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Fitbit for Dogs

whistle.com

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Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#111

Post by kapilkale »

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.

There's a serious possibility that people are more interested in putting fitbits on their dogs than they are on themselves.

Wealthy pet owners will spend an irrational amount of money on their dogs in almost the same way that wealthy parents will spend anything on their kids.

I don't own a dog, but every person I've spoken to who does has told me that this is awesome and $99 is pretty small relative to what they spend on their pet. (Granted, most of these people have a reasonable disposable income that they're willing to spend on their dog.)

So I'd really love it if the people commenting would disclose whether they own a pet or not. I suspect a lot of the skepticism is from people who don't own pets.

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#112

Post by bargl »

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…

> 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.

Hurt? That's not physically possible... It sure as hell isn't going to bite my dog.

> 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.

Where's your data to back this claim up? I kid, I kid, but seriously don't you think these are changes that this device would detect, and if properly programmed point out to the user as abnormal? Now there's nothing to stop their algorithm from sucking and they could say "great job on walking your hurt dog for 27 miles this weekend on a camping trip dude. Gold star! (I'm assuming this is what you mean by hurt, not to be bitten) But, you'd hope that as the device matures they'd discover these sorts of things and look for them.

> 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.

I'm sorry my dog lost his smart phone last week so I'd have to buy him a new one... oh oh oh, I hear I could spend 100 bucks and get this same information in a nice neat little package that clips onto their collar!

The point of all this is that this device IS superfluous, I don't need any of this data. It falls squarely into the WANT category. Just like the fitbit (don't need that to work out either). It's a want kinda like say... a galaxy s4 (or iPhone 5), second laptop, extra pairs of shoes, raspberry pi, a new game, a new... you get the picture. No one is going to put this in the "You literally have to get one of these or your dog will die" category.

But you can't argue that a collection of data from all 10+ years is something that you ALREADY have . I say that because I like data. I like seeing graphs of activity, and being able to digest information in a meaningful manner. And it's not like you are going to make something that collects said data for cheaper than 100 bucks and create instructions/send it to me...

What I will say is that this device is not a substitute for caring for and watching your dog. Sure it'll give you pretty data, but at the end of the day they need love and attention more than anything else (which I think we can both agree on).

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#113

Post by bargl »

myko wrote: post #96
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…

Dammit you've just convinced me I need to get this. Who doesn't love more data on everyday things anyway? This seems really cool.

I honestly can't tell if you are joking or not, because I love actually do love more data on everyday things, and this is hacker news so I'm inclined to lean toward serious on a statement like that...

I.E. I downloaded a sleep app and very much enjoy seeing how I've slept over the past few weeks. Also thanks to one of the other commentators I'm going to download move and check that data out.

Do you know of any place I can get at my data from Google to see what my internet footprint looks like?

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#114

Post by bargl »

dfc wrote: post #37
acgourley wrote: post #22

There is potential to save a ton of money in vet bills via early warning of potential disease in pets[1]. Activity and food intake information is enough for many. Adding some sort of food logging component could make it really powerful. I also wonder if the USP for the product should shift to the savings in vet bills or the extension of life. [1] Obviously the response cannot be to go to the vet for each alert, but i…

Adding some sort of food logging component could make it really powerful. If you are not already aware of your dog's food intake there is already a big problem and a pretty good chance that you are a disinterested owner. Dogs should be fed a certain amount of food each day. The dog's food bowl is not an all fido can eat buffet that is constantly refilled. I also wonder if the USP for the product should shift to the s…

There are two schools of thought out there. And I think it boils down to your specific dog. My dog used to get enough of a workout that I could leave her with a free feeding bowl. She was at a GREAT weight. Then she had a knee injury and she started gaining weight. Since then I've switched to timed feedings.

Also from their site... http://www.whistle.com/support/

"Whistle is supported by veterinary research around activity and behavior as a measure of pet health from leading academic institutions such as the University of California at Davis, North Carolina State University, and the University of Pennsylvania. We work closely with the veterinary community to bring new data to this research across a much broader population of dogs."

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#116

Post by bradleyland »

pdeuchler wrote: post #84
bradleyland wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually think your argument works against you: * If you are attentive and interested in your pet this device tells you nothing new. Attentive and interested does not equate to "has a spreadsheet tracking their pet's activity". This device, just like Fitbit, is a personal (extra-personal, in this case) data collector. To say that tells you "nothing new" applies just as well to Fitbit. * Fitbit works because you can…

I completely agree with you, but you assume that this device has capabilities that it doesn't. I wish I could edit my previous post, as I feel like it would be helpful to address at the top, but this will have to do. Whistle Tracks: Type of Activity Duration of Activity Whether or not the user holding the iPhone w/ Whistle app is near their dog wearing the Whistle (I'm assuming that's how it tracks who the dog is wit…

Shame you were downvoted for rational discourse. I always hate that :\

I get what you're saying, but I think we disagree on just how much utility even that limited data provides. The market will decide, but I think pet owners are just crazy enough to care about this simplistic data.

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#117

Post by dfc »

bargl wrote: post #114
dfc wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adding some sort of food logging component could make it really powerful. If you are not already aware of your dog's food intake there is already a big problem and a pretty good chance that you are a disinterested owner. Dogs should be fed a certain amount of food each day. The dog's food bowl is not an all fido can eat buffet that is constantly refilled. I also wonder if the USP for the product should shift to the s…

There are two schools of thought out there. And I think it boils down to your specific dog. My dog used to get enough of a workout that I could leave her with a free feeding bowl. She was at a GREAT weight. Then she had a knee injury and she started gaining weight. Since then I've switched to timed feedings. Also from their site... http://www.whistle.com/support/ "Whistle is supported by veterinary research around ac…

I have never heard a vet, breeder or trainer recommend free feeding a dog.

Also from their site? That is not an "also" that is what I was referring to. You read that paragraph and concluded there must be research supporting this? When I read that paragraph the first thing that I was "where are the citations?"

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#118

Post by alanchavez »

boca wrote: post #89
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…

To your first point, if you don't trust your dog walker then you may also want to think and worry, and therefore question your decision of buying this, about the possibility of him/her taking the whistle off from your dog and attaching it to something else to give an impression that your dog was actively walking.

that's way too much elaborated for a lazy person whose job is walking a dog.

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#119

Post by alanchavez »

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…

Dogs as humans have selective hearing.

Do you wake up when there's an ambulance passing by while you're sleeping?

What if you change your statements to:

1) Detecting an abrupt change in sleep patterns in mammals is useful. 2) Dogs are mammals.

Therefore, detecting an abrupt change in sleep patterns in dogs is useful.

Re: Fitbit for Dogs

#120

Post by dfc »

alanchavez wrote: post #119
dfc wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Dogs as humans have selective hearing. Do you wake up when there's an ambulance passing by while you're sleeping? What if you change your statements to: 1) Detecting an abrupt change in sleep patterns in mammals is useful. 2) Dogs are mammals. Therefore, detecting an abrupt change in sleep patterns in dogs is useful.

Do you wake up when there's an ambulance passing by while you're sleeping?

No I do not. This is why dogs have been used as sentries for thousands of years.

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