Thursday 25 May 2017

Go Bone Review

GO GO Gadget Go Bone!


One of our latest gadgety arrivals at GearedUpGreyhound is the Go Bone.  We happened upon the Kickstarter last July thanks to a friend sharing it on social media.  It did take several months for our model to land as the makers fine-tuned the product and the scaled-up processing.  However, it has definitely been worth the wait as it is clear from the moment I opened the package that the designers spared no effort in ensuring the final device would meet the promised quality.

Pre-orders at a special reduced price are now on for the next production run!  So if you fancy trying one of these for your own dog after you finish reading my review, hop on over to My Go Bone to secure yours!

The GoBone is a bit like having a radio-controlled car just for your dog.  Using the associated free app (Android and iOS compatible options) you can send it racing around the floor either on an automatic play function (with manual speed settings to suit your pet--Ali hound does best with FAST!) or a Freestyle Play function that allows you to control direction, speed, and spin manually using the intuitive circle control or the independent wheel controls.


The device is pretty much plug and play once you have installed the app and charged the GoBone with the included USB cord.  A solid double tap on the shaft wakes the unit and the app will automatically pair with the GoBone allowing for rapid start of play.  You can toggle between the control options just by turning your phone to orient it for the desired control.  And to make sure you can capture the unbridled doggy joy happening in front of you, the app included a video feature (the red button) that will allow you to record while you play and then save the video to your smart device or share immediately to your favorite platform.  Here is Ali with her first in-app video posted to Facebook.



The test versions were subjected to rigorous trials with many different types and sizes of dogs, including shelter dogs, and contributed to developing a number of key design features to ensure the commercial models can stand up to quite vigorous attentions.  The brains and drive mechanisms are completely encased in a protective housing made of food-grade nylon and synthetic rubber.  The modular housing includes a shaft and the wheels, giving it the classic "dog bone" shape.  All of the modular housing components can be removed to allow for easy cleaning and replaced if they become worn or damaged.   The GoBone is not designed to be thrown like a fetch toy, although in testing the makers have found it can be dropped from heights of 10 feet without noticeable effects, so it will stand up to a bit of tossing around by a dog.  It is splash and slobber resistant so real drooly dogs will be able to use it.  Caution should be exercised with heavy chewers and it should always be used under supervision to ensure the dog does not crack the housing or consume parts of the device.
The wheels have been designed with a recessed groove along the inner edge to allow small treats or kibble or gooey incentives such as peanut butter to be spread to further reward interaction for dogs that may be unsure of the toy or not immediately motivated by it's exciting movement.
Being able to search, stalk, chase, grab/pull/dissect, and then eat forms the full predatory sequence in our dogs' wolf ancestors and many of our modern breeds will continue to express parts of this sequence, sometimes in a strangely fragmentary way.  Retrievers, for example, may obsessively grab and carry a thrown toy.  Collies can obsessively stalk sheep.  Greyhounds like Ali have been highly selected to chase.  Many progressive behaviorists recommend that we find ways of engaging our dog's innate drives to help them feel mentally and physically fulfilled in their lives.  The GoBone provides an excellent way for a dog with a strong prey drive to engage in those predatory sequence behaviors in a controlled manner.  Being able to engage these behaviors through socially appropriate outlets and teaching the dog when, where, and how these behaviors are acceptable (especially if a strong Premack cue is developed) can assist with helping them to learn impulse control around other potential prey-like stimuli.  If you notice in my video, I am frequently encouraging Ali in a high-pitched voice as this is part of our play strategy to encourage impulse control (ie we chase/grab when provided with the verbal encouragement (premacked) but don't when the verbal encouragement isn't given)
Here's some more photos of Ali loving every moment with her Go Bone, and creating lots of movement blur for my camera with her racing around!




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