Dogs

A fully loaded camping car may mean you have to leave your loyal dog home - or worse, drop him at the kennel. 4pfoten-Mobile (4 Paws-Mobile) makes sure that never happens again with a motorhome that gives canines large and small a dedicated space all their own.

​If you have a dog or cat that stays home alone all day, you likely worry about them being bored and inactive. Well, the Varram Pet Fitness Robot is designed to get them off their butts when no one is around.

This fine example of barkitecture was designed by Studio Schicketanz for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). It features the kind of sustainable design you'd usually expect to find in a full-size home, including a green roof and solar power.

​A couple of years ago, Matthew Edwards' family dog had to be euthanized due to heat stroke. This inspired the South Carolina-based engineer to ensure that other dogs not meet the same fate – the result is the Dawg Tag core temperature-sensing harness.

​Could scent-tracking sniffer dogs be out of a job? Well, perhaps eventually. Scientists from Japan's Kyushu University have developed a prototype robot that can detect and follow odors left on the ground, such as those deposited in footprints.

​It was just last year that we heard about Anthouse, an interactive robot designed to entertain your home-alone dog. Unfortunately that project got cancelled, but guilty pet-owners can take heart – Mia has hit Kickstarter.

Man's best friend is finally getting some architect-designed digs, courtesy of well-known firms, including Zaha Hadid Design and Studio Octopi. The dog shelters will be sold at auction to raise money for Britain's Blue Cross animal charity.

​At the end of a fun afternoon on fast bikes, we sat down again with motorcycling legend "Electric Terry" Hershner to finish our chat about the first electric Ironbutt, the Vetter Challenge, riding with his manic dog Charger and a future in which two-way EV charging can support the power grid.

We've seen remote-controlled cubes, balls and other gadgets that let people "telesocialize" with their pets via the internet. The latest such device, the Anthouse, takes the form of a little tank-like robot.

​​Today's fitness junkies have all kinds of monitors to choose from, and who says dogs couldn't do with a little activity tracking themselves? Bringy is a connected ball with a sensor inside to track things like speed and distance, so you can make sure they're on a path to good health.​

Nissan has created the ultimate dog-friendly Rogue crossover with the prototype "Dogue" project vehicle. Designed to have every conceivable option to appeal to dog owners, the Rogue Dogue was created by the car coordinator for the Fast & Furious film franchise. Let the puns and wordplay commence.​

Dutch purveyor of canine products Tinki estimates that 100 million kg (220 million lb) of dog droppings are not properly disposed of in the Netherlands each year, so it has teamed up with the national test center for drones to develop a system that scans the ground and collects what's left behind.