iCPooch WiFi Treat Dispenser

My main motivation to purchase a puppy cam was to use as a dispenser for my dogs medication if I thought I was going to be late getting home from work. He needs it every 8 hours and I just put it in a pill pocket and direct the camera so I can be sure he eats it. I can also check on him while I'm at work and that is comforting in itself. I bought this particular dispenser over others because of the option to use my own treats, and the option to place the camera on the dispenser or elsewhere. Setup was fairly easy, the app goes step by step. The dispenser works reliably. The sound is a bit loud and startles my small dog, but he isn't so fearful that he won't go get the treat. I subtracted a star because occasionally the app loses connection and wants me to go through setup again (I use an old iPhone), which is annoying and an inconvenience, but usually I can restart either the app or my phone and it reconnects without me having to re-enter my info and the wifi info.

I'm torn over this product. It works sometimes. If I set it up in the morning it will work in the afternoon, but if I try a few days later it doesn't connect and I need to be home to reset the connection. That kind of defeats the purpose. When it did work, all I did was upset my dog. She could hear my voice but didn't think to look at the screen so she just ran around the house crying looking for me. I dropped a couple treats, and she ate them but never looked at the screen. I hung up and silently called back later and she was at the door crying. If it had better success connecting I would practice with my dog more, but whenever I think about it I've already left the house and it again needs to be reset frome home. So, while I like the idea I am disappointed withthe reality of iCPooch

Pros: I love to see my dog when I'm not home. A very nice break at work to take a peak at him as he is napping on the couch. It's possible that he likes hearing my voice too! He certainly enjoys the treatsCons: The iPad holder is not adjustable enough so I had to make some modifications to fit mine in. I can lay it on it's side but I don't like the image that way. The treat dispenser is difficult to fill and unreliable in delivering the treats. You can stack the treat on top of a second one, but it may fall over and get stuck. The plastic canister for the treat keeps my dog from getting the treat so I don't use them. The icPooch works best with just one treat at a time, but it's still difficult to reach down into the canister to install the treat. The mechanism needs work.

Works just as described. Loading the treat trays is a little tricky and requires two hands. Two issues, one of which should be addressed. First issue: it's loud and scares my dog when the treat drops. Can't do much about that, I suppose. I'm sure he will get used to it. Second issue: there is so much static on the dog end that he can't hear me speak. That frightens him. So I have to silence the microphone as soon as I dial in. Otherwise, neat product. I can peak in on him anytime. I use my iPad and dock it on the mount. The app causes the iPad NOT to go into sleep mode, so it drains the battery pretty quickly. I could do without it, but it is nice to be able to see him throughout the day when I'm not home.

Great idea, bad execution :( I really really wanted to love this. It is a brilliant idea but I was having all kinds of connection issues so I returned it. It seems to bridge video directly through your router vs other video services that have millions invested in a video server somewhere so the quality of video and audio were just not up to par. icPooch you have a brilliant idea here and are probably sitting on a goldmine but you have to step it up a little.I ended up getting a Logi Circle cam which doesn't have a treat dispenser but I set it up in less than 3 minutes and the video and audio were amazing. Plus it has a 30 second condensed view of the day so you don't have to watch everything to see where something good happens. By god if you guys used that camera and just had your own software to shoot out some treats I would pay $300 for it!!!Again Kudos to you guys for a great idea, maybe version 2.0 will be better and I can finally chat with my dog reliably.

Love the concept of this treat dispenser, but unfortunately it isn't very reliable. I have a strong wifi signal, using an iphone as my handheld and a mini ipad for the unit that stays on the machine. They stay connected for a couple of minutes, maybe even an hour, but eventually disconnect. If I leave home, the handheld definitely disconnects and won't "speak" to the unit. Additionally, getting them reconnected requires picking the unit up, carefully so not to tip over the tower of treats inside, unplugging the unit, re-plugging it in, and reconnecting each device. The developers should move the sensor to a location that does not require lifting the dispenser...perhaps on the side or back. And then create something that is more stable...to reduce the amount of disconnects. If they get that figured out, it would also be handy to reconfigure the app so it will play in landscape mode. My regular sized ipad is too tall to fit in the mount, fits if you turn it sideways, but then the video is at a 90 degree angle. Like I said, great concept, but just not reliable.

Works as advertised....not a bad product. It's fun and we love delivering treats and trying to talk to our dog when we're away. One thing became clear as we used it a few times: our dog did not sit neatly and look directly at us through our attached tablet while we talked with him and delivered a treat. He became confused from hearing our voice and not seeing us. Unless trained well, he probably won't understand to look directly at our tablet. If that's OK by you, buy one. It's a fun way to connect with your pooch while away from home.