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Fitbit for Dogs

whistle.com

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Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#101

Post by streptomycin »

dfc wrote: post #95
streptomycin wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd imagine that detecting an abrupt change in sleeping patterns could be a useful thing to know. It definitely is in humans.

So: 1. Detecting an abrupt change in sleep patterns in humans is useful. 2. Dogs are not humans. Ergo: Detecting an abrupt change in sleep patters in dogs is useful. Anthropomorphizing dogs is terrible. It is certainly one of the biggest causes for behavior problems in dogs. Maybe it is because I have only ever had dogs that were bred for protection but I do not want to think about what my dogs sleep patterns are/wer…

It's not anthropomorphizing to realize that mammals have a lot of physiology in common. If a dog scientist tells me that sleeping patterns are completely irrelevant for dogs because of some peculiar evolutionary adaptation, I'll believe it. But failing that, a decent null hypothesis is that it's probably pretty similar to humans (notice that my post started with "I'd imagine", not "It is a fact").

Also, just because X might be optimal for a pet doesn't mean that you have to do it. There's always something more you can do for your pet, but perfection is never possible.

And also, your incredible examples of confounding variables are not insurmountable, since sleeping patterns are successfully measured in humans even in suboptimal scenarios. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good!

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#102

Post by greghinch »

hayksaakian wrote: post #100
greghinch wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never underestimate the seemingly ludicrous amounts of money people are willing to shell out for their dogs (and other pets).

inb4 pets.com

Ha, it's a fair point, but the failure of pets.com had little to do with the fact that it was a site selling pet-related goods and more to do with poor investment choices, bad management, and unsustainable pricing.

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#103

Post by qq66 »

dfc wrote: post #18

"Whistle lets you know who's spending time with your dog while you're away, be it family or friends." How the hell does it do that? Before I saw the founders comment here on HN I thought this was an elaborate ruse because of this "feature."

Maybe it exposes a Wi-Fi access point and sees which MAC addresses connect?

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#104

Post by pdeuchler »

bargl wrote: post #90
pdeuchler wrote: post #41

If you are a non-attentive, dis-interested pet owner you probably don't care enough to buy this. If you are attentive and interested in your pet this device tells you nothing new. Fitbit works because you can correlate the data to your personal well being. Unless this device magically discerns the dog's well being I don't see how it provides any actionable statistics.

Ok so I have to disagree. I'm a very attentive dog owner. Matter of fact I'd say I'm really good. And my memory is also pretty good. I'm going to lay out what's nice about this device. 1) You have a lifetime of data on your dog (and with further improvements to the device I'm sure you'll get heart rate as well as movement). This is awesome, and here's why. My dog blew her knee out. She got a lot less exercise and is…

You are creating capabilities for this device that don't exist. Currently the data provided does not help with any of your use cases. In fact, it could actually hurt.

I used to have a dog with hip problems. As her hip got worse she ran more, not less. Why? Because it took her longer. Sure, it was lower speed, and she galloped weird, but Whistle would still track that as an increase in running! As a converse, as she got better the time duration of her running fell, but her intensity and speed increased. Again, giving you the wrong idea via Whistle data.

As I said before, Whistle is the Moves app for Dogs. I suggest you download that app, see the data you get from it, and if you would like that for your dog then go for it. Just remember you're paying $100 for the same functionality provided by a free app.

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#105

Post by danielpal »

tapatio wrote: post #69
danielpal wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disagree 100%. Just pre-ordered one. I am a very attentive and interested dog owner. Here's what I'll get: 1. I pay a dog walker to exercise my dog every-day for 1 hour. I want to make sure he is actively walking and not just sitting around the park. 2. Dog Sleep: I want to keep a healthy sleep vs activity percentage. I think this is great. I love this trend of constantly tracking vs going to the vet every 6 months t…

Out of curiosity how much do you pay your dog walker for a one hour walk?

$15

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#106

Post by danielpal »

dfc wrote: post #75
danielpal wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disagree 100%. Just pre-ordered one. I am a very attentive and interested dog owner. Here's what I'll get: 1. I pay a dog walker to exercise my dog every-day for 1 hour. I want to make sure he is actively walking and not just sitting around the park. 2. Dog Sleep: I want to keep a healthy sleep vs activity percentage. I think this is great. I love this trend of constantly tracking vs going to the vet every 6 months t…

2. Dog Sleep: I want to keep a healthy sleep vs activity percentage. What is the healthy ratio? Are you a veterinarian?

From the video I see I will be able to:

1. Compare it to other similar dogs.

2. Show the stats to the veterinarian to get more input.

Using #1 and #2 should be sufficient.

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#107

Post by danielpal »

pdeuchler wrote: post #49
danielpal wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disagree 100%. Just pre-ordered one. I am a very attentive and interested dog owner. Here's what I'll get: 1. I pay a dog walker to exercise my dog every-day for 1 hour. I want to make sure he is actively walking and not just sitting around the park. 2. Dog Sleep: I want to keep a healthy sleep vs activity percentage. I think this is great. I love this trend of constantly tracking vs going to the vet every 6 months t…

Do you not trust your dog walker? That would be a problem this device cannot fix. I can tell the minute I get home if my dogs got a good walk or not. I'm also interested in how you plan on acting upon this new knowledge about your dog's sleeping habits.

Trust, but verify: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As6y5eI01XE

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#108

Post by Timsalabim »

pdeuchler wrote: post #104
bargl wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok so I have to disagree. I'm a very attentive dog owner. Matter of fact I'd say I'm really good. And my memory is also pretty good. I'm going to lay out what's nice about this device. 1) You have a lifetime of data on your dog (and with further improvements to the device I'm sure you'll get heart rate as well as movement). This is awesome, and here's why. My dog blew her knee out. She got a lot less exercise and is…

You are creating capabilities for this device that don't exist. Currently the data provided does not help with any of your use cases. In fact, it could actually hurt. I used to have a dog with hip problems. As her hip got worse she ran more , not less. Why? Because it took her longer. Sure, it was lower speed, and she galloped weird, but Whistle would still track that as an increase in running! As a converse, as she…

I fully agree. This is just a toy you can spend money on so you can buy of your feeling of guilt of not spending enough time with your dog and observing how they are doing.

Or you can do next to nothing with them for a month and then feel really good by doing just a bit more every week for 4 weeks and seeing a nice line going up and get some badges or whatnot for it.

I think a case can be made that if you seriously think about buying one of these, you probably already know you should spend more time and attention on your dog.

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#109

Post by Timsalabim »

danielpal wrote: post #45
pdeuchler wrote: post #41

If you are a non-attentive, dis-interested pet owner you probably don't care enough to buy this. If you are attentive and interested in your pet this device tells you nothing new. Fitbit works because you can correlate the data to your personal well being. Unless this device magically discerns the dog's well being I don't see how it provides any actionable statistics.

Disagree 100%. Just pre-ordered one. I am a very attentive and interested dog owner. Here's what I'll get: 1. I pay a dog walker to exercise my dog every-day for 1 hour. I want to make sure he is actively walking and not just sitting around the park. 2. Dog Sleep: I want to keep a healthy sleep vs activity percentage. I think this is great. I love this trend of constantly tracking vs going to the vet every 6 months t…

Attentive and interested dog owner I pay a dog walker to exercise my dog

You don't need a device, you need to walk your own dog and bond with him/her.

This is like having kids, hiring a full time nanny and then saying you're a great parent because you have a camera on her to make sure she's nice to them whilst she's raising your children.

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#110

Post by slipperyp »

krisvage wrote: post #70
slipperyp wrote: post #34

I look at this and think "finally, someone's found a way to capitalize on the disposable income of people whose homes are already full of exercise bikes being used as coat hangers and whose wrists are nearly ready to collapse under the weight of their fitbits, pedometers, and GPSes." Here's the secret to health and exercise: you have to want to do it. Another $100 device to tell you "you're still not doing the thing…

I really agree that you have to like running, but sometimes that new pair of shoes or equipment can be what ignites you. For instance I have been using endomondo with gps tracking and a bluetooth heart rate monitor, and getting so much data on each run, and statistics over time really motivate to keep getting better. And for other people getting their fitbit to 10000 each day may be just the extra bit of motivation t…

Tangent from the pet thing, but ... personally and admittedly, I get quite hoity toity about this and don't think I'm spouting any gospel. My $0.02 and observations around this though are: - No one (ok, one exception) I know who trains heavily relies on a GPS, fitbit, etc. Most of them know what kinds of splits they'd turn out for some workout (mile repeats, 800s or some trail they run a lot). - Conversely, I know a lot of people who use a GPS or fitbit who are not in shape and seem to want to get in shape but aren't making noticeable progress over months (based on their satisfaction or what I'd call visible results) - But yeah, I also know a lot of people who exercise casually and incorporate these into their days.

I just see a lot more people who these don't do anything for than those that they do, and I think the device has little-to-nothing to do with the outcome. A MUCH better investment would be to join a group (many are free, many cost less than the devices).

Back to the pet thing, I think you have to want to care for the pet and pay attention to its behavior and needs. This looks like a neat / fine device, but I'd probably sooner make one of the DIY "Cooper the Photographer Cat" cameras (which incidentally run half the cost of the whistle: http://www.mr-lee-catcam.de/pe_cc_o1_en.htm)

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