Cheerble's Wickedbone is their more basic Wicked Ball companion. Both are smart toys designed to initiate and maintain hide-and-seek (or is it really a label?) but Wickedbone is more advanced and more expensive.

Wickedbone is indeed bone-shaped—a cylinder with "wheels" on both ends—which makes me worry that dogs who are encouraged to chew similarly shaped chew toys might use this expensive electronic bone to do the same thing. However, I don’t have to worry about my own dog, because even when I bring Wickedbone to the bed I share with the two beasts, they completely ignore it, even if I drive it around and enter them when they try to rest​​ . They don't care.

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But I am totally in love with it! Unlike the simpler Wicked Ball, Wickedbone pairs with the app on your phone and allows you to drive. Although the printed matter in the manual is microscopic, the setup is very simple. After downloading the app (for iOS and Android), you can pair the app with your bones via Bluetooth by placing it next to your phone. The application has two different modes: driven and interactive. In driving mode, you have a variety of options on the screen, including scrolling forward and backward, spinning like a top, turning, jumping, and so on.

Even if my dog ​​doesn't care, I am like a child with...new toys. The interactive mode allows you to put down your phone or take videos of obsessed dogs, because Bone will perform all its actions, flirting with your dog to get his attention. The app also has basic settings for dog size, room size, and floor type. In intuitive mode, you can also set a timer to show how long you want the bones to play and how long to rest between games.

I started consulting my less tired dog group. I visited Pearl by the way, this is a Catahoula/Bulldog that was adopted by a neighbor during the pandemic. She is a little curious, but still thinking and looking for the ball. Even manual balls are good for her. But we can also test the bones' ability to roll from room to room, rolling on the carpet. It manipulates very well.

Next stop: The eight-month-old CJ's espresso bar. For such toys, CJ may be the perfect age and temperament. He is very interested and enthusiastic, although he barks a bit more, if it is enthusiastic. This is worth looking forward to: the dog may bark excitedly at first, but hope that as the freshness fades, the barking will disappear. Since we apparently caught CJ's attention, I started to drive the bone, let it jump and blink for him, spinning like a top. He jumped back in surprise, and then moved his nose closer to figure it out. And since Wickedbone also has an interactive mode, I switched to that mode and watched CJ and Bone build a more low-key pursuit and flirting game.

Although I am worried that the dog might think this bone is for chewing, none of the dogs I tested seemed to have my idea. They are more interested in observing the movement of bones. No one puts it in his mouth, although I still don't recommend leaving it unattended for a day. Even if you track your dog on the pet camera, if you see him or her chewing Wickedbone, you cannot stop them; the bone has a hard, durable plastic shell, but it and its mechanical structure are not suitable for chewing. (It also has a small rubber bone-shaped plug to cover the USB charger port, which is difficult to remove but easy to swallow.) But it is a good choice for novel gaming sessions, or when you are focused on When taking care of the child, it is easy to take care of other housework or work at home.

For me, Wickedbone is a bit expensive, $69.99. On the other hand, I like to play with it more than my own dog. Nothing, even Wickedbone, can't completely replace what the dog really desires: time and interaction with the owner and the common pursuit of important things: food, sociality, and safety. However, like other smart toys, there are similar places in families with active and curious dogs.

Part of the "game" is the dog's thinking about what actually happened, including glancing at humans to gauge their response or gain some positive reinforcement. A smart toy, if your dog finds it attractive, it can be an important part of establishing this rapport.