I used the bell training method 6 years ago when I got my bichon. It was very effective and she understood it right away. At that time I made my own hanging bells using a loud Christmas bell in a liberty bell shape at the end of a cord. I highly recommend the method.
After she was trained and had grown bigger, she gave the bell such a whack that it started to chip the paint on the door, so I replaced it with a Christmas door hanger with bells on the bottom just a bit larger than the Poochie Bells. That hanger started to show some wear so I decided to get the Poochie Bells since I thought the Mudslide print would go well with my color scheme. I expected the bells to be at least as loud as the Christmas door hanger.
The print is only on one side and , unfortunately, using the loop at the top which goes over the doorknob does not cause the ribbon to lay flat. I had to put a ribbon through that hanger and tie that to the doorknob in order to have the print side consistently show. That seems to be a design defect.
The major disappointment for me, though, is the volume of the bells. They are very soft. Fortunately, for me, my dog is so well trained, that if someone doesn't hear her ring the bell, she will go back and give it an even harder smack until she does get a response. For someone just training a dog by this method, I doubt that is likely to happen if they are in another room and don't hear the very soft jingle this bell makes.
I think it probably makes more sense to go to a craft store and get the ribbon pattern one desires and then to buy the a nice loud set of bells to attach. The whole point is being able to hear the signal that your dog wants to go out.
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