If you have ever seen a dog chasing a drone or even your vacuum cleaner, then you know that electronics can bring joy and fear to our canine friends. But, like everything, our technology-centric sensitivity is increasingly being adapted to the needs of our pets, whether they need it or not. Smart toys are one of the niche markets that followed. It uses traditional dog toys and pushes them to the high-end market through additional settings, intuitive game modes, and other gadgets. These gadgets, even if they are not pets themselves, will Attract pet owners.

Cheerble’s Wicked Ball is one of the more practical products on the market, but I found myself thinking, “Do dogs really need a smart ball? Is one ball not enough?” Wicked Ball promises to attract your dog’s prey drive And stimulate their thoughts.

See also: Dog anxiety is real. These products can help you calm anxious pets.

Wicked Ball is about the size of a tennis ball. It has a variety of shells and colors, including blue, green, yellow, and one covered with artificial wool. It is exclusively for cats. The Cylcone model I tested is said to be very durable, but like Wicked Bone, Wicked Ball is definitely not suitable for dogs or humans to chew. The setup is simple: when you unscrew the ball, you will find a square core containing an on/off button. By pressing the same button, you can select three modes: mild, normal or active. The blinking colored indicator light lets you know which mode is activated (green means mild, blue means normal, and pink means active), and the core can be charged via USB and stay charged for up to 8 hours.

It was shining, and it rolled around the room by itself, spinning, and occasionally "jumping" to attract attention. This is the perfect solution if you have a super dog who will not let you stay alone. Put the ball down and let your dog try to figure it out. If the ball "feel" is ignored, it will try to attract some attention, just like your dog treats you. But it is not a chew toy, which may be a problem for some puppies.

My own dog is an old Lutheran: eight former stray dogs from New Orleans, like many former New Orleans, they have seen more wild days. My dogs range in age from 10 to 14 years old, except for Buster, a 6-year-old bulldog with kidney problems and a missing leg, so I suspect they don’t know how to deal with it may require more than others Way. They didn't disappoint them—that is, they didn't respond at all, even though Wicked Ball (and Bone) tried to push them away from their nap. Obviously, not every toy is suitable for every dog. In order to get a series of responses, I recruited a few nearby dogs to see their thoughts.

Pearl, the recently adopted female bulldog/Catahoula hybrid, is ball crazy. She liked the ball so much that she immediately took it in her mouth, returned to her bed, and never let go, even though the evil ball tried to blink, bounce and roll out of her hand. As the caregiver of a long list of chewing maniacs, one of my concerns about such toys is that dogs may chew electronic cores. Pearl refused this, but curled up in her mouth, holding her new toy safely in her mouth. However, the response is not very satisfactory.

CJ, an 8-month-old Labrador who runs a local coffee shop, provides another unique response. When the staff cleaned the store around him, he looked down at the evil ball, placed it in every corner around the store, tracked it from around the furniture, and kept barking at it. In fact, he screamed so badly that the owner of the store next door came over to see what was going on. The ball continued to roll around in the store, and then shyly waited for CJ to approach. He stared, barked, and finally started shooting a bow and arrow in the direction of the ball. Obviously, barking is an excitement about this new thing. But will the barking stop? On the positive side, after about 15 minutes, CJ seemed exhausted from trying to figure it out.

A few days later I revisited CJ and brought the ball back. He seems to have been waiting. Excited to see it again, he immediately began to participate in it, this time his barking was reserved for the moment the ball stopped playing. CJ wants to get the attention of the ball. He snarled and pounced, jokingly nudged the ball with his nose, or opened his mouth quickly and jumped away. This is definitely their game mode. After a while, when CJ walks away, it's the ball to try to win his attention. At the back of the store, the ball will roll across the floor and CJ will run back to it again.

One feature in the advertisement is an obstacle avoidance system, which is expected to avoid or bounce off furniture and other inanimate objects, but occasionally the ball is lost or stuck under raised furniture. Another really smart feature is to turn off the ball to rest after 10 minutes-unless your dog taps it, this will reactivate the play cycle.

It may not be a cup of tea for every dog, but Wicked Ball does seem to be a good companion for the right dog: in this case, an eight-month-old dog has some energy and mental power to burn. But the ball is not a nanny, so I will not leave the dog alone for too long.

However, it is very suitable for working with your dog in the office or at home, when you can provide some excitement with this toy while still paying attention to things.