A friend from MIT is doing something similar with a great team.
Fitbit for Dogs
31–40 of 132 posts
Re: Fitbit for Dogs
#32If the app allowed me to asses my dogs mood then this would be useful. I have an extremely energetic West Highland Terrier and there is a fine balance between enough exercise to tire him out and too much to turn him in to a grumpy, slightly snappy, stroppy teenager. We think the sweet spot is somewhere between 45 mins and 1.5 hours of walking per day - which is quite a big window
That sounds like an excessive amount of exercise for a dog of that size. Have you considered training & more mental activity, all you are doing is making him fitter and require longer walks in the long run.
I have a border collie who we joke runs on nuclear, and getting her to do focused activity such as playing with toys or training tricks or basic obedience can be pretty exhausting.
I think that exercise is good, but you shouldn't expect your dog to simply wear out like a battery, if I did that with my BC I would end up walking for 4 hours a day!
Re: Fitbit for Dogs
#33Be sure to implement an owner shaming feature: "Your dog has been more active than you today!"
But in all seriousness this looks great. My wife and I both use Fitbit and have joked about attaching it to our dog's collar to see how active he is.
Re: Fitbit for Dogs
#34I 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 you said you want to do but that you're not making time for" if it's not something you want to do. I run and love to do it. Here's how I know I'm different from other people this way: when I started running a lot (about 6 years ago) I would ask friends if they wanted to go for a run and they would say "no." I wanted to get fit, but I also wanted to run. I know people who ask "how can I run more?" and I ask "well, do you enjoy running?" and usually they say they don't. I don't tell them they need to buy different shoes or gadgets to try to coerce them into doing it, I suggest they look at other kinds of activities that will fulfill them and try to incorporate that into their life.
I believe too many people confuse fitness with the goal of exercise. Happiness should be the goal. It's fair (and probably right) to say fitness will bring happiness, but it's important to keep those in perspective and realize that if exercise (a means to fitness) isn't bringing happiness, then maybe the exercise should change.
Lastly - I have a small ax to grind over people getting pets who aren't prepared to give the pets the attention they need to be happy. Pets need a lot of attention and activity - they express very clearly when they aren't getting enough if you pay attention. And you can calibrate the type of dog that might suit your lifestyle before you get one.
Sorry to rant over problems with fitness and pet ownership that I feel that a product like this brings up - the product itself may be totally fine and I'll probably get downvoted for saying some of this. Clearly there's somewhat of a need for a product like this.
Re: Fitbit for Dogs
#35finally! this has been a major pain point for me in the past
Re: Fitbit for Dogs
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
We crate our lab mix during the work day -- he currently barks for about 2-3 minutes when we leave, chews on his toys (man he loves that kong full of peanut butter), falls asleep, wakes up for a few minutes, chews on his toys again, falls asleep; rinse and repeat. I think we broke it down to like: 90% sleeping 5% chewing on stuff 5% sitting there doing nothing but awake
Perhaps it's just because I grew up on a farm and our dogs roamed freely during the day, but this sounds like a miserable life for a dog. Is this a common thing for people to do?
It is common behaviour for dogs to be inactive when they are alone (I guess that on a farm with other dogs they don't need humans that much). Or do you mean letting the dog alone?
Re: Fitbit for Dogs
#37There 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 savings in vet bills or the extension of life.
It seems that before the USP shift you would need some actual research and judging from the answer to "What research supports Whistle's approach?" there is no research to support this proposition.
Re: Fitbit for Dogs
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
We crate our lab mix during the work day -- he currently barks for about 2-3 minutes when we leave, chews on his toys (man he loves that kong full of peanut butter), falls asleep, wakes up for a few minutes, chews on his toys again, falls asleep; rinse and repeat. I think we broke it down to like: 90% sleeping 5% chewing on stuff 5% sitting there doing nothing but awake
Perhaps it's just because I grew up on a farm and our dogs roamed freely during the day, but this sounds like a miserable life for a dog. Is this a common thing for people to do?
Yes, very -- it's his den. He loves being in there and enters on his own will as it's his safe place where he gets all the best toys as well as sleeps at night. A good owner will NEVER use crate time as punishment, it's only supposed to be used as a positive place. It's also important when they're young to not associate it with you leaving, so you typically put them in a few times randomly while you're home during their puppy months, and leave lots of treats/fun toys for short period where the dog can still see you. Slowly they'll learn that it's their own private and "fun" place.
It really prevents him from getting into too much trouble while we're away, but eventually when he's less "puppy" (he's currently 9 months), we'll slowly start letting him roam the house/yard for short periods while we're gone, working our way up to a full work day.
Fear not though, when we're home he's with us, and he always gets about 1-2 hours of exercise as well as a trip to our local dog park daily.
Re: Fitbit for Dogs
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
We crate our lab mix during the work day -- he currently barks for about 2-3 minutes when we leave, chews on his toys (man he loves that kong full of peanut butter), falls asleep, wakes up for a few minutes, chews on his toys again, falls asleep; rinse and repeat. I think we broke it down to like: 90% sleeping 5% chewing on stuff 5% sitting there doing nothing but awake
Perhaps it's just because I grew up on a farm and our dogs roamed freely during the day, but this sounds like a miserable life for a dog. Is this a common thing for people to do?
Growing up on one as well I remember the setters being asleep most of the time, usually on the porch. Their activity time usually was when we went to school or got home. Top that off with any car coming down the drive. Otherwise, they seemed content to sleep the day off.
Now with small dogs I have noticed similar, I get five minutes of fame. Visitors get a few more minutes than I, afterward its like ho-hum.
Don't assume dogs limited in their domain, even those confined to runs, have a miserable time. It all comes down to how they are handled and spoken too. Mean people tend to beget mean dogs.
Re: Fitbit for Dogs
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
We crate our lab mix during the work day -- he currently barks for about 2-3 minutes when we leave, chews on his toys (man he loves that kong full of peanut butter), falls asleep, wakes up for a few minutes, chews on his toys again, falls asleep; rinse and repeat. I think we broke it down to like: 90% sleeping 5% chewing on stuff 5% sitting there doing nothing but awake
Perhaps it's just because I grew up on a farm and our dogs roamed freely during the day, but this sounds like a miserable life for a dog. Is this a common thing for people to do?
My dog gets free run of the house and backyard when I'm away. I've tracked what he does all day with webcams. Most of it is sleeping on my bed or couch, where he's not allowed when I'm at home. Sometimes he drinks from the toilet instead of going downstairs to his dish.
When he was a pup, we crated him. Never liked coming home to find destroyed property. We started by kenneling him in a bedroom, then letting him have the bedroom to himself, then more rooms with gates/doors blocking access. The more we trusted him, the more freedom he got. If there were setbacks, we'd restrict his access a bit more. Only took a couple of months.