Natalia Gilchrist, left, and Pippa Lynch-Blosse, both 10, take Ollie the Griffon X for a run which is measured using a device called Animo from Sure Petcare. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Natalia Gilchrist, left, and Pippa Lynch-Blosse, both 10, take Ollie the Griffon X for a run which is measured using a device called Animo from Sure Petcare. Photo / Jason Oxenham
A new fitness tracker for dogs is designed to reveal the secret life of your pet - from distance walked and calories burned to every scratch, snooze and bark.
The Animo device clips to a dog's collar, records its activity and sends a daily break-down to the owner's phone.
Renownedanimal behaviourist Mark Vette - who famously taught a dog to drive a car and another to fly a plane - said the devices are more than just a Fitbit for pets.
He has the collar-based discs on four of his dogs and said they had been a handy tool in training his pets.
"People sometimes mock pet technology but it is really helping us better understand behaviour and step in before it becomes a problem."
Vette and wife Kim recently moved from a large rural property to a smaller place at Hot Water Beach and were concerned their dogs would bark and annoy the neighbours.
The Animo device by Sure Petcare on Ollie the Griffon X's collar measures exercise, sleep, barking and scratching. Photo / Jason Oxenham
"We used the information from the Animo so we knew how much the dogs were barking at the new house and it helped us figure out where to leave them so they settled."
Vette said the data could help owners see how much separation anxiety was affecting their pet and then take appropriate steps. The app also displays a graph showing how much your pet has exercised and records when it shakes its head or scratches.
After seeing a spike in the level of scratching for one of his dogs Vette discovered the animal had a lesion under its collar from swimming at the beach.
"We were able to swap the collar for one that didn't hold water and the problem cleared up."
Mark Vette, professional animal psychologist uses the Animo device on his pets and is helping with ongoing improvements to the service. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Vette is working with Animo designers on future updates and improvements for the app.
The Lynch-Blosse family of Auckland had been using Animo on their puppy Ollie for three months.
Pippa Lynch-Blosse, 10, liked seeing how active Ollie had been when she was at school and made sure he went for a big walk at night.
"We also know he used to scratch a lot and now we use a different shampoo on him and that's better," Pippa said.
"And we could see he used to bark and cry when we went out when he was a puppy but he is used to our house now."
Animo makers Sure Petware also have an app-based cat door that allows owners to lock their pets in or out of the house remotely, set a curfew and see how much time their pet spends indoors.
