here’s one way to stop scratching

When my dogs were puppies they would scratch on the door to let me know they want to go out – well, they didn’t just give it one scratch, they gauged holes in the door thus resulting in new doors for our deck – an expensive lesson learned. My subsequent search for a solution resulted in my finding Poochie Bells.

I really had high hopes for this product. It was hard to find but I love the concept. They are bells you hang on a door and teach your dog to ring them when he has to go out. Great looking – comes in lots of different styles and comes with a sweet dog bone keychain – and easy to use – just hang on your door handle. The training is a little more difficult. In theory, every time your dog waits by the door or scratches the door to go out you shake the bells and say a command like ‘outside’ so they associate the bell ringing with going outside. It should take a few weeks for you dog to grasp the concept and start ringing the bell when they want to go out. The lovely Christmas bell sound is loud enough to hear around the house but not obnoxious that you’d like to destroy it.

Now, I have tested it in my house for 6 weeks and to date Henry and Jess have rang the bell about 5 times combined. That’s not to say it doesn’t work, there could be a few reasons for the delay – laziness (on my part and theirs), old age (theirs, not mine! although they are really middle aged), not enough time to get the idea, etc. They really are smart dogs but they do have their shortcomings. My testers found similar reactions although the ones with younger dogs had some really good success.

So, as a reviewer, I have to give this a two out of five stars as most of our team I didn’t have a lot of luck but we’re not giving up yet. Check back in a few months for an update! 

By all means, please try it yourself – the Poochie Bells company are lovely people - and come back and let us know how it worked for you. It’s worth a try – much cheaper than new doors.

Henry’s Lab Ranking: