Bells of the Future
About a month ago we got a puppy. We called her Honey because her coat is kind of honey colored. Plus my husband said he wouldn't live in a house with a dog called Princess Butterfly (what my 6 and 7 year old daughters wanted to call her). She is a mutt (my favorite breed) and was just 6 weeks old when we got her. One day I was complaining to a friend about picking up piles and puddles that Honey had provided in our home. My friend told me about Poochie Bells. She said that you order the bells online (www.poochie-pets.net) and they come with instructions on how to train your dog to ring the bells when she'd like to go outside.
Sceptical? Yep, me too. But I went online and bought it anyway (I'm such a sucker). They had a wide variety of material that the bells can be on. I got to choose from Deluxe, Solid, and Stripe collections of ribbon. They even had a Country Club version. Naturally I went with the stripe. (No self-respecting mutt would want to ring Country Club bells.)
Imagine my surprise when Honey began using the bells after 2 days. It's truly amazing. She nudges them with her nose, I come running and then she goes to the bathroom in our yard! Genius!!!
The training is basically two parts: the dog is trained to ring the bells when she wants to go and I am trained to come running when I hear the bells. (As it turns out I'm HIGHLY trainable.)
Now there is a slight draw back to the bells and a remedy is NOT listed in their instructions. They have also trained Jax, an 18 month old boy, to ring the bells when he wants to go outside. When I hear the bells ring I come sprinting from wherever I am and about 50% of the time my son is standing there pulling on the front door, desperate to figure out how it opens so he doesn't need his crotchety mom to determine when he may and may not play in traffic.
Initially I thought it was just annoying. The bells have been rung, I show up at the door and both Honey and Jax are staring at me with the same expression on their faces, "Well???? Are you going to open the door or shall we have another Big Mess right here???!"
But I've been thinking about it and think that maybe I should make some Lemonade out of my lemons. Do you think my neighbors will talk if I teach Jax to shit in the yard?? I could afford a vacation home if I could get him out of his little Pampers Habit. I'm just saying.
Sceptical? Yep, me too. But I went online and bought it anyway (I'm such a sucker). They had a wide variety of material that the bells can be on. I got to choose from Deluxe, Solid, and Stripe collections of ribbon. They even had a Country Club version. Naturally I went with the stripe. (No self-respecting mutt would want to ring Country Club bells.)
Imagine my surprise when Honey began using the bells after 2 days. It's truly amazing. She nudges them with her nose, I come running and then she goes to the bathroom in our yard! Genius!!!
The training is basically two parts: the dog is trained to ring the bells when she wants to go and I am trained to come running when I hear the bells. (As it turns out I'm HIGHLY trainable.)
Now there is a slight draw back to the bells and a remedy is NOT listed in their instructions. They have also trained Jax, an 18 month old boy, to ring the bells when he wants to go outside. When I hear the bells ring I come sprinting from wherever I am and about 50% of the time my son is standing there pulling on the front door, desperate to figure out how it opens so he doesn't need his crotchety mom to determine when he may and may not play in traffic.
Initially I thought it was just annoying. The bells have been rung, I show up at the door and both Honey and Jax are staring at me with the same expression on their faces, "Well???? Are you going to open the door or shall we have another Big Mess right here???!"
But I've been thinking about it and think that maybe I should make some Lemonade out of my lemons. Do you think my neighbors will talk if I teach Jax to shit in the yard?? I could afford a vacation home if I could get him out of his little Pampers Habit. I'm just saying.
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