A teenage student’s invention will allow dogs to phone their owners whenever they feel nature calling.
Nicholas Planidin, a 13-year-old student at the Gary K. Herberger Young Scholars Academy on the West campus, created a device that enables dogs to tell their owners they need to “go” using everyday items.
The Doggie Detector is a dog food bowl with a cell phone inside and a padded cover on top.
Whenever a dog has the urge to go outside, he or she must step on the pad. This triggers the call button on the pre-dialed phone to contact the owner.
Planidin introduced the first form of this invention, which took him about two weeks to create, in the 2012 National Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge earlier this year.
He produced a video explaining how he created the Doggie Detector, how it works and how it can help prevent diseases in dogs.
“(A dog’s) bladder is smaller than a human’s, so if a dog doesn’t go to the bathroom, they have more issues where they can develop diseases such as urinary tract infections more rapidly than humans can,” Planidin said.
Training dogs to use the device would be “relatively easy,” he said.
“(Our dog) already trained himself to go to the door ... but our house is stretched out, so we don’t always know if he needs to go outside,” Planidin said. “I wanted something that could communicate to you if you are not sitting right there at the door waiting.”
He said the device should succeed because dogs will associate it with going to the bathroom and then receive a further reward from their owners.
“With dog training, you want to have a positive reward,” Planidin said. “(The Doggie Detector) would be backed up with treats.”
Planidin said he introduced his dog, Odie, to the first Doggie Detector and had moderate success.
However, he faced some challenges, because Odie, a Shih Tzu and Yorkie mix, is a small dog.
“The biggest issue that we had was getting enough pressure to activate it,” he said. “There was no dog-friendly button to press.”
From there, Planidin invented a newer version of the Doggie Detector with a clearer pad for the dogs to step on.
Planidin said he plans to continue developing his concept to make it more accessible for animals, including making various sizes of the device.
“My ultimate goal is to see if it could become a marketable product,” Planidin said.
Planidin is in his second year at the Gary K. Herberger Young Scholars Academy, an initiative of the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.
He is one of about 30 students in his year, and if he remains on track, he will graduate the program in 2014, said Herberger Academy Executive Director Kim Lansdowne.
The academy has its own accelerated curriculum.
“Instead of having four years (of high school), we have four semesters,” she said.
Planidin’s mother, Diane Planidin, said the academy and this creation will help further her son’s education and passion in the subject of technology development.
Diane has been helping her son obtain a patent for the Doggie Detector.
“My expectation for this invention is that it will provide Nicholas with inspiration to continue his passion for science and technology,” she said.
Reach the reporter at cldas@asu.edu
