Want a ringtone that you'll absolutely recognize as your own? How about using your dog's insistent bark? Or having your cat, dog, bird or other favorite animal record one for you? Animal lovers are using the free online ringtone-maker Phonezoo.com to do just that.
The Web site lets you record any sound and convert it to a ringtone, then send it to your phone via a text or picture message (depending on your phone's model). So far the site has close to 9 million users and also lets you post your sounds to Facebook.
"We started the site with the goal of allowing users to create ringtones out of their favorite sounds – whether it be a popular song or their pets sound," Phonezoo.com's founder Manish Vaidya tells PEOPLE Pets.
The technology is remarkably easy to use. I used my none-too-fancy cell phone to record my dog Jolly's bark, emailed it to myself, then uploaded it to the site. The harder part may be getting your animal to talk on cue. I had someone ring my doorbell, then recorded the barking storm that ensued. One user recorded his own dog in a bark-yowl and reported: "When I play this clip to my dog, he keeps sniffing the speaker, LOL!"
One of the site's most popular ringtones (140,000 downloads) is the snippet from a YouTube video called "Cat, I'm a Kitty Cat." In the last month, another popular downloaded ringtone has been a cat meowing for 15 seconds.
And don't worry, if your cat will only meow once, you can make that sound repeat to create a longer ringtone. Vaidya says the service works with almost all phones. The one exception: the iPhone, which has lots of impenetrable propriety software.
If you can't get your animal to cooperate, there are plenty of other barking, singing, talking animals on Phonezoo.com for you to choose from. And, although I didn't find it as easy to use, Purina also offers ringtones for different cat emotions and dog breeds. My favorite: the "IT'S BACON!!" jingle from Beggin' Strips. I don't know a dog owner anywhere who doesn't love reciting those words.
Here are some of our favorite animal ringtones on Phonezoo.com:
Scary Guard Dog
Wolf Howling
Cat Meow
Jolly Barking
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