Recording the dog.
September 1, 2011 6:26 PM Subscribe
Our dog barks when we are not home and we're getting complaints. How do I record her while we're not in the house? She lives in the same room as a Mac.
We were thinking of getting software that activates when she barks and records her for the length of it. It would be great if this software would be free. If there's nothing for Mac, we have a Windows 7 laptop we can bring into the room as well. Any ideas?
We were thinking of getting software that activates when she barks and records her for the length of it. It would be great if this software would be free. If there's nothing for Mac, we have a Windows 7 laptop we can bring into the room as well. Any ideas?
Audio isn't that big. Unless you've got a serious disk-space shortage I'd just grab a copy of Audacity, hit record and let it run. You'll be able to visually scan the resultant recording to find the barking sections.
posted by pompomtom at 6:32 PM on September 1, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by pompomtom at 6:32 PM on September 1, 2011 [3 favorites]
The instructions on page 4 here might give you a good start (NB: it's a retired racing greyhound newsletter, not Mac specific, PDF format, but the instructions are quite current and complete). You may find you dog is just bored alone, in which case a dog walker can help break up the day, or if your dog seems more stressed, focus on addressing separation anxiety.
posted by vers at 6:58 PM on September 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by vers at 6:58 PM on September 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
This is a weird solution, but it might work - I've been using a program for my Droid called:
Sleep as an Droid.
Among its many features is "Sleep noise recording - record your sleep talk or snoring" - so whenever it hears noise, it records. It ends up being a bunch of separate files stored on the SD card that you can play back from within the program (or with any .wav player), and it tells you what time each file was recorded.
posted by HopperFan at 7:54 PM on September 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Sleep as an Droid.
Among its many features is "Sleep noise recording - record your sleep talk or snoring" - so whenever it hears noise, it records. It ends up being a bunch of separate files stored on the SD card that you can play back from within the program (or with any .wav player), and it tells you what time each file was recorded.
posted by HopperFan at 7:54 PM on September 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
I asked a similar question a few years ago...
I went with the audacity option.
posted by tonylord at 12:27 AM on September 2, 2011
I went with the audacity option.
posted by tonylord at 12:27 AM on September 2, 2011
I used the lowest settings on our Canon digital camera to get about 3 hours of video and audio when we were in a similar situation.
Our dog had separation anxiety though this is a too commonly diagnosed condition (our dog would go to the door we left from and tear up the carpet and even the door frame to the point she was injured after just 10 minutes ... it was a rough case but she eventually was able to stay at home uncrated for 8 hour stretches after MUCH training).
We used an anti-bark aid, the "PetSafe Ultrasonic Indoor Bark Control, PBC-1000". These devices should be used as a last resort, though they're much less invasive than citronella collars or shock collars.
Ultimately, teaching your dog to speak (and as a correlative, to "hush" or "quiet") is the solution for bark control. Here's Ian Dunbar's method - he's awesome by the way.
On a related note, banana bread with chocolate chips and an explanation that we were working on the barking eased our neighbor's concerns.
posted by unclezeb at 6:59 AM on September 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Our dog had separation anxiety though this is a too commonly diagnosed condition (our dog would go to the door we left from and tear up the carpet and even the door frame to the point she was injured after just 10 minutes ... it was a rough case but she eventually was able to stay at home uncrated for 8 hour stretches after MUCH training).
We used an anti-bark aid, the "PetSafe Ultrasonic Indoor Bark Control, PBC-1000". These devices should be used as a last resort, though they're much less invasive than citronella collars or shock collars.
Ultimately, teaching your dog to speak (and as a correlative, to "hush" or "quiet") is the solution for bark control. Here's Ian Dunbar's method - he's awesome by the way.
On a related note, banana bread with chocolate chips and an explanation that we were working on the barking eased our neighbor's concerns.
posted by unclezeb at 6:59 AM on September 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I don't have a Mac but I use this with my ham radios on a PC, maybe it can be adapted?
posted by jara1953 at 8:01 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by jara1953 at 8:01 AM on September 2, 2011
Do you have an iPhone? Then iCam might be what you want- It's an app that allows you to see the Mac's camera on your phone and it is sound/movement controlled.
posted by brorfred at 6:53 PM on September 2, 2011
posted by brorfred at 6:53 PM on September 2, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:31 PM on September 1, 2011