I finally got the WAF points I lost when I evicted Alexa (and her hunches) restored when I set Siri up last week so she has voice control back. Now they are in jeopardy! My wife apparently read an article that some smart plugs (I'm assuming generally, meaning smart devices) can make your dogs sick. Has anyone ever heard of this? I am assuming if there is any basis to it it is likely talking about cheap wifi and Zigbee devices. She said it said to check them with a meter. what kind of meter would that be?
Can you get a link to the article from your wife?
The only article I could find is this one:
Which is not specific to smart plugs. But focuses on frequencies that animals can hear and those emitted by LED bulbs (for example).
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I'm trying, but she hasn't sent it so far. The only thing I'm finding in a search is Glade plugins, which doesn't surprise me. Some of those things are nasty.
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Well, we do have ALL LED's, but those are everywhere now anyway. (well unless you hoarded incandescents like that guy in Mass.) . I can't read that until I get home (blocked where I am no
Going down this rabbit hole i I did find this, I wonder if it could be integrated Whistle™ Health Dog Tracker & Activity Monitor - Whistle
I'm sitting here now satisfied I identified the odd low-volume beeping that was distracting me from listening to the news, about a 1/2 hour ago. Was it from the broadcast, or from one of the devices in another room seeking attention? It turned out to be harmonics from a server drive churning, doing some sort of maintenance.
Yea, I can believe pets may well hear more electronic noise than we do. I suppose the types and amount of devices one has running factors into it. But then there are adaptations humans take on in this regard to consider when enduring uncomfortable noises, using the example of living next to an elevated subway line, or down the block from a busy firehouse (raises hand).
I (again) suppose one would have to keep such in mind if one's pet is exhibiting behaviors of concern. Consider how different family members have different sensitivities to various drugs, foods, etc. I take note here of my son's sensitivity to sounds and LEDs - I can be distracted by them too, but not nearly like he is.
It sounds like a concern akin to cell phones causing cancer - a reasonable concern until more data can be had, but the potential to make pets ill is only speculation until then. A fascinating consideration, though.
...bob t
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Funny you use that one. I work for the railroad, now in the office. For years I was a conductor and engineer. I don't hear trains anymore unless it is something really blatant, I don't notice them. After, what, 13 years off the road I can still feel a train coming a few miles away. Before the railroad, I worked for the airlines, and likewise, unless they are flying extraordinarily low (and I live 8 miles from a Cargo airport) I rarely notice planes either. But boy, let a smoke detector battery get low and I hear that beeping for weeks after I have changed the battery!
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I would call bs at least until someone showed me the source of a claim like that.
Edit: And even after reading their source, it’s most likely still bs anyway.
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She said she would show it to me when I got home. To say the least, I'm skeptical. I guess it could be a thing, but I have my doubts (and likely biases too). I think she is concerned because not only do we have dogs and cats of our own, but we also foster a lot of rescue dogs (47 since 2017). So for her at least, I see the concern. Next time we go to the vet I'll ask him what he thinks. I'm inclined to think it's not all that big a deal. Probably something akin to vegans who think their dogs don't like to eat meat.
I was really curious to see if anyone else had heard this and what their thoughts on this idea maybe.
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[chuckle] That would've been suitable as my TL;DR summary. But then, I'm also one that would state my atheistic belief out loud, 'cept for the fear that God might decide then and there to strike me dead. 
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My lovely wife (who is normally very reserved) and I were at the drive-in a few years ago. Before the movie started, someone left their driver’s door open with the key in the ignition. It was a Honda which went beep beep beepbeep beep beep beepbeep. After about 2 minutes of this, she stands up and yells “SHUT THE DAMN DOOR!!!”
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My veterinarian friend has an office full of smart devices.
And she’s got a couple dogs and a bunch of cats. She’s got smart lighting and heating in the barn also. So horses don’t seem to care. And barn cats.
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Our vet has a bunch of Glade plug-ins too. Needless to say, I'm skeptical. I'm just gonna assume it's the cheap wifi and Zigbee stuff. I am a little curious though what kind of meter one would use to measure this.
My guess is this comes from reasoning along these lines:
- Person has a pet.
- Person gets a smart device of some sort
- Pet has a health issue at some point after getting Smart device
- Smart devices will make your pets sick, QED
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My guess would be there are certain things that are verifiable, such as this.
Then because people are people, FUD often takes over, urban legends are born, and the next thing you know, “smart homes are bad for dogs.”
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Cheap WiFi and zigbee stuff doing what?
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This may be the only productive response to this question... unless there is an issue with tin foil that I don't know about. I believe the bow tie is optional, but I didn't dig too deeply and may actually be the lynchpin.
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Hmmm, maybe those smart devices are stealing the brains of your pets. This picture sure seems to be an indication of that.
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I talked to my vet friend. She has heard of dogs that get spooked by clicking sounds when smart plugs turn on and off.
Maybe that’s the issue?
I wouldn't exactly call that sick though. We did have a foster a few years ago. That dog was not well socialized and honestly was just a hair this side of Ferrell. Every time our Christmas lights would turn on or shut off (Zooz Zen 25 double outlet) she would absolutely freak out for like an hour barking at it.
Once I get to see the article she was reading ill try to come back and post it here.
