We’ve been so lazy here lately! It has been rainin’, rainin’, and rainin’! So, us pups have just been piled up in the house snoozin’ and keepin’ warm. Except one excitin’ thing has been a happenin’! My Lady got us pups our very own doggie doorbell! Yessirree! Now, when we need to go out and do our business, we just ding-a-ling the chime! She has always fussed ’bout them pups scratchin’ up the doors. She would paint and they would scratch! Truth be known, can’t much more sandin’ be done on them there doors! So, my Lady took matters in hand when she heard about a dog named Pebble that learned to use a doggie doorbell! They even named the company after Pebble! Well, long story short – my Lady got us a Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell and I gotta tell ya, us pups are lovin’ it!

This is what my Lady had to say about the Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell

From as early as I can remember, I have had dogs in my household. Not just one dog, but several. Even as a child, I grew up with dogs and cats. Fast forward a few years – no, make that several years – I now have 7 dogs in my home. But, over the years with all my pups, there is always that first basic thing you go through with them – potty training. I’ve never really had a problem potty training and they learn really quick, but they each have their own little way of telling you they need to go! I have had sitters, leaners, clingers, scratchers, and jumpers. Yep, lots of dogs and they all have their own unique way of announcing their bathroom business!

Take for instance – when Sallie needs to go outside, she will go and sit by the door. I have often asked how I am suppose to know if I am not in the same room with her to see her sitting there. She is now 12 years old and she is still a “sitter”. Seager will come find me and try to lay his head in my lap, or lean against me until he gets my attention. Maggie and Molly both like to paw the door a couple of times and then sit and wait. Then, along came the pups, Ozzy and Brandi! Yep, I am over here shaking my head in utter exhaustion at them!

Oh, the story! And, yes folks! This is my very real and actual ‘sad’ door! Ozzy and Brandi have been with me since newborns without a puppy mother. Talk about work and multiplied by two! Then came potty training! During our potty training adventure, any kind of positive sign delighted me! The first time they jumped on the door as a little puppy to tell me they needed to potty made me squeal in delight with the accomplishment! Little did I know those sweet little pups would grow paws big as my hands and claws that would rival any large bear! But, they did, and by this time the bad habit and the door damage was done! Ozzy and Brandi have continued to be “jumpers”. Each of them 100+ lbs with bear claws and acting like they swallowed jumping beans!

Allowing them to jump and scratch the door as puppies was my mistake! In hindsight, a very BIG mistake! JUST LOOK AT MY DOOR! Ozzy and Brandi will be 3 years old this month and the door has been repainted multiple times since they were pups only to look like this soon after. I knew I was going to have to UNtrain the behavior to make any headway.

I had been working with all the dogs, telling them “NO” when they jumped. Sometimes they listened, sometimes they didn’t. Ozzy took the command seriously on this day and decided to help enforce it with a big paw to the head of his brother!

I knew I needed an alternative way of them letting me know. It’s also a little awkward at my house since we use a door that exits through the laundry room to get to the outside door. However, this is the door they know to go to. And, before you ask – yes, the door going outside looks like this also!

The dogs were out of control and I needed help FAST! That’s when I heard of Pebble Smart and their doorbell for dogs! It grabbed my attention right off the bat because of an experience I had with Sadie, my Siberian Husky that passed away a few years ago. The reasoning behind the doggie doorbell struck a chord with me because we had hung a large Christmas bell on the door knob and she would hit the bell when she wanted to go out. She loved her bell during that holiday season. So, in my mind, if she took to that bell so quickly, a doggie doorbell would be easy-peasy and they might enjoy it as much as Sadie had enjoyed her bell!

After reading Pebble Smart’s story and studying the doggie doorbell a bit more, I was super excited to see if it would be the answer I had been looking for! But, before I go any further, let me tell you a snippet of Pebble Smart’s story and how the doggie doorbell came to be!

The story behind the Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell

The Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell was inspired by Pebble, a beautiful and gentle Whippet, and the first dog that Keith and his family have owned and fallen in love with. When Pebble started to scratch the door to be let in, Keith was reminded of all the scratched-up doors he saw at the homes of his dog-owning friends and their attitude of helplessness and resignation. He decided to find a solution. He devoted a year-and-half to research and design before perfecting a doorbell designed especially for dogs that is easy to install, easy to train with, and affordable.

Check out this short video clip to see it in action! They show how-to’s, tips, and tricks.

Sounds good, right? But, is it really that easy?

Assembling the Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell

The Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell comes with everything needed, except you will need two “AA batteries” for the receiver.

To get started, place the two “AA batteries into the receiver. In the housing unit, remove the tape tab from the transmitter. Put the transmitter back into the housing, replace the cover and you are ready! That’s all there is to the assembly, well except attaching to the wall.

They also send a heavy duty tape strip for attaching to the wall. Just measure the height of your dog’s head and place. You want them to be able to easily hit the yellow circle with their nose, without jumping for it.

Training and Using the Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell

If you notice in the pic, there is a space that will hold a treat. This is great for training them to touch the yellow disk. I started by holding the unit in my hand. My dogs are nosey! If I have something new in my hand, they are natural curious and will come smell and touch it. Once they touched the yellow disk of the doorbell and the chime rang, I rewarded them with the treat! It made for any easy transition to the wall! Oh, and for clarification – you will need to remove the treat from the holder and hand it to them. My hubs though it actually dropped the treat for them, but this is not the case.

Ok, so things got a little tricky here. With 7 dogs, I found out quick that I would need to work with them individually for a while. The ‘all at once training’ did not go well at all. One doorbell with one treat stuck in it – well, you get the picture!

However, once I started working one on one, they caught on extremely quick! It was actually amazing to watch how quick they caught on. They thought it was a grand new trick to learn. They all did well, except for for my senior girl Sallie (the sitter) and the little chihuahua. Sallie insists on just sitting there. I think she is thinking, this is the way I have done this for 12 years and I’m not changing now! I won’t complain, especially since none of those claw marks have her name on them!

And, as far as Little Bit (the 7 lb. chihuahua) goes, she doesn’t jump or scratch either. Even if she did, her paws and nails are the size of my pinky nail. However, she will chase you down and nip ankles if she wants your attention bad enough 🙂 As long as the big shepherds were liking and loving it, I was happy. But, then another problem…

My pups are smart! I have to give them credit for that. They caught on to the fact during training when they rung the doggie doorbell, they would get a treat and the door would open. Well, I have to say that it started sounding like I had a doorbell CD playing in the stereo. Someone was always ringing the doorbell. And, we couldn’t have that many treats in a day’s time! So, we had to stop adding the treat to the training procedure. This curbed the excessive ringing, but they still enjoyed ringing it to open the door. You want them to associate the opening of the door with ringing the doorbell not the treat. It’s a fine line in the training process and each dog is different, but it works.

Normally, we are on a routine here where all of them goes out at certain times of day. However, there are times when one needs to go outside other than the set times. With 7 dogs, you never know when someone needs and extra trip. After all, they sometimes have issues just as we do. I have found the Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell extremely useful during these times!

The Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell works inside and outside!

The other thing that I truly want to try is one on the outside of the door! My shepherds are definitely scratchers and jumpers and they don’t hesitate to do it on the outside door to come back in also! With this, I have actually had one hurt their leg by jumping on the storm door and getting their leg hung in the metal bars. I believe a Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell on the outside would be just as useful as the one on the inside and it wouldn’t require a lot of extra training since they already know what they are! I would be able to go on about my business in the house knowing they could just ring the doggie doorbell to alert me they were ready to come in. I have already made up my mind that I am ordering us one for the outside too!!

The Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell is a BRILLIANT IDEA THAT TRULY WORKS! It does require training your dog to use it, but what have you got to lose besides ugly scratched doors?! The folks from Pebble Smart give excellent training tips in the brochure that comes with the doorbell and check out the useful video above. It has great tips on how to start, and train, your dog to use the doggie doorbell!

I am loving our Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell and I believe the pups love it too. The doggie doorbell gives them some control, and a voice, in telling their humans – hey, I need to go out or I want in!! I just don’t see anyway you can go wrong with a doggie doorbell! For me, I am anxious to sand and paint my door – AGAIN! Maybe this time it will stay nice and smooth with the paint on!

Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell in a nutshell:

• Door-scratching to bell-ringing
• Super easy installation
• Great for puppy house training
• Hear it anywhere in the house
• Fun and positive interactions
• Proud dog, happy owner

Does the Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell work?

YES!!! You will need to spend time training your dog, but most dogs catch on quickly and it is a positive thing for both owners and dogs! Dogs love learning new things! Mine thoroughly enjoyed the learning process and they love the result of being able to tell me when they need to go outside without me yelling at them to not scratch the door! I loved working with them on it, but most of all – I love knowing I can finally repaint this UGLY SCRATCHED door and it won’t be ruined again!!!

Where can you find Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell?

You can find the Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell online at the Pebble Smart website. If you have any questions whatsoever, I have found that they are super nice folks that will do their best to help you and answer all your questions. Tremendous customer support, as in A+ service! A definite all paws up from me and the pack!

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The Pebble Smart Doggie Doorbell is featured on Miss Molly Says 2016 Valentine’s Gift Guide!

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