Ford Designs Noise-Canceling Dog Kennel for Puppies Bothered by Fireworks

Ford has designed a noise-canceling kennel that would spare dogs from the fear, anxiety, and stress so highly correlated with noisy fireworks and man’s best friends. 

New Year’s Eve can be a harrowing experience for human beings in general, never mind those suffering from PTSD or children too young to understand what exactly is occurring. Those of us who grew up with dogs in our homes are well aware of just how freaked out they, too, can get during these noisy celebrations. Ford’s solution, the Quiet Kennel, is a pretty ingenious fix to that issue.

Perhaps most impressive is that the Quiet Kennel’s noise-cancellation technology wasn’t even designed with this specific purpose in mind, but is already implemented in current Ford Edge crossover and Fusion sedan. The automaker essentially realized that it could help out some scared little pups with a little bit of effort and already existing technology it uses in its products.

The Quiet Kennel uses sound deadening layers and noise-canceling speakers, as well as a base that aims to combat vibrations and soundproof ventilation. 

Of course, Ford is no stranger to utilizing fairly basic tech and simple methods for age-old problems. The baby crib from last year, for instance, was designed to rock infants to sleep by simulating the comforts of a smooth car ride replete with passing LED rings intended to mimic streetlights and more. The automaker then turned its attention to truckers suffering from exhaustion a few months later and designed the SafeCap: a trucker hat that recognizes if you’ve dozed off and subsequently rings an alarm to wake you up. 

Unfortunately, the Quiet Kennel isn’t for sale—at least not yet. At the very least, however, the concept has sparked our imaginations and made us recognize how solutions to everyday problems are already all around us, if only we focused on effective functionality and appealing design. Hopefully, a company with deep pockets takes this idea and runs with it in time for New Year’s Eve of 2020.