Lots of Chi and no poo (Tiger Electronics Poo-Chi Interactive Puppy)

Member Name: wishywalshy

Product:	Tiger Electronics Poo-Chi Interactive Puppy
Date:	30/09/00 (941 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great fun, reasonably priced, Interactive

Disadvantages: No volume control, Can trap small fingers, Batteries!!!!

When is a dog not a dog, when it is a Poo-Chi

Poo-Chi the Interactive dog.

Poo-Chi is made by Tiger electronics.
This little electronic interactive dog has a cheeky personality, and costs in the region of £25.It is available from most good toyshops, and comes in two colour scheme, pink and silver and blue and silver.
The dog is battery operated and takes 3 AAA batteries (Which are not supplied.)
Poo-chi is sturdily constructed from silver plastic, and his moveable animated head, floppy ears, legs, mouth and tail add to the wonderful character of this toy. It comes complete with a small plastic bone.

My husband and I thought that this was an appropriate birthday gift for our 10-year-old ADHD child, who requires constant stimulation. This was one amongst many things that she had requested for her birthday. She had asked initially for a real puppy (impossible, we have 2 older Rotties who would not be impressed).
Poo-Chi was easy to find and was available in both colours at Toys’r’us and cost £23.99, batteries were extra.

Poo-chi is despatched in a cardboard dog carrier box, that looks superb, however, the toy is very difficult to remove from the packaging, and we were unable to remove the toy without destroying the neat little box.
Bang went our idea of inserting the batteries before my child saw the toy, as to avoid tears or long waits in the morning.(My child does not do long waits very well!!)
Instead we had a right battle with the tape and ties that really do over do it. It took a grown man nearly half an hour to remove the toy and bone from the packaging. Which subsequently resulted in a younger member of the family spiriting it away, not to be seen for the next 3 days.

Fitting the batteries was no problem the battery compartment is secured with a cross head screw, and once screwed shut is impossible for the most determined youngster to undo.
Similar to a Furby the dog reacts, and
has needs and wants that need to be fulfilled by its human owner in order to stay well and happy.
This little toy stands about 5 inches high when standing and is about 6 inches long.
His appealing eyes reflect his mood, showing when he is happy, sad, angry or content.
His mouth opens to hold his bone and to feed him. Sensors situated around Poo-chi enable him to sit, stand, dance, bark, growl, and even bark tunes.
The ears flap and the tail wags when the toy is happy
He is capable of interacting with other Poo-chi’s and can communicate with others like him.
He can respond to light and dark, and also to sound, however he can become very irritating after a while, and a mute button would have been a good idea, or even a volume control would have been nice!!

The instruction book and guidebook have been extremely useful, and directions for Poo-chi’s care are all enclosed. It is well written and a child has no real difficulty in carrying out any of the procedures.
Also enclosed are typical biorhythm’s that allows an insight into the toys moods.

My daughter handles this toy well, and has thoroughly enjoyed it thus far, she has learned all of Poo-chi’s moves and sequences quickly, and seems to “care” for the toy well.
The bone has since emerged from hiding, and is safely away with the dog.

On the downside, when in use, the toy can easily trap smaller fingers between the leg joints, and is obviously designed for older children for that and other reasons.

Overall this toy has character and high playability value.
The lower end of the interactive dog market, but very good value for money, it has kept an over active hyper child amused for quite a while already.
I feel that Poo-chi is fairly priced, and could possible forsee a rush for them nearer to Christmas.
I would happily recommend this product to a friend.

Since writing this opinion Tiger have creat
ed Super Poo-chi, and a multitude of interactive friends.
This product now sells for around £10.

Summary: