Free Dog/Pet Cam...

[Jessika]

A friend suggested this and I thought it was such a great idea that I would share it with you all...

Dealing with some worsening separation anxiety in my senior girl, I was looking into setting up a camera for me to check in on her while we were away to see how long she barks, what behaviors she is displaying, etc. Most cameras and baby monitors were EX-PENSIVE... until a friend suggested using skype!!!

Skype is completely free. Just set up two accounts (I use mine and my boyfriend's). I set the laptop up in their room before I leave in the morning logged into my bf's skype account and set his account to "auto accept" incoming calls (from contact list only to avoid random people calling... although, if they really want to, they'd probably be like "what the heck is this?!" lol). I also MUTE sound on the laptop.

Then I log into my skype account via their app on my phone, and mute video/sound (so she doesn't see/hear me and become more distressed) and can call and check in on them whenever I want!

It's comforting for me knowing that she isn't panicking the entire time we're gone (just the first 4 or 5 hours or so...), so when I call and see she is laying down and resting, it makes me feel a lot better. And for those owners who want, you can call and talk with your pets Way better than paying hundreds of dollars for a "pet cam".

[Karen]

Good idea, especially for worried pet parents!

[Freedom]

Things you need:
laptop: check

smart phone: nope.

Won't work, here.

[Taz_Zoee]

Brilliant!!
Only I don't have a laptop. And if we were both away from the house Bruce would have his laptop with him, so wouldn't work for us.
I want, so badly, to see what the cats do while we are not home. But they have run of the house so we'd need a camera in each room. LOL

[Jessika]

Brilliant!!
Only I don't have a laptop. And if we were both away from the house Bruce would have his laptop with him, so wouldn't work for us.
I want, so badly, to see what the cats do while we are not home. But they have run of the house so we'd need a camera in each room. LOL

Hah, true, this really only works for a 1-room scenario... but you could use anything like a tablet, ipad, old smartphone, etc. This is just the setup we use