Patent Application
20070074670
I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pet food container assembly and a method for training a pet.
II. Description of Related Art
There are many different kinds of pet foods and particularly pet treats which are dispensed from food containers of one sort or another. In many cases, the pet food container includes a plastic film bag in which the pet treats are contained.
While these previously known pet food containers have adequately contained pet food, none of them have functioned in any fashion to actually train the pets by use of the food contained within the food container.
The present invention provides a pet food container which overcomes all of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the previously known devices.
In brief, the pet food container assembly of the present invention comprises a container which is dimensioned to contain pet food, such as pet treats. Preferably, the container is constructed from a flexible plastic film, such as a standup pouch bag. Other types of food containers, however, may be utilized without deviation from either the spirit or scope of the invention.
A noisemaker, such as a squeaker, a whistle or a clicker, is attached to the bag. This noisemaker may be contained either within the interior of the bag or may be positioned exteriorly of the bag. Similarly, any conventional means may be used to secure the noisemaker to the container. For example, the noisemaker may be attached by an adhesive to the container.
In practice, the pet owner activates the noisemaker to produce a sound audible to the pet prior to dispensing food from the container to the pet. In this fashion, the pet may be easily and rapidly trained to appear in response to the sound from the noisemaker in anticipation of receiving a treat. After a relatively short period, the pet will respond to the noisemaker regardless of whether or not the pet actually receives the pet treat.
A better understanding of the present invention will be had upon reference to the following detailed description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views, and in which:
With reference first to
Still referring to
In addition to the resealable strip 16, the food container 12 preferably includes a permanent seal 20 at a position spaced from the resealable strip 16. The permanent seal 20 ensures that the pet food 13 contained within the interior of the container 12 remains fresh until sold. When sold, the user removes or tears the permanent seal 20 which, in turn, provides access to the resealable strip 16.
With reference now to
Although the noisemaker 22 is illustrated in
As best shown in
As best shown in
The noisemaker 22 may take any of several forms. For example, the noisemaker 22 may comprise a squeaker, a clicker, a whistle or any other device which produces an audio signal audible to the pet when activated by the user. That audio signal, however, is not necessarily audible to a human being.
In operation, once the container 12 has been opened by removing the permanent seal 20, the noisemaker 22 is activated by the user prior to dispensing the pet food 13, preferably a pet treat, from the container 12 and to the pet. During pet training, the noisemaker 22 is activated by the user to produce the audible sound prior to each time the pet food 13 is dispensed from the container 12.
After a period of time, the pet will automatically appear or “come” in response to the sound of the noisemaker 22 in anticipation of receiving the pet food 13. This pet response will continue even though the pet does not receive the pet food 13 from the container 12 following activation of the noisemaker 22.
Consequently, after the pet has been fully trained using the pet food container assembly 10 of the present invention, the pet may be rapidly located by merely activating the noisemaker 22 whereupon the pet will immediately appear at the source of the noisemaker 22.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that the present invention provides a novel food container assembly and method for training a pet. Having described my invention, however, many modifications thereto will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which it pertains without deviation from the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the appended claims.
