A product design student at Robert Gordon University has created a "friend" to entertain home-alone dogs that suffer from stress and anxiety, writes Olga Wojtas.
Gayle Walker, who graduates this month from the university's Gray's School of Art, researched dog and owner behaviour for her final-year project. She found that family pets were increasingly being left on their own in a confined space for long periods as people worked longer hours.
"Dogs are pack animals and not used to being alone. They need a sense of purpose, otherwise they may become depressed," said Ms Walker, who found dogs displaying behavioural problems because of boredom and frustration.
To counter the problem, she came up with Big Buddy, a tower loaded with six spheres that can hold food or a favourite toy.
The prototype is not yet fully functioning, but Ms Walker's plans allow the owner to set a timer to release the spheres at various times during the day. The dog can hear the sphere rolling down the tower, and a motor in the sphere makes it roll around the room in random directions, letting the dog chase it before retrieving the contents.
"Dogs need to use their natural instincts to keep them from getting bored, and Big Buddy is designed to play on this," Ms Walker said. "I put in some dog biscuits and dog food and soft toys since most dogs prefer soft toys to rubber toys. But it would be up to the owners what they put in because they know what their dogs like best."
Dogs are at their most active at dawn and dusk, she said, and Big Buddy could help ease their anxieties as they wait for their owners to return at the end of the day. She now hopes a company will be interested in producing the product commercially.
Big Buddy is on display at Gray's annual degree show.