Laura Nativo’s Jingle Bell Potty Trainer

• Package of 3-inch metal rings
• 5 yards of fabric
• Jingle Bells with metal loop topper
• Key ring blanks

Instructions:

1. You can buy any type of fabric you like. We chose fleece for the texture, faux fur, and ribbon for decorative effect. The fabric you choose should be strong and have a little elasticity to it so your dog can tug at it and it will give a little.
2. You want your finished Jingle Bell Trainer to long enough for your particular dog to reach it. So, eyeball the height of your dog against your particular door. Then, cut your fabric to twice that length. It’s important to cut twice the amount because as you knot the fabric you will lose overall length.
3. Loop the fabric strips through the 3-inch ring and pull through until fabric length is halved.
4. Then you will want to secure your ring to a table, or any surface so that it gives resistance while you are knotting your fabric. You can clamp the ring to any surface with large binder clips, or place a nail or thumb tack in a surface and look the ring around that, or just loop the ring around your toes while sitting down.
5. To knot the fabric, use a simple braiding technique. However, double up your pieces so that you are braiding 3 braids with 6 pieces to reinforce the strength of the final product.
6. Tie one last large knot and really pull hard to secure the ends. Allow for a little length of fabric to extend beyond the final knot, just to give dogs something extra to be able to grab.
7. Bells usually come with a loop naturally built into the top of the metal, but make sure and check for a loop just in case. Take advantage of that loop and thread your key ring blank through the jingle bell loop and then thread that to connect the bells to the 3-inch ring. You want to make sure your bells are large enough to where if your dog rips them off they don’t become a choking hazard.

Directions:

1. Introduce your dog to the Jingle Bell Potty Trainer by playing with it as though it is a tug toy. Teach your dog to “take it” and release it and reward your dog with a treat.
2. Once your dog knows that command, you can attach the Jingle Bell Potty Trainer to the door. Using the same technique, teach your tug to tug at the Trainer while it’s on the door.
3. The next step will be opening the door when your dog tugs at it and going outside. Remember to reward the dog with a treat.
4. Once you have conditioned your dog to go outside by tugging at the Jingle Bell Potty Trainer on your door, you can associate going potty every time you go outside. Don’t forget to reward your dog every time they go potty when using the Jingle Bell Potty Trainer. This will reinforce the connection with the Jingle Bell Potty Trainer with going outside to do their business.

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