best wifi pet treat dispenser
When you are a pet parent and end up spending hours or days away from your pet due to work or vacations, you may be researching a best wifi pet treat dispenser. The cool thing about treat dispensers is that they almost always have a camera and usually can connect with your smartphone so you can see and talk to your pet from anywhere.
Of course these are high-tech, expensive devices so you’re not going to just rush out and spend $100 – $300 blindly. There are a set of features you should consider and compare. We describe those below and also provide a simple comparison table for you to compare 3 of the more popular brands.
features to consider in wifi dog treat dispensers
Here are some features and questions to consider as you look for the best wifi treat dispenser for you.
- Cost: Unless you are independently wealthy, the first factor you probably think about is cost. These are high-tech units and are therefore expensive and range from about $100 to more than $300. Because of the cost, it makes sense to “do your homework” and understand the features and customer feedback before buying. Please see our information and summary of customer feedback in the table below.
- Night Vision: Some of the more expensive pet camera feeders have night vision so you can see clear video of your dog even at nighttime. If you expect to be away AND not have a light on in the room near the camera this may be useful to you. To us it seems excessive and not critical.
- 2-way video: This is a cool feature ! It allows your dog to see you (on top of you being able to see him/her)
- Barking Sensor: This feature has saved the lives of some dogs (according to Company claims as well as customer feedback). You can receive notifications on your phone when your dog is barking. Some dogs have been saved from fires, natural gas leaks and intruders because their owners saw the alerts and went home or had fire/police go to the house. If you have a “yippie” dog and you cringe at the thought of TOO MANY alerts, this feature can be disabled.
- Works with Alexa: This is an obvious convenience. You can tell Alexa to give Fido a treat while you are busy with both hands cooking or helping the kids or whatever.
- Safe for your pet: You want to avoid models that have cords that could be chewed and sharp edges that may hurt a dogs paws, eyes or teeth
- Able to use smartphone: Obviously this is nice. It allows you to give treats to your dog from anywhere using your phone. You can also see video of your dog and if the unit has 2-way video your dog can see video of you.
- Consumer feedback: While you should take consumer feedback “with a grain of salt” (some people just always complain, some people may be employees at the company … you don’t know what motives may be behind the feedback), you may discover useful “nuggets” of information in customer feedback.
Review this table to compare features of a best wifi pet treat dispenser
review of wifi pet treat dispensers
| Furbo Dog Camera | PetChatz HDX | Iseebiz Dog Camera Treat Dispenser | |
| Price (as of date of publish) | $199 | $329.99 | $109.99 |
| Warranty | 1-year warranty | 1-year warranty | 1-year warranty |
| Works with Smartphone | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Alexa | Yes, tell Alexa to have Furbo toss treats at certain times of the day | Yes, tell Alexa to have it toss treats at certain times of the day | Yes |
| 2-way video (your pet can see you) | No | Yes | No |
| Barking Sensor | Yes, sends notifications to your phone when your dog is barking...some dogs have been saved from fires, gas leaks and other problems while alone | Yes, has motion and sound detection and alerts | No |
| Night Vision | Yes | No, has "low light" video capability | Yes |
| Capacity | 100 small treats | 100 small treats | |
| Easy to Clean | Yes, just a few plastic pieces to wipe down | Yes | Yes |
| Free Shipping | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Made in USA | Yes | ||
| Unique Benefits/Notes | Round treats of a certain size work best 160° wide-angle, 4x zoom day & night Optional subsciption service to record videos to cloud Senses when your dog's face is close to camera and takes selfies Senses people vs dogs and sends notifications if people are in view Ellen and J Lo's #1 gift for dogs |
Can release calming aromatherapy scents to ease separation anxiety Dog can "call" you using paw and separate PawCall accessory |
Has suction cups on base so can mount on flat surfaces One of the lower cost options for a smartphone treat dispenser |
| Customer Reviews | POSITIVE "bought this to give myself some peace of mind while I am away from home. It definitely does that" "the mechanism hasn't jammed once after dispensing treats hundreds of times" "customer service is beyond excellent!" NEGATIVE "the person alert, barking alert, selfie alert, are now part of the premium package and have a fee" "I can get a $20 camera that doesn’t launch treats, but offers more functionality and reliability" "Sometimes the app freezes or it has trouble connecting" |
POSITIVE "I LOVE the PetWatch feature – it senses sound and motion and records a video so I know what’s going on with my pets" "customer support behind this product is outstanding!" "There are so many cool features, Silent Watch, PetWatch, DogTV, PawCalls. They have best customer service ever!!" "You definitely get what you pay for! My dog Hank absolutely loves PetChatz! " NEGATIVE "Unfortunately the plug in cord that is attached to the back is only 3 inches long" "It’s best if you have an outlet that you could place this over and attached to your wall (close to the ground which was a problem for us because most of those were occupied)" "must be mounted on a wall or buy separate stand from them" |
POSITIVE "picture quality is much better than I expected" "I recommend this camera to anyone thinking about an expensive furbo!" "The treat launcher works well. Setup was easy." NEGATIVE "I wish it shot the treats out further" "Does not detect motion or barking alert" "It doesn’t shoot the treats very well. For the most part they just fall to the floor right in front of it." |
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