Designed by UK pet insurance company MORE TH>N, this prototype lift would help lazy and fat animals get up the stairs without having to lift so much as a paw. Dubbed the “Stair of the Dog 2022,” the lift is based on those ones designed to help the elderly and disabled get up and down stairs. The insurance provider designed the concept to raise awareness about pet obesity, but says that they’ve actually been approached by retailers who want to manufacture and distribute the lift.

Based on the timing, I’m wondering if this is an early April Fools’ prank. However, after living with two elderly 100 pound plus dogs who couldn’t get up or down the stairs, I could actually see a practical application for a version for larger, disabled pets. That said, any of you who want to use it to help your 8 pound pekingese up the stairs just need to get to the gym more often.

[via Newslite via Petslady]

It’s called the DarwinBot and it uses a Parallax EDDIE chasis and is programmed with the beta of Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 4. That makes sense as well because Correa is a developer in Microsoft’s robotics division. It has all of the bells and whistles you would expect from a telepresence bot for dogs, like a treat dispenser, a ball-launching ballista, a ball-retrieving robotic arm, and speakers so Darwin can hear his master’s voice.

He can even interact somewhat naturally with Darwin thanks to the onboard tablet PC, Skype, and a pan-and-tilt webcam. There is also a Kinect camera system on top for obstacle avoidance and a downward-facing webcam for the absolutely necessary ball retrieval. He controls it over the Internet with an XBox 360 controller. Surprisingly, Darwin isn’t freaked out at all by the robot and the mechanical noises it makes. The dog seems to get what is going on and for the most part acts naturally as if he is with his master.

[via Neatorama via Geekosystem]

The player has to raise Wappy though five different stages of development. The stages range from a puppy up to an adult dog. As the player is able to take care of the pet and as it grows the behavior and voice of the robot pet changes as well. Each of the pets is customizable and comes with stickers.

The robot dog accessory will bark at the player and the game will translate what the barks mean for the players. The pet has a digital mode so the player can nurture the virtual pooch even away from the hardware portion. The game is only for Nintendo DS  and sells for $49.99 (USD) including the robot dog accessory. This is one pet that won’t poop in the yard and parents won’t end up having to feed.

The concept has a scoop that opens when you press a button and then closes on the poo. It then drops some sort of capsule that burns the poo to ash that you can dump out. There is no mention of what the capsule is made from, which makes me wonder if this is a gag. Check out the video to see the far-fetched product concept in action:

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I like the idea of it though, it would be great to not have to deal with bagged turds if you are a pet owner. Picking up poo with a bag on your hand is nearly as gross as not having a bag on your hand. The maker claims the AshPuppie (Poopie) will be ready for early 2012.

[via CNET via Dvice]

What I won’t go for without mocking anyone that does it openly is take the dead pet ashes and then send them to Norway for the Skrekkøgle design house to mix into some sort of ink for a printer. The printer is then used to print out a photo of your pet using its own ashes. Exactly how they mix in the ashes is unknown.

The prints look sort of like pencil drawings to me. I can’t really get over how gross printing a picture with the ashes of Mr. Snookums would be. You need to send an email to the Skrekkøgle people if you want to get your photo printed and see how much it costs.

[via PopPhoto]

I rarely leave her at home alone, given that she’s still 8 weeks-old and all, but sometimes, there’s just no one left at home to care for the little tyke. On those days, I end up postponing my out-of-the-house chores or getting groceries because I am just not comfortable with the idea of leaving little Remy alone in the car while I go out shopping. (Dogs get heat stroke and die when left in hot, enclosed areas, like parked cars under the sweltering heat.)

However, for dog owners who do bring their best friend along with them for a ride or while they run errands, then getting the ‘Too Hot For Spot?’ Static Cling Car Window Thermometer would probably be a good idea.

These creatively-designed clings are also functioning thermometers that give you an approximation of just how hot it is in your car and if it’s a temperature that your dog can tolerate.  I think this is a fine idea, given that a lot of owners, both negligent or simply clueless, leave their pets inside locked cars only to return and discover that their dog is already, well… *makes slicing motion across neck*

Obviously, this isn’t something that you’d want. Your dog definitely deserves better, so you can take the extra precaution by getting one of these thermometer clings from TooHotForSpot.com for $10.95 (USD) each.

[via Cool Hunting via Oh Gizmo!]

Each of those pooches has to have its own GPS collar and then one Astro 320 unit can track up to ten of those collar-wearing dogs at once for up to nine miles on flat terrain. The handheld unit has a color screen that can be read in direct sunlight too. The strange part about his system to me is what good would it be to have your hunting dog nine miles away? If you can train that dog to activate his GPS when he sees some prey, maybe having the dog so far away would be a way to hunt.

I guess this would be a cool system for people with escape-artist dogs too. I once had a Jack Russell terrier that was too smart for his own good. He could escape from anything, and I would end up prowling the neighborhood looking for him. You have to be serious about your pet tracking though to buy this tracker. The Astro 320 is $649 (USD) with a single collar.

Modder TheGreatSatan recently ripped out the guts of an old PET 2001-N computer, and replaced its innards with a speedy 3.2GHz 6-core AMD Phenom CPU with 16GB of DDR3-1333 RAM. The rejuvenated PET also has a Radeon 6850 1GB graphics card, 64GB SSD drive and a 1TB secondary hard drive. The new machine has been rechristened as the “PET 2011″, which is only appropriate.

Since the PET had a tiny 9″ black and white CRT, there wasn’t much room for a proper display inside the case, so Satan opted for a 7-inch color LCD, plucked from a Kodak digital photo frame. Of course, that tiny display isn’t practical as a primary display, so he hooked up a modern display alongside the PET for getting real work done.

TheGreatSatan spent just $53 on a non-working PET computer over on eBay, but clearly put way more than that into the new hardware and his labor to build it out. You can check out the entire build log over on the Bit-Tech forums.

I have been pining for a dog of my own since I was seven but I haven’t gotten around to getting one just yet. Although I’m sure that when I do get one, the Pet Loc8tor will be on the top of my list of things to get.

Of course, I can think of a whole bunch of other uses for the Loc8tor. For instance, my sister always throws a hissy fit when she turns her back for a minute and looks back to realize that her 1-year-old baby has crawled out and away from her pastel crib. The Loc8tor can definitely solve that problem in a sec

In my case (since I’m still baby-less), I can probably hook up one of the locators on my keychain since I’m always misplacing those darned keys and realizing that I don’t have them with me as I’m leaving home to go to work (with a little over ten minutes to spare before I’m late again!)

The whole Pet Loc8tor set comes with two homing devices and one handheld locator and is available from ThinkGeek for only $79.99 (USD).

That is changing though, and the fire trucks in cities like Denver, Colorado are now being fitted with specially designed masks for giving the family pet oxygen. I am sure it won’t be long before we hear that a firefighter lost a nose to a dog attack while trying to administer oxygen. The masks have been around for years and are used by vets in their clinics.

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Despite the fact that it’s a life-saver, that dog doesn’t look too happy to have that mask on his face. In fact if we could read doggie minds I bet he’d be thinking, “Hey wait a minute, the last time I had one of these on I woke up with no balls.”

It’s worth noting the masks were donated by the Invisible Fence company, as part of Project Breathe. You can contribute to the project here.

[via Gizmodo]

These robot monkeys feature realistic movements and lifelike creepy expressions, allowing them to interact with freak out children and/or other Tandars. The sensors allow the monkeys to change their mood according to how they are treated. So watch out if you’ve been neglecting the monkey! They’ll come get you at night!

The monkeys can be powered up via a USB port that’s located in their tails. There will be three different models available, male, female, and Mohawk. Each of these will sell for $50 (USD). There will be a bunch of accessories available, including clothes to dress up your monkey properly.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Ubergizmo]

This is a step back (up or most likely sideways) from the TRON bag. While I know that cats like flashing lights, it’s just funny how this cat is looking at itself in the mirror. There’s no way that the TRON cat will be heading onto the Grid.

Does this cat like to be TRON-ified? It probably likes it more than getting bedazzled, and at least the cat will be easily visible. It won’t be able to stalk around the house, up to no good. This could work also on dogs, especially if you walk your dog at night.

[BuzzFeed via Make:]

The Canine Twitterer allows your pet to automatically send tweets, which can then be posted to any social networking site. All right, I know what I want for Christmas! It includes a motion sensor and a microphone that will interpret your pet’s activity thanks to 500 pre-loaded tweets.

The tweets are sent from the tag that the dog wears to a USB receiver which needs to be plugged into your computer. It has a range of about 100 feet. I guess I am curious at what my dog does when I’m gone, but I’d rather have a webcam check up on things than some silly tweets. The Canine Twitterer is available over at Hammacher Schlemmer for $30.

[via Geek Alerts]

This amazing video from Patrick Boivin shows us what it would be like to have an AT-AT as a dog, since Patrick always wanted to have this Star Wars toy as well as a dog as a kid. He never got them, but he was able to make this great video when he grew up.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I was also a Star Wars fan growing up, and the toy that I really wanted, but never got was the large Star Wars frigates. One of my friends had them and they were huge. I never got them and I never had an AT-AT, but I had a dog for a short while. When I grew up, I bought myself a Slave 1, Boba Fett’s ship, which had always been a favorite of mine, even more than the Medical Frigate. None of those are as cool as this video.

[via The Awesomer]

Each adorable widdle monster will come with a special code that will unlock its virtual, non-combat, account-bound equivalent. No word on the price or exact date of release yet, but they will be sold exclusively at Blizzard’s online store.

If Blizzard starts selling level 80 character stuff toys or action figures or whatever with codes for their in-game equivalent, I bet a lot of lazy gamers will snap that up. Maybe they should also start selling plush gold coins with codes for their in-game amount. Take that, gold farmers!

[via Destructoid]

Why would anyone want or need this speaker? It’s no secret that different animals have different hearing sensitivities. According to Pet Acoustics, makers of My Pet Speaker, their product “features an Omni directional speaker with a 4” drive unit and cone reflector which disburses the music in 360 degrees recreating how animals hear in nature. By producing limited frequencies and featuring a soft bass design for listening comfort, your pets will not be startled or disturbed by jarring volumes and piercing sounds that put them on alert.”

In other words, My Pet Speaker lets you play your music in a way that’s adjusted to your pets’ hearing – again, provided that your pet is a dog, cat or horse. We can’t guarantee its effects on a pet monkey or spider. Or pet bears. Actually nothing’s certain when it comes to pet bears.

You can pre-order the My Pet Speaker at Pet Acoustics’ online store for $250 (USD). It has a 3.5 mm jack, so most of today’s music players are compatible with it. I suggest that you try their iPhone app before dropping money on the speaker. The app has “specially designed” music for cats, dogs and horses. If the app works on your pet, then you can consider buying the speaker.

From the looks of the pup in the picture, he’s clearly not amused with the whole thing. I’m guessing that my two oversize 120-lb dogs wouldn’t look quite as dignified. Still, what better way to fly your geek flag this Halloween than to dress up your canine as the Prince of of All Pooches.

The only thing missing from the costume design is a volleyball, covered with velcro, little toy buildings, people, cars and airplanes.

If you’re really nice, the artist will even make up a matching pair of purple leggings for your pup. So if you’re ready to dress up humiliate your dog, head on over to Victoria’s Store over on Etsy and plunk down your $30 buckaroos.

Inud the robo-dog (aka the Dream DX robot dog) responds to touch, voice commands, and can even track you as you move around it. The dog can move its eyes, mouth and head, wag its tail, shake with it paw, and can respond to voice commands like “good boy” about as reliably as you real dog does.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Just think, with one of these, you’ll never have to go out for another walk when it’s -10 degrees outside, and shedding all over your furniture and clothes will be a thing of the past. At a likely retail price of about $270, Inud isn’t cheap, but he is arguably much less expensive than a real dog.

I only have one question: Is he housebroken or is he going to leave batteries all over the floor? (thanks, Woody Allen)

[via The Presurfer and NewLaunches]

The RoamEO system is a sophisticated GPS tracking system for your dog. The device lets you keep track of your pets in up to a 1-mile radius and can display their exact location on a portable tracking device. It can monitor the locations of up to three dogs on the device’s color LCD screen, as well as their current movements and how fast they’re traveling. The RoamEO can also be set to automatically alert you if your pet strays beyond a pre-set boundaries.

The RoamEO system retails for $499, including the tracker and one GPS collar. Additional collars are $159 each.

[via CrunchGear]

The PetsCELL phone is a special waterproof cell phone that provides GPS tracking of your pet’s whereabouts, but also integrates voice calling features. Now why, you may ask, would your dog need to make a phone call? Actually, the phone can be pre-programmed to call your house or another emergency number, so the person who finds your lost pooch can speak directly with you. You can also call your dog and speak to them through the built-in speaker, but I’m not really sure that they’ll be able to answer back with anything more than a “woof.” The GPS capability can also be programmed to automatically call you if your pooch leaves a pre-set boundary.

Thankfully, dogs don’t have opposable thumbs, so they shouldn’t be racking up a big cell phone bill ordering doggie treats. The PetsCELL should be available later this year.

[via Shiny Shiny]