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When stocking up on supplies before bringing home their rescue pup, Addie, first-time dog parents Emma Richardson and Jon Blader knew they wanted some way to monitor their new fur baby when they left the house.
“We have a rescue dog who has separation anxiety, so the Furbo was one of the first things that we bought when we adopted her because we knew that we wanted to be able to monitor her when we left the house,” Richardson said.
Furbo, a home monitoring camera company made specifically for our furry friends, was created in 2014 by and for dog parents (in 2023, the company expanded the line to include a cat-specific camera, too). The camera rotates 360-degrees so you can see your pet wherever they are in the room via the accompanying smartphone app. It also boasts a speaker so you can talk to your pet to calm them down while you’re away, and — perhaps best of all — the Furbo can even throw your pup treats for you.
“It really gives us a peace of mind knowing that we can always check in on her and throw her little treats if she seems like she’s bored or stressed out,” Richardson said. “We also use it as our own internal security camera as well, just so that we’re able to monitor what’s going on in our home.”
When paired with Dog Nanny, Furbo’s $6.99 monthly subscription service, your Furbo camera can give you daily AI-powered reports on your dog’s activity as well as notify you of any alerts including unexpected guests, home emergencies or even excessive barking. Richardson and her husband have made use of Furbo’s “real-time bark alert,” which notifies users via smartphone app if their pup is being a little extra vocal.
“One time our dog was going through some regressive separation anxiety behaviors and she was barking a lot while we were at work,” Richardson said. “We kept getting notifications thanks to Furbo’s bark alert so my husband was able to go home and be with her while she was having kind of a tough anxiety day. If we hadn’t known that, it would have caused a disturbance to our neighbors, so thanks to the Furbo we were able to handle the situation quickly.”
Richardson and Blader say they really like their Furbo and find it easy to use. The initial setup of both the physical camera and the smartphone app monitoring service was “very user-friendly,” and the image quality is “very clear,” according to Richardson.
While Richardson and Blader have no qualms with their Furbo, we should note the product is on the spendy side, which may be a drawback for some. The camera alone, without an accompanying Dog Nanny subscription, retails for $189. Or, customers have the option to bundle and save by pre-paying for a year of Dog Nanny for $69 and getting the Furbo camera for just $89. If customers choose not to bundle, the optional Dog Nanny add-on is $6.99 per month.
Some may see that as a small price to pay for peace of mind and a happy pet, though.
“It was genuinely one of the first things we got when we got our dog,” Richardson said. “It really gives us peace of mind. Most of the time when we look at her on camera, she’s just sleeping, so she’s totally fine.”
Editor’s note: Richardson and Blader (and Addie!) are friends of the author.
Taylor Kuether is an editor with more than eight years’ experience writing and editing content, designing and implementing digital strategy, leading teams and executing production. She's written for The Washington Post, National Geographic, The Huffington Post and more. More.
