I practically shed a tear every time I have to leave my dogs home alone.
I kiss them and tell them that I will be back soon.
They look at me with their sad little faces. It's brutal!
I was anxious to see if the Pawbo Pet Camera would help to bridge the gap when I'm away from home.
It will come as no surprise that your dog gets lonely and bored when he's at home by himself.
Dogs are social creatures by nature, and they need mental stimulation to be happy.
Sitting at home waiting for their owner day in and day out is no fun for any canine.
Thankfully for concerned pet owners, new products – like the Pawbo Pet Camera – make it quick and convenient for us to check in on our pets while we're at work.
Cameras like these work with your home’s WiFi connection. The camera unit connects to the WiFi, and you can use an app on your smartphone or tablet to connect to the camera whenever you leave the house.
So, you do need to have access to WiFi at home and a smartphone or other compatible device in order to use a pet camera.
Depending on the type of camera you buy, it may also be equipped with a microphone that can allow you to record a message or speak through your smartphone and play a message for your pet.
This may be extremely helpful for dogs who suffer from separation anxiety.
The Pawbo Pet Camera offers all of these features and more! I was excited to try it out with my dogs, and I've recorded the advantages and disadvantages of this model in my review below.
With a price tag of $200, is this product worth the cost? Let's find out!
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The Pawbo is a good option in the pet camera market.
It falls into the middle of the pack price-wise, which is a good thing for dog owners on a budget.
It also falls into the middle of the pack as far as features go, but that's expected for the cheaper price tag.
The Pawbo Pet Camera can be mounted on the wall or sat on an end table or shelf.
I prefer this over mounting it to the wall because it saves the physical damage to your home.
This may not sound like a big deal to some, but if you rent or lease your home, you'll appreciate having the option.
As you'll see in my video guide, we place the Pawbo device on an end table in our living room.
Once you initially plug the unit in and turn it on, all you have to do is download the app and wait a few minutes while your device connects automatically to your WiFi system.
This is a HUGE bonus for pet owners who are not tech savvy, as some pet cameras require you to plug in to an Ethernet cord and do an initial setup before the camera will run on WiFi.
Once set up, all you have to do is open the app on your handheld device, and it will connect to the camera in your home.
The Pawbo Pet Camera streams in 720P HD video.
The quality isn't as good as other cameras that offer 1080P HD, but as you'll see in my video above, it's still a clear picture.
The camera is equipped with a 130° lens, and the app allows you to save photos and short videos to your device for sharing on social media.
The app is also free to download on iOS or Android systems.
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There is a 2-way microphone that allows you to hear what is happening in your home and also gives you the opportunity to talk to your dog while you're away from home.
The Pawbo also features multiple ringtones (I use a bird chirping sound, which you can hear in my video review) that you can use to train your pup to come when you access the device.
The Pawbo Pet Camera is also equipped with a laser pointer that you can use to entertain your pet when you're not home to play with him.
The laser does entertain our pets, but our dogs aren’t always in the mood to play with it. They also get bored with it quite easily. However, it is a HUGE hit with our cats!
The only thing I don’t like about the laser is that it points straight across.
That means that you need to put your Pawbo up high and angle it downward in order to get the laser on the floor.
If you place the device on a coffee table or shelf (like I do), the laser is just going to point straight across at the wall, which you can see in my video at the top of this article.
One of the unique features that this product offers is that you can allow up to 8 people to access your camera and check on your pet.
So, if you give your friends and family your Pawbo password, they can check on your pups when you're not able to.
Or, they could just help you check in and entertain Fido throughout the day to give him extra stimulation.
This is a great option for dog owners whose pet suffers from anxiety while left alone during the day!
Not only does the Pawbo Pet Camera allow you to see and chat with your dog, but it also has a treat dispensing feature.
There is a small bone-shaped icon in the app, and when you press it, the Pawbo will drop a treat onto the floor for your dog.
I love this feature for two reasons — (1) it makes it very easy to train your pet to come over to the Pawbo when he hears the ringtone, and (2) I enjoy rewarding my dogs throughout the day when I'm away from home.
Unfortunately, the space available to hold treats is much smaller than it is with most similar products.
As you can see in the photo on the left (and in my video review), there are 10 small holes to place treats.
If you have multiple pets, you're going to use all of those treats in a day or two.
I use kibble instead of treats, so I go through all of it in just one day.
This means that I have to remember to refill the Pawbo each day, which doesn't always happen.
I would love to see a future Pawbo model that allows a larger capacity for treats.
Also, this device drops the treats straight down instead of projecting them out into the room like other similar devices.
This works well if you attach it to the wall. However, if you keep it on an end table or shelf, you have to move the device to the very edge in order for the treats to fall onto the floor.
If not, they'll just pile up on the shelf or table, and your dog won't have access to them.
The Pawbo Dog Camera sells for about $200 on Amazon in the US and CDN$199 for those in Canada at the time of this review.
They were also running a special, and the device is currently marked down to $140!
This price is in the middle of the range for a pet camera.
You can find others that don't offer as many features for about $100, but you can also find pet cameras that have better quality video streaming and a few more features that sell for more than $400.
If you're on a budget, the Pawbo Pet Camera is a great option!
At the time of this update, however, this product is not showing as available both in Amazon US and in Walmart. You can monitor their website here to see when it's going to be available.
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