Although it sounds fascinating, I never really saw the point of asking a device to turn off lights when I can do that myself. This was so deeply ingrained into my mind that I avoided smart-home products for a very long time.
It was a horrendous mistake on my part to think that those types of devices were nothing but gimmicky. Maybe some of them are, but Google Nest Cam is not one of them.
I had a change of heart after one of my close friends gifted me a Nest Cam on my birthday. There are plenty of things to talk about the product, but the sole purpose of the gift was to make me check on my dog.
For the first time, I sensed that a smart-home device could actually solve a problem, and I wasn’t wrong. After a few days of using the device, I discovered that it can do more than check on my dog.
I tweaked this Google Nest sound setting, and it revealed exactly how much my dog barks when I’m not home.
How did I turn my Nest into a bark detector?
It was surprisingly easy
I didn’t repurpose my Nest to become a bark detector, nor did I install anything to get it working. It felt like Nest considered detection of dog barks one of its core features.
Not only does my Nest camera detect dogs and cats, but it also has built-in settings to detect dog barks. All I did was turn on the setting, and it would tell me how much my dog barked when I am not home.
I followed a few simple steps. But before all of that, you need to turn on the microphone of your Nest camera to ensure that it can pick up nearby sounds and record them.
You have to set it up manually because the microphone is off by default. You can turn it on from the Google Home app on your Android phone.
Select the device’s tile in the Google Home app, tap the three-dot view, select Settings, click Audio, and turn on the Microphone. You can also do this from the Nest app.
However, this won’t help you filter out specific types of sounds like the barking of a dog. For this, you’ll need a Google Home Premium subscription and enable a toggle from the Google Home app.
To do this, open Google Home, select the Nest Cam, go to Settings > Events > Heard Events, and enable the Dog barking toggle. Turn on the notifications to get alerts when your dog barks.
This is so much better than checking the Nest app every few minutes to check on my dog. I only need to check when I get an alert on my phone. That’s a huge relief for any dog lovers who go away from home every day.
The Nest Cam showed me a side of my dog I never saw
It helped me learn about my dog better
I have video history enabled on my device, so I can go back and see what happened earlier. My camera saves footage when it detects the barking of my dog, so I can tap to jump to the event.
Rather than just seeing my dog barking, I can see what triggered his reaction. Since I spend most of my time in my office, I heavily rely on this feature to learn about my dog.
I don’t know what to make of it, but my dog barks for a few seconds after I leave for work. It happens daily, so I assume he’s probably reacting to me leaving.
I’ve also observed that my dog reacts to a few other things throughout the day. However, Nest Cam won’t detect these events that lead to your dog barking. Instead, you’ll have to look into what’s causing the dog to bark.
I looked at the footage and learned that he doesn’t have a barking problem, as he barks at very specific things, including doorbell sounds, delivery vehicles arriving, and other animals outside.
My dog gave me a reason to keep my Nest Cam around
I’m a huge fan of automation, but I don’t love it when it complicates things in the name of smart technology. It sounds cool when you first try it, but the excitement quickly dies down when you don’t get anything meaningful out of it.
While switching lights without using physical switches sounds really cool, I don’t think this alone has appeal to make a skeptic into a smart-home convert.
On the other hand, the dog bar detection is more about helping you solve a real problem than sounding fancy. That’s a benefit you can’t ignore, especially if you have a pet dog like me.
There was never a better dog than Dodo to convince me that a smart home isn’t all pointless after all.
