Saturday, February 6, 2010

our Poochie Bell

At the top of Piper's list of her most favorite things, this little guy rules the roost:

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Missing one eye, Raccoon is no longer soft; he's crusty and hard from her constant slobber. But nevermind him. Right below Raccoon lies something different. Something pretty. Something that hangs from our door and jingles when you touch it.

Her Poochie Bell.

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What on earth is a Poochie Bell!? Well, when Piper was a wee pup (about 8 weeks), I discovered it online. It was the neatest thing. I was a beginner at house-training a dog. I knew nothing. I had read tips online, but nothing really prepares you for that furry little puppy. So I bought it on a whim in hopes that it would make her potty training much easier.

And boy, did it work!

It arrived just days later and we hooked it to our front door. Within 2 days, she got the idea. Family members were skeptic. I didn't know if such a small puppy could understand the concept. But our little Piper proved us wrong big time.

So here's how it goes: When you finally get your very own Poochie Bell (at a very reasonable price!), you hook it to your doorknob. Before you take your dog outside, ring the bell and say something such as, "Ring the bell to go potty!" [[Say the exact phrase each time you go out]]. You cannot use the Poochie Bell when you want to take your dog to go play. And you most certainly cannot reward the usage of the bell with treats. Just a verbal praise will do.

And before you know it, your dog will inch his/her little nose up to that bell and give it a ring. And you will just about pee on yourself.

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The best part is: She DOESN'T BARK! Unlike other techniques that teach dogs to paw at the door (and, what, scratch it!?) or bark at you (our dog does not bark at us unless something's wrong), the Poochie Bell is a relaxed technique!

([Sidenote: Piper will have occasional accidents upstairs because she cannot walk down our stairs because they're hardwood and slippery on her paws. And she doesn't bark at us. So she freaks out and doesn't know what to do])

So instead of "reading our dog," cleaning up accidents, and stressing over house-training, we'll be relaxing on the couch with our baby.

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And our dog...

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... a princess of a dog...

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... will happily be ringing her Poochie Bell!



Click HERE to purchase your own Poochie Bell!


PS - this is my second blog post of the day!
Don't miss Saturday Snapshots in the post below!

9 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you showed us these.

    Except, Lily's hasn't been on the back door for a week because she rings her bells over. And over. And OVER. And it started getting really annoying. Haha. So we'll put it back up eventually, but she's past the accident stage and just runs to the back door (and has actually taken up NOSING THE DOORKNOB) to tell us she needs to potty. :)

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  3. Shannon, my family has always trained our dogs with bells like this! It works like a charm!

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  4. hey girl, i have a question, what kinda camera do you have/use? i absolutly LOVE the quality of the pictures you take and everything. the detail and colors are sooo beautiful!

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  5. im convined that she is smiling in that last picture. i'm sure of it!

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  6. I have a Canon Rebel EOS - about $700, but the lens I'm using is a $100 lens.. and I also have Lightroom, which is a really nice editing program. But the pictures of Mark are totally unedited. Thanks :]

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  7. That's the neatest thing! Piper is adorable :)

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  8. Your little dog is just too adorable for words!!!!

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  9. Shannon - I am so glad that Piper had such success with her Poochie-Bells! She is very cute, by the way, and I enjoyed hearing about her quick learning style. Thank you for sharing your experience with your readers. -Cheryl Pedersen, Poochie-Pets,LLC

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