RexPlus Electronic Watchdog

We found REX to be picking up our movements within the house alarming at as much as the movement at our front door so I emailed the company STI Technologies… 800-888-4784 x 204.

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Here is STI Technologies reply to our email: "You may try putting something metal behind the unit to help block the sensor and turn down the sensitivity when you are home, but just as it acts as s a motion sensor can pick up movement from almost a 30' range." jweeil@sti-usa.com Jenny @ Customer Service

So, I took an old, metal computer, removable side panel and made our Rex a dog house … I cut out a side and top first to lay over the side and top, then a side panel for the open side, and then a back panel. This is some heavy metal and my tin snips barely could cut through it.

Once the dog house was in position, I moved him to a window so that he could monitor the front door and doorbell. I covered all but the front of him with the metal Rex Dog House that I made and turned it to full sensitivity.

To my surprise, Rex did great until activated and then Rex would do a single bark every 5-6 seconds which was annoying. So, I removed the back panel and put it on the side that we walk by in the house and we've had no more problems. Rex is now turned to maximum sensivity and does not turn on as we scoot up our stairs — Rex is just about 12 feet away from us walking. Rex fully monitors our front door area through the front window and the dog house looks pretty good too.

It may take a little experimentation to see which dog house configuration will work best for you since I did not like turning the sensitivity way down.

You would think that the company would shield all but the front but evidently they do not.

I will post a photo of the new Rex Dog House when I get a chance.

I love REX the Watchdog with his new Doggy House! HEEE, HEE — and REX scares the heck out of our mail woman!

Good Luck,

J, San Antonio

COULD someone stay around for several minutes (or make repeat visits) and eventually figure out it's probably not a real dog? Sure. But It isn't that easy to figure out WHERE the sound is coming from and it takes time to FIND IT to try and shut it up. (Try out new positions, don't always keep Rex in the same place.)

Unless your dog is specially trained, it may not alert you to an intruder, or may not be able to defend ITSELF from an intruder. (A Rex can't be bribed by food.) So be smart and realistic when thinking about your safety options. Rex also has a very pleasant bird, rain forest mode, if you just want to know someone has entered a certain area. I've given already three away as gifts over the last few years to some people who needed a bit of extra security.

And, of the eight people Rex 'warned' me about during our years together? Not one approached after the first bark.

Product works well.

Alarm will go off through a wooden door and glass and aluminum door.

Other appliances in your home can trigger his alarm, like: phones, refrigerators and microwaves.

Does sound like a real dog to the uninitiated?

The device monitors an outside area, but it monitors the inside area even better. This means that everytime you go near it, even while inside the house, the alarm activates, which you don't really want it to do. I tried putting heavy books around the back and sides of it, but it still activated whenever anyone went near it while I was inside the house. Ideally, you would need to place it somewhere that you do not go near while you are at home, or else only activate it when you go away from home.

The good news is you don't have to clean up after it or feed it, and it stops barking when you turn the juice off.

It's very easy to set up, just plug it in and adjust the sensitivity and volume control knobs, that's it!

Despite it's shortcomings, I may even buy another one for my side door as I am paranoid about burglars. It does have a wow factor when your neighbors learn about it. I don't know of anything else quite like it on the market.

I have a few complaints about Rex. First, he seems to detect motion better inside than out. I solved this problem by turning him on only before I leave; otherwise, he'd be barking every time I walk past him. My other complaint is that his bark (and I did not find it to be as artificial as some other reviewers, especially from outside) does not vary enough. He seems only to have an occasional single woof, but when someone outside approaches, it's exactly the same "loud" bark, repeated over and over, can sound phony if you listen often.

Since most burglaries are committed during the day while people are at work, he's better than nothing, so I would purchase again. I would suggest putting some "beware of the dog" signs on your fence to reinforce the idea that there is a real dog inside to discourage intruders.

The instructions are correct. It will not work with log or concrete walls.

The sensitivity has to be set so low it is useless. Set the sensitivity higher, and it barks all the time.