puppies this may be as little as every 2 hours. Before leaving each time, have the dog ring the bell with its nose.
Step 3

After a few weeks, the dog will associate the ringing bell with going outside. At this point, try to scale back the every 2 hours schedule and increase the time between outside trips, maybe to 3 or 4 hours. The idea is to eventually let the dog tell you when it's time by ringing the bell by the door.
Step 4

Eventually, the dog will set its own schedule. At this point, you can probably remove the bell if you want. The dog should be able to sit by the door or alert you in some other way that it needs to pee.

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