10 dog gadgets just as weird as the Woof Washer 360 (pictures)
The Woof Washer 360's oddball hoop for power washing your pooch is making a splash among consumers, but it's not alone when it comes to bizarre devices and accessories designed for dogs.
Scrub up with a Woof Washer
The as-seen-on-TV product Woof Washer 360 has piqued the public's interest thanks to its magical promises of making dog washing a breeze. It joins a distinctive world of weird pooch products ranging from light-up disco vests to a specialty high chair that puts Fido up at table height for meals.
Light-up vest takes dog to the disco
Let Fido get funky with the Disco Dog, a snazzy fashion vest stocked with 256 color-changing LEDs. The battery-operated vest can pulse or display messages to make your pooch stand out in the dark. It was successfully funded on Kickstarter and is supposed to ship later in 2015.
Canine gaming console
Dogs can be gamers, too. The CleverPet game console for dogs challenges your fluffy buddy with a series of touchpad buttons. When the touchpads are triggered correctly, your dog gets a treat. It starts off easy and then becomes more challenging, just like a lot of human games. This was also a Kickstarter that made its funding, and is supposed to start shipping this summer.
Camera triggered by dog's excitement
This is Grizzler. Grizzler may be a dog, but he's also a budding photographer. Nikon equipped him with a camera triggered by a heartbeat monitor. Whenever Grizzler got excited, the camera snapped a shot. The results are a charming collection of images of cats, cars and people seen from dog level.
Dog translator turns woofs to words
People love to talk to their dogs. What if our dogs could talk back? That's the thought behind No More Woof, a dog translator that attempts to read a pup's brain waves and turn it into recognizable human speech. The project raised funds on Indiegogo in 2013, but some backers seem to still be waiting for their rewards.
Samsung's doggie dream pad
Samsung, the same folks who brought us the Galaxy S6, designed a high-tech dream doghouse for the 2015 Crufts dog show in the UK. The canine condo comes with a treadmill, hydrotherapy pool, automatic kibble dispenser and Samsung tablet (probably for watching cat videos).
Vacuum your patient dog
Before you break out the Woof Washer 360, you might want to suck some of the extra fur off your dog with a Dyson Groom vacuum-cleaner attachment. The Groom debuted in 2010 and is used to brush your dog while sucking up stray hairs. Of course, this only works for dogs that aren't terrified of the vacuum.
Shower stall just for dogs
Leave it up to the oddball gadget hounds at Hammacher Schlemmer to find a $1,250 canine shower stall. It's no longer available for sale, but the over-the-top description and photo are still there for our enjoyment. The self-contained shower included 16 water-jet nozzles, integrated leashes and clear plastic roof. The whole experience looks like it could be traumatic, especially for the pet owner.
High chair for up-close doggie dining
The Pet High Chair is another discontinued gem from the Hammacher Schlemmer catalog, though a similar product is still for sale on Amazon. The chair clips onto a table to bring your small pooch closer to your face level while you eat. Hammacher says the high chair "promotes more refined behavior." It also promotes absurdity.
Backward umbrella for dogs
We've all seen pet strollers, but those aren't the only human devices that have been adapted for dog use. There's also a phenomenon known as the "pet umbrella," so your precious Fluffypants doesn't get soaked during rainy walkies.
You can tell this particular umbrella from LesyPet is designed for dogs, because it has a leash that extends down to your pup's collar, and instead of the handle being on the inside, it extends upward from the top of the umbrella.
AT-AT dog cosplay
If you love to cosplay as your favorite "Star Wars" character, your dog might as well join you by wearing an official AT-AT costume. If you have more than one dog, then you could command an entire battalion of furry war machines that would strike terror into Jedi hearts.