BALTIMORE, Maryland — If you’re thinking of buying a fitness tracker for a friend or family member, you may also want to consider getting one for your dog. More companies are now beginning to unleash fitness trackers for pets.
“Pet trends follow human trends, said LinkAKC Chief Marketing Officer Herbie Calves.
We started taking notice of what we feed our pets, now it's the amount of activity they're getting.
LinkAKC, one of the newest pet fitness trackers on the market, tells consumers the right amount of activity for your pet then monitors movement throughout the day.
“We're able to actually give recommendations on activity levels, minutes of activity for different breeds based on their age and weight. And all dogs even their mixed breed fall into 5 different sporting classes of dog,” said Calves.
They pull their information from the American Kennel Club (AKC) database and provide recommendations tailored to your pet.
“Labs are a breed that is a sporting breed, they were bred to be runners and to be active and to be working all day long but that's not what we keep them for. We keep them for being sweet and cuddly and wonderful,” said Dr. Emily Stefan, a veterinarian at Falls Road Animal Hospital
Dr. Stefan frequently sees pets, especially those in the City, who don't get the amount of exercise they were bred to have.
“Just one round of play, even if that one round of play lasts for 15 minutes, isn't going to be as beneficial to your pet as multiple smaller bouts of activity to really keep them up and keep them active,” said Dr. Stefan.
She's a big fan of knowing exactly what your pet is doing while you're away to better ensure they're healthy and keeping off any extra weight.
“A few extra pounds on a dog can be dramatically different than a few extra pounds on a person, makes a big difference,” Dr. Stefan said.
The collar also helps track your dog if they go missing, there's a light for walks in the dark, a sound that may help with training, a function that can monitor body temperature, and social feature that allows you to map your adventure then share pictures with friends.
“When you look at our branding and our tag line it's ’Do you speak dog?’ That's kind of a segway and a play into how well do your understand your dog?,” Calves said.
The collar sells for $150 but is currently on sale for $100.
To see the standard breed information for your pet including height, weight and energy level, click here.
