Product Review: Dog Monitor App
Screenshot of Markus on the Dog Monitor App (Dog Station)
Like so many of you, my wife and I are meticulous shoppers. Whether it be online or in-person, we tend to put a lot of research into the things we purchase so that we know we're putting our hard-earned money on the proper products. There are so many options for even basic items like leashes and collars that it's easy to get lost in what we're buying.
We will be writing reviews as we purchase and use these items ourselves. As you do your research for products you're planning to buy, our goal is to add another layer to that research.
We're reviewing something a little bit out of the ordinary today. Our focus for today’s review is an app (phone and tablet), rather than the physical products like dog toys or leashes we've reviewed to date. The Dog Monitor App was such a service to us that we wanted to share it with you.
Why we needed a dog monitor
Occasionally, Markus needs to be left alone at the rooms we stay at. Since the surroundings are new for Markus and knowing he’s a dog that’ll bark if threatened, we like to play it safe. Footsteps or voices in the hallways can sometimes trigger Markus into barking and if this happens while we’re not in the room, we want to know.
This is just usually out of pure courtesy for our neighbours. If Markus is barking because he feels uncomfortable, we’d also rather know so that if we're out at a restaurant or at a mall nearby, we’re able to respond quickly if he doesn’t stop barking. The peace of mind that we got from being able to keep an eye on him virtually cannot be understated and it was the Dog Monitor App that allowed us to do this.
Before we go any further, I should mention that I use Apple devices (an iPhone and an iPad in this case) and I haven't checked the other app stores to see if the same app is available. This app might be only available to iOS, but there might be alternatives that’ll give you similar results.
How the Dog Monitor App works
This app was worth it just based on the amount of freedom that it gave us. Two devices are required to make it work: one for the Dog Station and the other for the Person Station.
The Dog Station is the device that stays with the dog at the hotel or room. This device requires a camera as it will be the one monitoring the dog. In my example, I’m using an iPad. The Person Station is the device that stays with the owner and it is paired with the Dog Station. You’ll be using this device to check into the Dog Station.
Notifications are a key part of this app. After all, you don’t want to be watching the monitor the entire time. You want to enjoy your time out and only be notified if something happens. If activity is sensed from the Dog Station end, a notification is sent to the Person Station so you know to check in. Activity is defined as movement captured on video or audio captured through the microphone. Whichever one of these is triggered, you can check in from the Person Station, wherever you are, to get a live video feed of what the Dog Station is seeing.
This app was great. We were out for a dinner and it was nice to be able to see how Markus was doing back in the room. Being able to check in and seeing that he's peacefully sleeping is much better than us not sure if he’s sleeping or defensively guarding the door if he’s hearing sounds. It is also much better than not knowing if he’s constantly barking and disturbing our neighbours. The app itself isn't very expensive and for what we already got out of it, it was worth the purchase.
What are the limitations?
The app itself is fairly basic and there are a few external factors that determine its effectiveness.
First, the app requires a good internet connection. Since it's video streaming, it’s important to have a strong connection so your video doesn’t drop out. If you're staying at a hotel or an Airbnb, this likely won't be an issue for you anyways as most places come with decent internet connection these days. It also means that so long as you have internet connection and your two devices, you can basically set it up anywhere you have Wi-Fi, so it’s extremely portable.
The Person Station needs to be connected to the internet as well. This could be a lot more difficult depending on your data plan (especially if you're travelling abroad). To only be able to check in to the app or receive notifications when you're connected to Wi-Fi really limits its effectiveness and also defeats the purpose of it’s not reliable.
But wait, there’s good news. It seems that the app only uses data when you’re actively watching the monitor. It doesn’t seem to use much, if any, data if you’re not checking in and just relying on the notifications. The fact that it’s not passively draining your data is welcomed news for anyone!
The quality of the video that you see from the Person Station is highly dependent on the quality of the Dog Station device. We’re using an iPad, but tablet cameras aren't the best so we end up having to position the Dog Station device well into the corners to try and capture as much of the room as possible. A trick we did was to use a fish-eye lens attachment, which we happened to have. This is a clip on lens that gives us wider angles so we can capture more of the room without having to move the device back more. Just keep in mind that because running this app uses a fair amount of battery and you wouldn’t want your device to die midway, your Dog Station will likely need to be plugged in, so you might be anchored to an outlet.
The app also struggles to tell sounds apart. You can adjust the sensitivity of the microphone from the app, but it'll capture ambient sounds and sometimes assume that it's the dog making noise. We often leave the TV on as ambient noise so that it drowns out the noise from the hallway for Markus. The microphone will pick up the noise from the TV and send us a notification. Unfortunately, the notification specifically says that the dog is noisy and we’ve had too many instances where we get the notification and we turn on the video to find that he's quietly sleeping. Since barks are really loud and likely to register even if the microphone sensitivity’s been lowered, we recommend just bringing it down.
The biggest frustration for us was that we had to purchase the same app multiple times for the different devices that you’re planning to use. Generally with Apple devices, most of the apps are downloadable multiple times to the devices under the same account. My assumption was that by purchasing this app on my phone, I'd be able to download it again to use on my tablet. I was wrong. The purchase wasn't transferable and I needed to purchase the same app twice just to use it. Keep in mind this is the developer’s decision to do it this way - not Apple’s.
The most frustrating part is that without two devices (and two purchases), it's completely unusable. That means you're paying for a minimum of two right off the bat and then another one for every device you want to add to it. You might went to factor the number of devices you’ll need before you purchase even one because it can add up really quickly. While it's not that expensive ($6.99 CAD at the time of this writing), I still wish I had known this as part of my initial assessment when I was comparing apps and prices.
Conclusion
For $14 (price of two), I am willing to pay for some assurance that Markus is quietly resting in the hotel room. I'm going to say yes every time. The Dog Monitor App is basic and the design of the app is bare, but it's fully functional and it does the job. Even if you're not worried about your dog barking at the neighbours, it's nice to be able to keep an eye on your dog even if you're just going to be out for a short time.
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