It looks like someone is taking the idea of “Twitter feeds” very literally.
IT consultant and Wales native Nat Morris has come up with an inventive method of feeding his Border Terrier, Toby: treats by tweet.
Morris has set up a food-dispensing system connected to a Twitter account. Whenever someone tweets a message to Toby’s Twitter, @FeedToby, the comment initiates a motor that opens a trap door and buzzes to alert Toby to his incoming treats. The trap door is attached to an automated container filled with small dog biscuits, and the container releases a few into Toby’s bowl.
When a tweet is sent, the sender will receive a message identifying who treated Toby and a picture of the adorable Border Terrier snacking.
Luckily, Morris is well aware of the canine obesity epidemic and the dangers of too much over-snacking; Morris limits the number of hours treats can be tweeted and the total number of treats tweeted per day. Morris has limited treat dispersal to one small biscuit every 15 minutes.
“People have been sending him food at all hours of the day,” Morris says, “so I had to limit it to between nine in the morning to nine in the evening.”
He has also installed a webcam so that he can keep an eye on his pooch. Visitors to @FeedToby can also look in on Toby while he snacks.
What does Toby think about his Twitter-treat system? “He absolutely loves it,” Morris says. “At first he didn’t know what was going on. Now he sits underneath, wagging his tail and waiting for the treats to drop.”
The @FeedToby craze has caught on with Morris’ friends and family. Due to its popularity, Morris is considering patenting his tweet-treat system.
Watch the dog-feeding operation in action:
