New topic: Torturing dogs with Real Studio and $20 of electronic parts
<http://forums.realsoftware.com/viewtopic.php?t=33085> Page 1 of 1 [ 1 post ] Previous topic | Next topic Author Message pony Post subject: Torturing dogs with Real Studio and $20 of electronic partsPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 12:22 pm Joined: Sat Nov 11, 2006 2:43 pm Posts: 544 Location: DFW area, Texas, USA As a result of my wife being a veterinarian who sometimes insists she brings her work home, we have a large property filled with a variety of pets (4 large breed dogs (all over 100lbs), 5 cats, 3 horses and a mule). Sometimes this breeds conflict, usually between the four legged and two legged occupants. This is my story for your amusement. Since starting a new job, our dogs have found a lot of time on their hands with no human supervision or interaction. Dogs got bored, real bored. One of our dogs had taken to sleeping on the sofa whilst we were out, so I implemented a high tech solution. We have a small PC in the lounge that acts as our home security monitor, collecting all the video feeds from the security cameras and NVRs and displaying them on an LCD display (it allows us to monitor the front gate and grant entry without hoping to hear the visitor sounding their horn the 750 or so feet away down the drive). So, I added a webcam to that PC and pointed it at the sofa. Whenever we are both out we turn on the camera and âcheck inâ on the dogs. I saved a couple of sounds files which are recordings of me shouting at the dogs to get down. If the dogs are on the sofa I just play the sound file, and they jump down. All seemed to work for a week or so. Advance forward a week, and the dogs soon learned that the voice from the PC was just a voice, and could be ignored. hmmm, dogs seem to be getting an upper hand here. Not to worry, I had another plan up my sleeve. I added a âdog whistleâ sound file that plays a high pitch noise the dogs hate. Strike 1 for humans! Who is laughing now dogs!! Well, not to be outdone the dogs got smart. I came home one day from work to a disheveled bed, which is odd as I remembered making it before I left for work. Upon climbing in to bed that night I was disgusted to find a half chewed rawhide bone! Ahhh, mystery solved, someone had been sleeping in my bed. Another victory for the dogs. Dang those dogs! We now have a hook and eye on the bedroom door which restricts how far it will open when we are out, it allows cats entry whilst keeping dogs out. Strike 2 for humans! So I get home from work on Friday to find the mess shown below. It seems dogs are bored, donât like their sleeping arrangements, and are prepared to protest. Another victory for dogs! Argghhh, dang them! Incidentally our front door has a dog door so large I could walk through it, it leads to a fenced off front garden, which has views of the many acres of our property. I thought this was a good compromise, but it seems to irk them. This is were high tech comes in to play. Its obvious dogs know when we are out and know they can get away with a lot. Well, thats about to change. When we first got the dogs they were unruly and held no respect. They would chase horses, leave our property to roam the neighborhood, chase passing traffic, and basically anything they wanted. To address this we bought shock collars with a 1.5 mile remote range (SportDog Pro Hunter brand, which I highly recommend). Whenever a dog left the property they were shocked (they thought it was the fence), whenever they chased a horse they were shocked (they think horses bite), whenever they chased traffic they were shocked (they think cars bite), playing near moving tractor implements bites, pasture sprayers and the obnoxious chemicals they emit bites, postal carrier vehicles bite, anyway you get the idea. The great thing is they do not associated the shock with humans, so this learned behavior continues even when we are not there. It sounds cruel, but a kick from a horse or being run over by a vehicle is much crueler than the 2 or 3 times it takes to get them to think the action will shock them). So how does this translate to teaching good behavior when they are indoors and we are not present. Easy, the geek in me devised a cunning plan. Iâve just completed a circuit board that comprises of less than $20 in components, it connects to my computer via the USB port. Sending a few bytes of data from the computer connects a switch on the board. I wrote a program for my computer that uses its built-in web camera and transmits it anywhere in the world I choose. So at work I can monitor the camera and on demand close a switch button. Effectively I have a dog shock collar that has an indefinite range. I can trick the dogs in to thinking sofas bite, trash cans bite, and well anything bites. I have an extra remote control on order to take apart and replace its switch with my board. Is it concerning that I developed a way to electrocute my dogs from across the other side of the world? Sure it is, but they started it.... _________________ Fly like a mouse, run like a cushion, be the small bookcase. http://www.wish-sandwich.com Top Display posts from previous: All posts1 day7 days2 weeks1 month3 months6 months1 year Sort by AuthorPost timeSubject AscendingDescending Page 1 of 1 [ 1 post ]
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