Best dog doorbells according to redditors
We found 57 Reddit comments discussing the best dog doorbells. We ranked the 26 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 57 Reddit comments discussing the best dog doorbells. We ranked the 26 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
I'm an old fart and kind of groggy, so this may be a little jumbled.
She looks old enough to be away from mom, but beyond that, it's hard to tell and you probably won't know for sure how old she is until you get her in to see the vet. So, I'd err on the side of more frequent trips outside.
Until you're pretty confident that she will tell you when she needs to go, I'd recommend the following:
If you're able to carry her to where you want her to go, I'd recommend that at first. She probably won't pee on you, and it will avoid accidents in the hallway.
Expect to get up several times in the middle of the night for the first few days. It's unlikely that you have a crate just hanging out, so until you're able to get a kennel, you can probably work up some kind of a barrier for her to stay in your bathroom with the door open overnight.
If you're able to afford one, I would strongly recommend a metal crate, btw. Gives you a secure place for the pupper during the day and gives them a safe space to nap or hang out when they are tired and/or not feeling sociable. The prevailing advice is to get one that is just big enough for the current size of the dog, but I've always gone straight to full size and never had any issues. YMMV. You can sometimes find them at a good discount on CL.
There's a puppy subreddit (b/c of course there is) that you may find helpful. r/puppy101/
This is a good overview of different methods/advice. The biggest hassle is going to be the first few months when she isn't old enough to really hold it for an entire day of work, so you may need to modify your approach depending on what kind of flexibility you have in having someone there to let her out periodically.
I would highly recommend getting a door signal, btw. We use something like this set of bells. I picked ours up at Walmart, but they are widely available. Every time we took dogface out, we'd ring the bells with her paw before opening the door. Took her less than a week to figure out that she could ring them to get a trip outside.
Oh! And pick up some Nature's Miracle. Accidents happen, but that stuff really does a good job at keeping them from happening again in the same place.
Sure! Keep in mind it could be a flook still but LETS STAY POSITIVE RIGHT? :D
- We bought these bells from Amazon. They just hang on our doorknob. Some people prefer the nicer looking ones or something that won't scratch the walls -- but our apartment is pretty simple as it is so we don't mind :)
- For a little context, we live on the third floor of an apartment. Our 15-week golden seems to be afraid of the word "outside" but will gladly romp around once he's there. So we knew we wanted to try bell training to give a more formal process around the act. He's pretty small for a retriever still, so we've been carrying him downstairs to avoid accidents in the public places of the building.
- Regarding potty on command: we've been saying the word "bivouac" whenever Monti potties for a while now. Why did we choose "bivouac"? I actually don't know...my boyfriend picked it out lol. But after we got Monti, we quickly learned "Monti" was too close to "potty" for his little puppy ears and we didn't want him to think his name meant "okay go pee." He would perk up and look at us when we said "potty" so we knew that wasn't going to work. Basically the process was whenever we went outside and he squats we say (or more like excitedly shout) "BIVOUAC! Good boy, Monti! Bivouac" and then give him a treat. We stopped giving treats a few weeks ago but we still say bivouac whenever he potties. It helps when he's distracted or in a new place. He knows the word "bivouac" means that he has an agenda to complete outside.
- SO to introduce him to the bell, what I started doing was stopping by the door and letting him hit it with his paw or nose before we went outside. When it made a jingle, I said "OUTSIDE!" and gave him a normal dog treat before exiting the apartment and going outside.
- Once he was comfortable with the new noise-making machine in the apartment (because he WAS definitely scared at first), I upped the ante. If it was time for a scheduled potty break, I would grab half a slice of turkey. I'd get his attention with it and then walk over to the door (I already have my shoes on and our "outside bag" over my shoulder...ready to go!) I put a piece of the turkey on top of the lowest bell (he's too short for the other two right now) and let him eat it off the bells, jingling it. I reward him with praise and say "outside" so he [hopefully] keeps associating bells = outside = potty. After that, I have him sit and give him another bite of the turkey while I put his leash on. Then lure him in the hallway and toward the stair well. He gets the turkey at the stairs...where I then pick him up and carry him the rest of the way. My goal is to get him to hold it little by little until we can make it all the way downstairs and outside without accidents!
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So today, I had let him out after he ate and drank -- he pottied and we walked around/played for a while. We came back upstairs for maybe 5 minutes and he rings the bell again. I KNOW he likely doesn't have to potty, but he rang -- so I have to listen. I leash him up (no turkey rewards, just praise because I want to get him OUT as fast as possible) and carry him downstairs and outside. We're walking around where he usually potties and nothing is happening -- which is fine. I'm expecting him to abuse the system at first, and I planned to give him 5 minutes without moving from our potty spot. I say "bivouac" and....HE PEES!!!!!!! Not only did he ring his bell to go outside but he PEED with our command word. I'm so proud of him :D
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Sorry this is so long! Hopefully it's a little helpful. and PS Pibble is an adorable name.
I would also like to recommend a gentle leader to learn not to pull. It seriously helps them learn not to pull and eventually you can switch back to a regular leash/collar combo.
Also, my dogs learned to use the bathroom by using potty bells. Every time we would go outside, I'd tap the bell and let them out. It took not more than 2 days of consistency to train my crazy, stubborn hound to use them and there were never accidents after that except for the occasional here and there.
Your dog is nervous, testing her environment right now. A gentle but firm leadership is needed from you guys and I know it's really tough and stressful, but the hard work pays off.
Everything the person above me said though is absolutely spot on, especially with the lightweight lead for being indoors while learning to stay off of furniture.
Good luck!
So, I actually bought the bells at Tomlinsons(?), but they look just like this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KG9WMWI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_AluxDbMFMJ6FN
It hangs on the door handle, and we would manually use her paws to jingle the bells before going outside every time. It felt dumb at the time haha, but she picked it up! She started nosing the bells and looking over at us. She will still occasionally have an accident inside, but it’s getting better!
We have these. One hangs on the back door, one hangs on the closet in our downstairs living room. We trained him to ring it whenever he needs to go outside. It works great but he does abuse it whenever we have to keep him cooped up downstairs.
No offense, but this approach seems quite complicated. We achieved some great and lasting results teaching with a doggy door bell trigger, yummy treats and double-bagging belly bands.
Here's the bell we used $8, they also have different/electronic designs for about $30. Our high-value treat/reward was chicken hearts/gizzards about $1/lb, slow cook for 30 mins on med and chop pieces to appropriate treat size. 1 lb lasts about a week in the fridge and the dog. As for bell bands, we just doubled up. Sighthound specialties has some thick fleece bands $10? and two of them are thick enough to catch everything if needed but not too encumbering on the hound. Kept those on while training and just rewarded bell and going outside with treats.
Training totally stuck. Hope this helps.
Looks like you have a good list going, remember to update your pups microchip with your address and get him/her a tag with your details.
We got a 36 inch crate and it's plenty big for our boy (he's around 30 pounds).
Puppia harness is a great starter harness, it's soft and doesn't have a bunch of metal jingling pieces which our puppy HATED on his harness our breeder gave us.
Kibble, check out dog food advisor for reviews and ratings of foods content, we were using grain free salmon and sweet potato from chicken soup for the soul, it's decently priced and well rated I can't find it anywhere atm so we're switching him back to their normal kibble.
Salmon Oil is a lifesaver in the winter, our pup gets terribly dry skin and extremely itchy without it.
Start out with a puppy kong, they sell kong fillers that are cheese and peanut butter flavored, our puppy was pretty picky at first and only ate the cheese one, didn't like frozen kongs either.
I'd start with a Basic Collar here's a Dog Tag Silencer and a Break-away collar for outdoors or dog park. A dog was choked unconscious at our park so I typically just keep our guys ID tags on his harness and don't use a collar, but if you do I definitely recommend a break-away if you are primarily using a harness with it.
Items we found useful: Bed Liner, Crate Fence, Kong, Stainless Steel Bowls (highly reccomend US made do not buy any made in China for health reasons), Zippy Paws Hide and Seek toys, Potty/accident cleaner, Potty Bells, Anti-chew Bitter Apple spray, 50 ft Leash, Retractable Leash, Soft stop Leash extender, Car Seat Belt, Car Booster Seat, Gentle Shampoo, Comb, Travel Water Bottle, Flirt Pole, Special Treats, Chew Stick, Greenies
Sorry for the HUGE list lol, feel free to ask any questions!
We have an almost 6 month old Standard Schnauzer and he got the hang of ringing the potty bells when he needs to go out within a few weeks. It's nice because we can be in another room and hear if he is at the door and needs to go out. The only downside is sometimes he tries to fake us out and rings them when he just wants to wander around outside and chew on a twig.
Honestly a lot of what you are describing is normal puppy and adolescent behavior when the puppy isn’t managed and trained. It won’t get be better on its own and it may not be easy but with a little management and crate training it’s all very fixable.
Basically this dog can not be loose unsupervised. Whether this means crate training so you can go upstairs, bringing the dog upstairs with your, or hanging out downstairs is up to you. But if the dog is unsupervised, it goes into a crate to prevent accidents and chewing.
Next it’s back to potty training 101, set a regular potty schedule and train the dog to signal you. At a year old a dog should be able to hold it no problem for 8 hours, but if it’s never been trained to hold it you can’t rely on it. I’d start at taking the dog out every 4 hours and then rewarding it when it goes outside. Slowly increase this time and you’ll eventually get up to a full 8 hours. For training signaling, pick up dog bells or some other dog doorbell if you need something louder. Just ring the bell every time you go outside, GSDs are smart it won’t take long for it to realize ringing the bell gets the door open. The fact that the accidents you are finding are by the door is very encouraging, it means your dog understands it needs to go outside it just doesn’t know how to signal you (or possible how to signal you loudly, many dogs will sit be a door and that is their signal). But no unsupervised time until the dog is reliably going outside and holding it inside.
Same goes for chewing/destroying stuff. This is self rewarding behavior, it’s fun and once a dog discovers it, they will keep doing it unless not given the opportunity. So getting rid of this behavior is twofold, providing appropriate entertainment which it sounds like you are doing and managing the dog when you can’t supervise. Keeping and eye on it for potty training as described above will help a lot with this. Some dogs eventually stop this behavior if prevented from practicing it for a while, others never do and will always require crating or a seriously dog proofed area.
If you think you can do this, try. If 24/7 supervision (and crating when not supervised, which I should add should only be a few hours a day) is not feasible, then it may be best to find the dog a new home now before these habits get worse.
A dog training item because I live in a fantasy land where my dogs are totally capable of being house broken.
What about something like this? https://www.amazon.com/Pebble-Smart-Doggie-Doorbell-Accent/dp/B00BBMEFCK It's not quite what you want, but maybe it can give you an idea of what to search for?
Edit: Even better, what about using one of these? https://www.amazon.com/Echo-Buttons-Pack-gaming-companion/dp/B072C4KCQH and then making a custom echo skill: https://developer.amazon.com/docs/gadget-skills/steps-to-build-echo-button-skill.html You'll need an echo close to the button and I'm not sure how it would work long term battery wise (and it seems like Alexa might have to wake up the button instead of the other way around but I didn't look too deeply at the docs), but I think it could be adapted to work for what you need. I'm kind of surprised someone hasn't done it already.
We got 8 Different varieties in treats. We got the Toy cup poodle sized treats. They are about the size of gerbil poop to be honest. That way you have to give almost the whole bag of it to make them full. So you don't over do it on treats. Dog Door Bells Helps a lot we have had ours almost 2 weeks now. Our GSD is 8 weeks 1 day today. Get lots of Dog toys stuffed animals you are going to need it. Dog clicker if you plan on training him that way. We will be getting this aswell but not for the shock for the vibration only Vibrator Collar Going to train him with that has beeps and vibrates and shock but will not shock him ever I cant bring that to myself. Boxes A lot of boxes our dog loves boxes he plays with boxes more than he does with most of his toys. Empty soda boxes work just aswell.
EDIT: That collar also has a light so if you take him out at night you can always see him and if you take him on night walks he can be seen. Rechargable aswell.
To help with potty training, I would recommend getting a potty bell. You ring it every time you both go outside to potty at incremental times. Soon it'll be a signal for your dog to come running to go outside. If your dog is smart enough, they might learn to ring it themselves to get your attention.
https://www.amazon.com/Housetraining-Doorbells-Training-Housebreaking-Instructional/dp/B00T4XD0VK
I also recommend getting a clicker for training. You can start off by using the clicker every time you feed them to get them to associate it with treats. If you've managed to teach sit, then try to get them to sit and wait before each meal, try to incrementally push their patience. You can then replace the clicker with verbal signals like "good boy" or "go".
-Medically, you should try to administer a monthly flea protectant pill (ie. Nexgard) especially useful for an outdoor dog; and a monthly heartworm preventative pill (ie. Heartgard)
-Omega 3 supplements are also awesome for immune health and a shiny coat (I use ZestyPaws)
-Of course, make sure he has all 3 sets of puppy vaccines and rabies shot + tag to register to your county.
I have a 6 month husky, Juliette and I've been doing/researching all the new dog parent things and it can get a little overwhelming when you're trying to be the perfect parent. Some of this may be common sense but you'll get used to seeing how everyone has advice about Huskies🤔. Don't worry that he's not trained, 6 months is still a young, impressionable age to teach new things:)
Trust me try this. Get a doorbell for your dog. This is the one I got one and a half years ago when my dog was 2 months old.
http://www.amazon.com/PoochieBells-Solid-Classic-Training-Doorbell/dp/B0016IWV02/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414049734&sr=8-1&keywords=dog+bell
My dog peed on the floor, both hardwood and carpet, a few times a day for what almost 2 months. I got the dog bell and nailed it next to the door that I would use to take him to the bathroom. I hit the bell every time I took him outside to pee/poop and after about a month he finally understood all of a sudden that hitting the bell meant going outside. Took him another month to perfect the craft but once he got the hang of it, accidents only happened like once a week. Now he barely ever goes inside. Get the bell. It may take a while to get your dog use to it but your dog is older and understand that he should be peeing outside so he might get it down quicker. The reason your dog pees inside is because he needs some way of indicating to you that he has to go and he doesn't know how so he pees inside. The bell gives the him a way to communicate to you. Best of luck.
This is the guide that I used to great success: https://www.midwestigrescue.com/ig-training-help/house-training-your-ig/
The main thing is treat motivating your pup with REALLY GOOD TREATS (like cooked meat or bacon to get started--Gooberlicious and BilJack MiniJacks are what we use now.) and taking the treat out with you and immediately rewarding them when they go, along with praise and attention cues. Here's also where you train "go potty".
It's also super important to remove and neutralize ALL smells from indoors, this may mean an thorough and intense deep carpet clean. E.g. soaking some areas with "Nature's Miracle" and letting them thoroughly dry over a few days. Vinegar and baking soda stain lifting. Shampooing with a solution of Dawn dishwashing liquid and thoroughly rinsing the area. There should be zero ammonia scent for your IG to home in on.
We used crate/tether method as well as getting our dog to "mark" on our other dog's pee or our neighbor dogs' pee. We also have a door hanger bell and he rings it when he wants to go outside, that too is something to treat train. E.g. https://www.amazon.com/PoochieBells-Housetraining-Doorbell-Potty-Communicate-WithYourDog/dp/B0016ZP4B8 We also have our cycles down regarding how frequently our IG should go.
It wasn't easy (at all), but with consistency and not giving up it's totally doable (and well worth the time invested). Good luck.
Edit: Forgot one detail: we got dog potty-training pants from Sighthound Specialties. You can get the liners for them from PetSmart. While tethered or sleeping or even in his room he wore his "pants".
How about a string/rope attached to a swinging bell? Or maybe even something like this!
No, but we didn’t get the kind that is like a leather strap with jingle bells on it. He would definitely think that was a toy. We got this one instead: Comsmart Tinkle Dog Bell Pet Door... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N2T39T9?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share and have had no problem with him thinking it’s a toy.
The bell in that article is adorable. We have this one that hangs off the handle. Only issue I have with the tutorial is that at step one we opened the door every time the bell rang. Fastest way to train that bell opens the door.
I fostered a cocker for a few months and we trained him to use bells attached to a string on the door. It sounds like he knows he needs to go out, but maybe hes just afraid of the doggy door?
Amazon has them but for less than half of that you can go to your local craft store like Michael's and buy a yard or two of ribbon and some bells and make it for your self!
It's a long process but the pups I've trained to use this method pick up on it quickly! You just lift their paw and tap the bells each and every time you take them out. That way they have a way to alert you that they need to go out!
He might just be scared of the doggy door, and hopefully this helps give him a way to say he needs to go!
I know that there are fancy electronic bells that are run on batteries and come with multiple in a pack. If one is pushed then the other ones will
Make a sound. So you could have one by the door and have another on your second level that would make noise indicating that another one got pushed meaning your dog needs to go out.
This is just an example, but there are a lot if different ones out there. Mighty Paw Smart Bell 2.0, Dog Potty Communication Doorbell, Super-light Press Button Doorbell (1 Activator, White) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073XCY6Y6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_usz8AbC63EYTZ
Hi! I got these from amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KG9WMWI/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_T8f1AbDTD7GKA
They are pretty loud and I don’t think they would sound anything like your cat’s bell. These are kind of like sleigh bells. By the way, it’s not so much about the sound being for the puppy, but rather the sound is for me to be able to hear it and respond to it. I feel like for my puppy it’s more about the action of going to the door and hitting the bells. Hope this makes sense! Good luck!
My blue is going to be 3 later this year and, while not a rescue (have had him since he was 7 weeks old), he has never barked. To this day I can count on one hand how many times a bark-like sound has come out of his mouth and it startles him every time like he has no idea where the sound came from. I trained him to ring the bells at the door when he wanted to go out because to this day he won’t make a sound. He only gets boisterous when he’s out in public like Petsmart and he sounds more like he’s yelling than barking lol. Good luck!
Potty bells are just a belt with bells attached to it. I bought some from amazon for $13. Hang them by the door. When you know your dog needs to potty put a tiny tiny tiny dab of peanut butter on the bells and let the puppy see it. When they lick the bells and they make noise, praise them. Then open the door and go outside. I also would take my puppy's paw and bat the bells before going outside if he didnt' do it on his own. Only during potty time. After a week of being consistent with the bells every single time we went out for potty he started hitting them on his own. He's only had 2 or 3 accidents inside in the past 3 weeks and he's 14.5 weeks old.
My frenchie puppy learned how to use bells for potty time. We got a super affordable training kit from amazon and the seller even provided instructions on how to use them: Zacro Set of 2 Dog Doorbells for Dog Training and Housebreaking Your Doggy DB022 Doorbells with One Clicker and One Dog Waste Bag Dispenser with 15 Count Bags
Good luck!
HELLO OP! It could be a combo between her not knowing and the snow? Potty training isn't something that is learned over night - It takes a couple months, especially since your pup is only 11 weeks. She can barely hold her little bladder for 2 hours rn.
You should use the bell method. Works wonders and Heelers are so smart that she may even pick up hitting the bell in 2-3 days.
We purchased this one : https://www.amazon.com/Zacro-Doorbells-Training-Housebreaking-Dispenser/dp/B01LXBX7X7/ref=sr_1_6?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1518472123&sr=1-6&keywords=dog+training+bells&dpID=411jpOf3otL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
Buy a dog bell from amazon. You'll need to train her to hit the bell first. Get her acclimated to being around the bell, let her lay on it, play with it, eat around it etc. Rewarding with her favorite treats when she successfully hits the bell with nose/paw when its in your hand, then slowly move it to the door. After that, connect the bell to every time she has to go to potty break. Use a phrase that will be easy for her to remember like "bell" so that she can hit it on command. Also, while walking her to go potty you should associate "let'S go potty". Repeating that so that its a familiar phrase and when she finally does go potty YOU PRAISE THAT LITTLE PUPPERS LIKE CRAZY. IM TALKING FULL ON DANCE PARTY PARADE WITH CONFETI, HOLLERING, BALLOONS AND TREATS.
I'm in Chicago so i understand your snow issue. I would shovel a good portion of snow to where she can go potty comfortably as she is so young. Take her to that spot or walk around for a good amount of time. Its not easy potty training but the reward is the best!
Our heeler is 6 months and we've only had accidents in the beginning of training her and in the middle of the night to where we're passed out and don't hear the bell. Only has happens a handful of times. Other than that, we have 0 issues. She will be snotty and hit the bell numerous of times tho to just go play outside after being taken already but that's her being a brat lol. I can tell when she really needs to go because she will look at me dead in the face and make a loud breathe followed by a bark lol. Shes the cutest.
Any ways, if you need any more tips, feel free to PM me!
I use the hanging door bells for my dog for going potty (apartment life). Works great once they get the hang of it!) (Example)
We used these bells while potty training:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073XD4XSD
There a little less fun to play with than the jingle bells and you can connect the sound chime to a location closer to you if need be.
We trained our pup to ring a bell when he wants to go out to pee/poop. It takes about a week, take them out regularly for that week on a consistent schedule, especially after feeding and drinking. Every few hours should be sufficient, but the age of your dog might change this. Ring the bell as you say “outside” or some other command (use the same command consistently). Also, reward them for doing the deed to create an association with potty time. Inside accidents dropped significantly during that week, and now the only accidents are from being sick.
Here’s what we’ve used:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00T4XD0VK/ref=zg_bs_2975348011_5/131-7585697-5214440?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=Q838R5J1NQ8TF33AKDK5
We had trouble with potty training, too! Finally got him a bell for the door and he learned it right away. We used his paw to ring it before he went out each time. He hasn't wet in the house since - a couple of weeks now. Pooping was harder, but we started closing the doors to the rooms where he would go and haven't seen an accident in several days.
Luckyiren [Upgraded Puppy Bells... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JNM8PYW?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
We used these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G2ZFSOE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
> echo button
I've been using MightyPaw https://amzn.to/2BYaHNB but I like your idea too cause then we can track how many times the dog has gone out and send a reminder to ourselves if the dog hasn't been let out in X time on the rare occurrences she hasn't pressed the button.
I just wish I could hack the MightyPaw to also send button presses to Home Assistant since using an Echo button means I'll have to rely on a speaker for dog announcements whereas the MightyPaw comes with a receiver that emits a door bell sound.
While some people have opinions about kennels, kennel training and dog door bells have been super effective for house training our puppy. We have two kennels, one we keep in our family room and never shut the door and the other in a room that we use when we leave for work. Our older dog goes and chills in the one in the family room and the puppy has picked up on that and now does the same thing. Also, don't use the kennel as punishment and always give treats when they go in. The puppy still has occasional accidents but they're usually more when she gets super excited rather than full on relieving herself because she isn't able to get outside
Like others have suggested, you can hang bells from the door knob/handle. We have a curtain covering the door, so I got our dog a wireless doorbell. The receiver plugs in, so I put it by our bedroom to wake me up if she needs to go at night.
How smart is your cat?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BBMEFCK/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687522&
http://www.amazon.com/Koolatron-PP10-Pet-Doorbell-Complete/dp/B001UP252U/ref=pd_sim_petsupplies_1
https://www.amazon.com/Housetraining-Doorbells-Training-Housebreaking-Instructional/dp/B00T4XD0VK
Highly recommend a potty bell. I recently adopted a 7-8 week old Aussie and within 4 days he totally knew what the bell did and would ring it when he had to go outside. He’s hasn’t gotten to the marking stage yet (hopefully he won’t) but he was fully potty trained at 8-9 weeks old.
I have something like this. We called him to the door and rang it whenever it was time to go outside. Within 4 days he understood what it did and was ringing it to go out. Only thing is, even if he/she bumps it you HAVE to take them out https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G2ZFSOE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_m-J6BbBGT8VF4
They make doggie doorbells specifically for the purpose. http://www.amazon.com/Pebble-Smart-Doggie-Doorbell-Accent/dp/B00BBMEFCK/ref=zg_bs_2975348011_10
I may have this one on my christmas list as she lets us know she needs to go out but the whining is irritating.
We had this problem with our puppy going in the house until we put bells on the door!
This is the one we bought from amazon.
We got ours from Amazon here
This is the one I got. I didn't need the extra bell set but I did want the clickers so I had one to put on her leash and another to have when training. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FSG6T6V/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Zv4GDbKRT388E
Congrats!! If you've never had a puppy before, my #1 recommendation is to get a trainer who will come to your house and work with you. They are more for you than for the dog. We did that and while it was really expensive, it was a blessing!
One thing our trainer told us is to let the puppy have access to only a little bit of the house at a time. A crate helps with that, but we didn't want it to feel like punishment and we wanted to be able to let him play around just as a dog in a controlled area. So we bought this playpen and zip tied it to the crate. You can also get linoleum to put underneath the playpen area, but make sure it's all one sheet (otherwise he'll chew on the ends). That also helps clean up potty mistakes!
Speaking of potty, we got a little bell to put on the door. We made him nudge it with his nose or paw (basically picked him up) every time we went out. Then when we finally let him explore more, he knew how to let us know he had to go. Of course, he also used it just as an excuse to go outside, so there's that.
You mentioned you're good to go on crates--did you get one that is life stages and lets you adjust how much room is available? Not a huge deal if not, but if you did, make sure you use it. They don't need a whole lot of room in the crate because they'll just pee on one end and sleep on the other.
For grooming, you don't really need a lot for a puppy (at least in our experience, and our older dog grew up to be a HUGE fluffball). You're more likely to hurt him and turn him off. For our grown up guys, we use a pin brush, a rake brush, a de-matting comb, grooming scissors, and dremmel. We also do your normal ear cleaning solution (we get ours from the vet, so I don't remember the brand offhand, it's the same thing as online) and shampoo. This is what we used when they were puppies. Another essential is puppy wipes for pesky danglers and muddy paws.
For a puppy, though, I really wouldn't use all that stuff. We used a little kong brush to get him used to a brush on his fur, but we didn't even use that until his fur was a little longer (but still too short to use the other brushes). The big thing with grooming a puppy is getting him used to you touching him EVERYWHERE. Stick your fingers in his ears and mouth, rub all over his paws, make him lay down on his back in your lap, etc. Definitely start on nails asap--even if you don't actually trim them, just holding the dremmel up to their nails and getting them used to it helps A LOT. Also the ear cleaner is an essential for golden puppies. Our trainer and vet both told us to drop it in their ears, let them shake their heads, then use q-tips in all the nooks and crannies.
Other essential products are LOTS of toys. You'll figure out real quick what your guy likes. Our first dog was more of a casual chewer, so fabric toys worked, but our second dog LOVES to eat fabric so we had to go with hard toys only. I highly recommend toys by West Paw! As you know, golden puppies will chew on LITERALLY EVERYTHING so you need a backup distractor toy at all times to replace the flavor of the minute. Keep in mind that if you give up trying to stop them chewing on something (say, for example, your computer chair), they will think it's ok to chew on that for the rest of their life. :(
We also got a slow-feeder bowl because our guys gobble down their food like it will disappear if they don't. And if your guy is really annoying with the water bowl (i.e., repeatedly knocking it over), don't worry too much--he'll grow out of it. I recommend keeping a towel under it until he learns all he wants to know about water!
Have fun with your little guy!!!! I'll add anything else I can think of later but feel free to ask if there's anything else you're curious about!
Have you taught her to let you know she needs to go out? Like with a bell?
I agree, maybe one of these.
they sell puppy bells on Amazon. That you can screw in place. We've had it a week, and she caught on pretty quickly. Haven't had an accident in 6 days *knock on wood
https://www.amazon.com/EMDMAK-Training-Doorbell-Housebreaking-Housetraining/dp/B01M15ZO9N/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1485053659&sr=8-6&keywords=potty+training+bell