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The Internet of Animals

I’m sure you’ve heard of Fitbit, the activity tracker that monitors and reports on how many steps you take in a day.

Well, now there’s something similar for dogs. Fitbite might have been a better name, but that probably would have caused some trademark infringement problems. Not to mention some folks might not like the association with dog bites man and all that. In any case, the product is called the Whistle Activity Monitor:

… a health tracker for your dog. It attaches to any collar and measures your dog’s activities, giving you a new perspective on day-to-day behavior and long-term trends. (Source: Whistle)

It doesn’t just measure that activity – or lack of: let’s face it, most of these guys spend a lot of time lolling around resting – but it sends the info to your iPhone. As with Fitbit, you can set a goal that you want your pup to meet, and take remedial action if he doesn’t seem to be getting there.

Whistle also offers a number of recipes/applets: You can post your dog’s info to a spreadsheet (which seems a bit obsessive). You can have a walk put on your calendar if your dog isn’t reaching the exercise goal for the day.

Me, I always like to make sure that our dog gets plenty of good exercise, so I won’t be getting one of these just yet. In any case, I do find a GPS tracking system far more useful for our little escape artist!

All part of the Internet of Things that just keeps growing and growing, with every type of application imaginable.

I’ll have to ask my daughter, who’s in veterinary school, what she thinks of Whistle.

Meanwhile, I want to end with their motto:  Improving the lives of pets, as they do ours.

Certainly true at our house!