Voice products for dogs
Our voices are as unique as our fingerprints. Scientific study has shown that dogs are actually able to understand voices and human language on a much deeper level than originally thought.
Recognising what is said
Dogs have a perception of individual human voices, especially recognising their owners or carers. They respond to tone, volume and expression, as well as many specific words. Interestingly, there are differences between puppies’ and adult dogs’ responses to people’s voices.
With dogs being so responsive to human voices, it is logical that dog products that feature and leverage this, have great potential. Now fast-developing new technologies are enabling the use of human voices in products at an affordable cost.
Human voices – most often the pet owner’s voice – already feature in a number of dog products. Relying on a positive association between the dog and the voice, products are used for monitoring, training, calming, communication and play. They mostly utilise recorded voices.
Designed to monitor dogs while the owner is away, the Digital Dogsitter is a web app that ‘listens’ to the dog through a microphone. The app software tracks the sound and location of the dog and allows the owner to record their own voice. When the dog barks, the owner’s voice calms it down.
Recordable sound buttons emit the owner’s recorded voice when pressed by the dog. The sound and voice become a reward. Examples include Talking Dog Buttons from Talking Products.
Apps and collar devices enable the owner to record their own voice to playback to the dog at set times to relieve separation anxiety, such as The Pet Companion, Voice Recording Collar Unit from PetTag.
To enhance owner-dog communication, there are even translator apps available which record the dog’s barks and other sounds and translate these into the ‘human’ equivalent, and vice versa.
There are several ‘record your voice’ dog toys and dog toy inserts that enable the owners to record their voice in a toy, such as those from Celebrity Pet Toys.
Unique bond
The appeal of voice products for dogs leverages the fact that they are highly personalised. However, key to achieving success in monitoring, training and calming objectives is that there is a good bond between the dog and its owner.
Advanced voice tech: essential for success
In developing voice products for dogs, it is essential that the voice recording used is of the best quality. This has to do with the fact that dogs’ hearing and understanding of human voices is extremely sensitive. The tech used must be able to capture and play the owner’s voice to perfection for it to be understood by the dog.
As in all pet accessories, safety is paramount. There is much research that has been done into investigating dogs’ voice responses. From a functional and marketing perspective, any new product stands a better chance of success if it utilises, and can be related to, such scientific evidence.