The barking alert is the feature that earns its place, because it tells you when the problem happens. Treat tossing is fun and slightly gimmicky.
- Best for
- Working on separation anxiety or a barking complaint
- Key highlight
- Push notification the moment your dog starts barking
- Camera quality4.3
- Barking alerts4.7
- Treat mechanism3.9
- App4.0
- Value3.9
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A pet camera is easy to justify and hard to use well. You watch your dog sleep for a week, then stop opening the app. The Furbo survives that phase for one reason: it tells you when something happens instead of waiting for you to look.
The barking alert
The camera listens for barking and sends a push notification when it hears it. For anyone dealing with separation anxiety or a complaint from a neighbour, this is the feature that matters. It tells you not just that your dog barks, but when — five minutes after you leave, or at three in the afternoon when the post arrives. That timing is the information a trainer actually needs.
Treat tossing
It is a genuine feature and also a genuine gimmick. Load the canister with small round treats, press the button in the app, and one fires a metre or two across the room with a tone that dogs learn quickly. The practical use is calling a dog to the camera so you can see them, and rewarding calm. The impractical use is what most people do, which is firing treats until the canister is empty.
Treat size matters. Round, roughly one centimetre, dry. Anything irregular jams the mechanism, which is the most common complaint.
Camera and audio
1080p with 4x zoom, a wide view of the room and colour night vision using infrared. Two-way audio works in real time; whether your dog finds your disembodied voice comforting or distressing varies enormously by dog, and it is worth testing before relying on it.
The design is deliberately domestic — a white tower with a bamboo-effect top — because a pet camera lives in a living room, not a server cupboard.
Subscriptions
This is where care is needed. Different Furbo listings bundle different things, and some of the AI features — person detection, dog activity alerts, video history — require a paid plan. The core functions of live view, barking alerts, two-way audio and treat tossing are available without a subscription on the standard models. Check exactly which version a listing is before ordering.
Should you buy it?
Buy the Furbo if you are working on separation anxiety or barking and you need to know when it happens. Skip it if you just want a camera, in which case a general security camera does the same for far less.
Key features
Barking sensor
Detects barking and sends a push notification with the time.
Treat tossing
Fires a treat across the room from the app, with a tone dogs learn.
1080p live view
Wide-angle with 4x digital zoom.
Two-way audio
Speak to your dog and hear the room in real time.
Night vision
Infrared for a clear picture after dark.
Alexa compatible
View the feed on compatible Echo Show devices.
Pros & cons
What we like
- Barking alerts with timing you can act on
- Full HD live view with 4x zoom
- Real-time two-way audio
- Treat toss is genuinely useful for recall and calm
- Colour night vision
- Designed to look acceptable in a living room
What could be better
- Jams if the treats are not small and round
- Some AI features need a paid plan
- Costs far more than a plain camera
Specifications
Frequently asked questions
Small, round, dry treats about a centimetre across. Irregular or soft treats jam the dispenser, which is the most common problem owners report.
The standard models give you live view, barking alerts, two-way audio and treat tossing without one. AI detection and video history are paid extras, and some listings are subscription-required versions, so read the listing carefully.
It depends entirely on the dog. Some settle at a familiar voice; others become more anxious because they can hear you but not find you. Test it while you are nearby.
Around a hundred small treats, depending on their size.
It will film one perfectly well, but the treat mechanism and barking detection are designed around dogs.
Final verdict
The barking alert is the feature that earns its place, because it tells you when the problem happens. Treat tossing is fun and slightly gimmicky.
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