This is a specific conversation about Pet cameras — watching them when you're away — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
Monitoring activity levels at home for a dog who's on a weight-management journey is a really smart move — you can't change what you can't see. Pet cameras range from basic motion-activated models to 360-degree rotating cameras with two-way audio and treat dispensers. The right choice depends on what you actually want to do with it: passive recording, live check-ins, or something more interactive. For a dog you're trying to help lose weight, is this mainly about seeing how much they're actually moving during the day, or do you also want to be able to interact with them remotely?
Mostly the activity monitoring — my vet thinks Biscuit is probably just sleeping all day while I'm at work, and I want to see if that's true. He's a 6-year-old Cocker Spaniel and he's about 3kg over his ideal weight.
inparticular.ai
That's a classic Cocker Spaniel situation — they look innocent but they're often professional sofa-occupiers. Before I point you in a direction, a couple of quick questions: does Biscuit have the run of the whole house, or is he mostly in one room? And are you looking to record footage to review later, or do you want motion alerts sent to your phone in real time so you can actually see when he does and doesn't move?
He's mostly in the living room. I'd like motion alerts so I know when he's up and about, but I also want to be able to check in live whenever I want.
inparticular.ai
Perfect — and I'd steer clear of the treat-dispensing models for now, since the last thing you want is to accidentally reward him with snacks when you're trying to get his weight down. For your setup, I'd go with the Furbo 360° Dog Camera. It rotates to follow movement, sends you motion and activity alerts directly to your phone, and has a clear live view you can pull up any time. The 360-degree pan means it'll track Biscuit around the room rather than just capturing a fixed angle — so if he does get up for a wander, you won't miss it. It also has two-way audio if you want to call out to him, but no treat dispenser on this model. It's reliable, the app is straightforward, and it's purpose-built for dogs rather than being a repurposed security camera.
That sounds ideal. Will the motion alerts be sensitive enough to catch a fairly slow-moving, low-energy dog, or will it only trigger on bigger movements?
inparticular.ai
Good question, and it's worth knowing upfront: the Furbo 360° has adjustable motion sensitivity, so you can dial it up to catch smaller, slower movements rather than just a dog sprinting past. For a calm Cocker Spaniel who might just shuffle from the sofa to his water bowl, you'll want to set it on the higher sensitivity setting when you first get it and see how it goes. You may get a few false triggers from sunlight moving across the room, but you can fine-tune from there. The activity log in the app also gives you a rough picture of how often alerts are firing across the day, which is exactly what you need to show your vet.
Brilliant, that's really helpful. I'll go for that one.
inparticular.ai
Great choice for what you need. One last tip: once you've had it running for a week or two, screenshot the activity log and take it to Biscuit's next vet appointment — it gives the vet something concrete to work with rather than just a general impression. Good luck with the weight loss mission; Cocker Spaniels are very persuasive when it comes to convincing you they need more food, so having the evidence is useful.
