Someone Just Invented a TV Remote for Dogs

Better add Animal Planet to the parental lock settings

July 1, 2016 9:00 am

Anyone who’s ever owned a dog has definitely wondered what the hell that dog does all day while its humans are out doing human stuff.

Little secret: it sleeps. That’s what a dog does all day.

But UK-based pet food brand Wagg is taking a stand against doggie boredom, by creating a prototype TV remote specially designed for the contours of canine paws.

The waterproof plastic gizmo is outfitted in yellow and blue with raised buttons in the shape of a paw, ball and bone. It emits a low-intensity frequency sound that appeals to dogs and sports a hook for attaching a rope so your pooch can carry and interact with it like a regular dog toy.

The remote — which Wagg plans to pitch to tech companies for production after a trial and analysis period — was commissioned after a company survey found 91 percent of owners say their dog regularly watches TV with them.

According to Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, who is an expert in the field of animal-computer interaction and helped develop the toy, “recent research found the average dog now watches more than nine hours of TV a week, showing that technology is already playing a huge part in our pets’ lives.”

Depending what’s on, wresting control of the television from your pooch could be ruff.

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