The latest high-tech gadget for you and your pet claims that it can act as a dog translator and help you communicate with your pet. It sounds like a good deal, right? But with all of the bogus things that are for sale on the internet these days, it pays to do a little investigation. Here are some facts about the dog translators so you can judge for yourself.
Can a Dog Translator Really Translate Your Dog’s Barks?
There are several companies selling devices online that make the statement that they will allow you to translate barks and other sounds into words. With those words you will be able to know what they are thinking and feeling. The “No More Woof” device that is in development says that it translates animal thoughts into human language. They do this by attaching a device to the head of your pet (good luck with that if you dog is anything like mine! – it’s not going to stay on her head). This device reads the brain waves of your dog and through the programming the company is building into the micro-processor will translate that into words. There are other products available at online retailers that claim to do the same thing, but according to the reviews are met with mixed results. Some of these do, however, state that they are for entertainment purposes only.
While the “No More Woof” device sounds likes it is a good step in the right direction, even the inventors admit that is a work in progress. Their website says that they are in the first stages of development, meaning that an actual working product may be years in the future. They have produced devices it seems for initial investors, but it should also be noted that these investors came from crowd funding and not commercial investment. Apparently the established companies have not bought into the idea of the technology quite yet to make the required investment. Some of the research also shows that the whole idea is based on junk science – brain scientists say that you cannot detect thinks like hunger by using the EEG patterns of humans or dogs.
Right now it seems like the best advice for someone who might be interested in purchasing a dog translator is to wait. The technology just hasn’t caught up to provide a good product yet. There are some items for sale that might be fun to play with if you have extra money (most are between $25-50) but are strictly for entertainment. Most of the time I know what my dog is thinking – if she goes to the door, it’s time to go out; if she stands by her food bowl, she’s hungry. If you are connected with your pet, you probably don’t need to waste the money.
What do you think? Can a dog translator really understand our canine companions’ minds and tell us what they’re really saying when they bark?
