Product Review | Mighty Paw Smart Bell
The Mighty Paw Smart Bell saved our floors. Really.
When adopting from anywhere, there’s a chance that your puppy will have picked up bad habits.
Our dilemma when we adopted Val was that it became obvious rather quickly that she’d been “trained” using pee pads.
Using a pee pad is not the same as being housebroken; it means that your puppy has been taught that it’s okay to pee on some things in the house. When they move in with you, they then try to figure out, hmm, what can I pee on here?
This is almost worse than having a completely un-housebroken puppy because your puppy thinks that there is a code to crack. Yes, peeing outside is good. But there is something that I can pee on inside. Somewhere.
No rugs in the house were safe.
After weeks of implementing a consistent and successful “pee break = treat” routine, we presented her with her very own fluffy dog bed for the living room.
She immediately peed on it.
Because, in her mind, she’d finally been given a puppy pad.
We had to redouble our housebreaking efforts. We were strict with her eating and drinking schedule. We walked her even more regularly and for longer. We would jump up in the middle of the night at so much as a whimper so that she wouldn’t mess her crate. We scolded when we were frustrated; we more consistently used positive reinforcement with treats and praise. We pleaded. We begged. We cried to the heavens, damn you, puppy pads! We just weren’t breaking through.
The doggy doorbell was kind of a wild idea.
Our thought process was to remove as many obstacles between Val and her ability to relieve herself outside. We needed her to clearly communicate with us when she needed to go and to give her the freedom to get our attention if we were busy. I get it - I’m pretty non-confrontational myself and given the choice between asking for help and not, I’ll go the not route every time.
The Mighty Paw Smart Bell is exactly everything we’d hoped it would be.
The mechanics of the bell and receiver are simple and, importantly for us, not an eye-sore. The button sticks to the door, low enough that your pup can press it with a nose or paw. The bell plugs in wherever is convenient and in range for you. (No batteries needed!)
There are instructions for how to encourage your puppy to utilize the Mighty Paw Smart Bell packed in the box. We were worried about that part since we can’t use peanut butter due to Val’s dietary allergies. It seemed like a complex idea for a puppy to grasp. It’s not like there are buttons in the wild. Luckily for us, Val’s whip-smart!
She immediately took to the Smart Bell, curious and excited! Val’s pitbull sociability and lab enthusiasm means that she’s a people-pleaser, to the point of being willing to clown around for a few laughs. She went nuts ringing the bell, we belly-laughed in surprise, and she learned that it was a good thing to ring the bell.
Next, any time she rang the bell we put her outside. This showed her that it wasn’t just a toy, but a tool. If she wanted to go outside, all she had to do was ring the bell and one of us would stop what we were doing and let her out.
With the exception of the increasingly rare (like, zero now) overnight crate accident, Val has never again peed inside since installing the Smart Bell Our rugs are finally safe! And she now has several nice, clean, dry, comfy beds to lounge on.
