Tricky Treats: Entertain Your Dog
Tricky Treats Project Brief:
The aim of the Tricky Treats project was come up with an innovative new device that could entertain dogs when the owner isn’t home. People love their pets and often feel anxious when they have to leave them home by themselves. Pets also need frequent attention from their owners and can feel anxious and unsettled when they aren’t around. The Tricky Treats project hopes to create a solution that entertains dogs and puts the owners mind at ease when they can’t be together.
The Tricky Treats Design:
The Tricky Treats device is designed to connect people and their pets through experiences that they normally share together. After brainstorming it was decided that there were a few core experiences that people shared with their dog – throwing and chasing a ball, giving a fun chew toy, or an edible treat. These experiences were combined with the comfort of the human voice and verbal encouragement from the owner. The innovative new product combines all of these elements through modern technology to deliver comfort to the dog.
The Tricky Treats device is a wall-mounted treat box that is activated through a timer release mechanism to deliver treats at designated intervals throughout the day. The owner can record messages in their voice to the dog to be played through the device to accompany the treat. The Tricky Treats box is pre-loaded with toys, balls, or edible treats for the dog.
The challenge of the design was to create a durable device for the outdoors that combined the essential technology elements to make the product function. The design allows for two separate treats to be loaded and delivered to dogs to entertain them multiple times each day.