Pet Camera
🟢 I use this regularly
A pet camera is one of the most useful ways for me to observe your dog when you’re not at home.
It’s particularly helpful when you’re working on leaving your dog home alone. Instead of wondering while you’re out whether your dog is sleeping, pacing around the house, barking or perhaps already waiting by the door, you can observe their actual behaviour and adjust your training accordingly.
This doesn’t just take away some of the uncertainty – more importantly, it gives you information you simply wouldn’t have without a camera.
What Can You Observe?
What matters isn’t just whether your dog can stay home alone, but also how they behave while you’re away.
Do they settle after a short while? Do they continue following you around after you leave, or search for you? Do they react to noises in the hallway or stairwell? Do they sleep peacefully, or become increasingly restless?
Observations like these can help you assess more accurately how long your dog can currently stay home alone in a relaxed way and where you may need to adjust your training.
Which Features Do I Need?
For most dog owners, a relatively simple camera with Wi-Fi, night vision and a reliable app is already enough.
I also find it useful if the camera can pan or swivel so that you can see a larger area of the room.
A microphone and speaker can also be useful features. Whether you actually want to speak to your dog through the camera depends on the individual situation – not every dog becomes calmer when your voice suddenly comes out of a camera.
If your dog regularly stays home alone or is sometimes alone for longer periods, models with additional features such as motion or sound notifications can also be useful. That way, you don’t have to keep checking the app yourself.
Do I Need a Treat-Tossing Feature?
There are also pet cameras that can toss treats at the press of a button.
That certainly isn’t a must. For some dogs and everyday situations, however, it can be a nice additional feature – for example, for a little enrichment in between or if you want to associate certain routines with something positive.
For simply observing your dog, a regular camera is perfectly sufficient.
What I Would Look For When Buying One
For me, the most important things are a stable Wi-Fi connection, a reliable app, good image quality and night vision.
If you want notifications, I would also make sure that the app reliably detects movement or sounds without constantly sending alerts for every tiny change.
And because you’ll probably access the camera frequently from your smartphone, I would consider a simple, clearly designed app almost as important as the camera itself.