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IT’S revolutionised the way we communicate and has over 500 million users – but until now no one has used Twitter to feed their dog.

But a Welsh IT consultant has invented a high-tech way of feeding his border terrier, through an automated system linked to the social networking site.

Nat Morris, 30, has set up a system which gives his pet, Toby, a “tweet treat” every time someone sends his Twitter account a message.

An automated food system drops a small snack into Toby’s bowl whenever anybody tweets “feed” to the account @FeedToby .

Mr Morris fills up a feeder with small dog biscuits and when a comment is received a computer starts the motor.

The motor pulls open a trap door which releases a dog biscuit. And a buzzer sounds, alerting Toby that a treat is on its way.

Mr Morris has also rigged up an online camera so that he can see Toby enjoying the food at his home. And users can also see the border terrier eating the snack triggered by their tweet.

The invention is yet to set the Twitter-sphere alight but has become popular with friends and family and received hundreds of “@FeedToby” tweets.

Those who tweet get an automated message from Toby’s Twitter account telling them whose snack Toby is eating with a photo of the dog staring at his dish – and, if the pictures posted online are anything to go by, just as frequently searching the floor around the dish for whatever just fell from the dispenser.

But to make sure Toby doesn’t join the ranks of obese pets, Mr Morris has introduced restrictions so that he doesn’t eat too much.

He said: “People have been sending him food at all hours of the day – so I had to limit it to between nine in the morning to nine in the evening.”

Mr Morris has also built in a restriction meaning Toby can not be fed more than once every 15 minutes. And his breakfast has been cut down to allow for his constant snacking throughout the day.

If Toby has already been fed within that 15-minute time slot then he does not receive another treat – consisting only of a small dog biscuit – and the tweeter gets an automated message informing them that Toby cannot be fed again yet.

Mr Morris said he spends a lot of time working away from his home in Milford Haven and isn’t always able to feed Toby by hand.

He said: “Toby absolutely loves it. At first he didn’t know what was going on. Now he sits underneath, wagging his tail and waiting for the treats to drop.

“I’m thinking of doing an updated version which features a scale to weigh him before he is fed just to make sure he’s not putting on too much puppy fat.”

He said he is also considering patenting his system, which is attracting users from around the world.

Tweeters can also tweet @FeedToby followed by “about”, “help”, or “photo” for information about the puppy, further commands or photos of Toby enjoying the snacks.