We focus on wearable health tech for humans on Health Tech Insider, but health technology moves forward for livestock and pets as well. Waggit, a new multi-purpose wearable for dogs, is currently in Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. We’ve written about health tech wearables for dogs in the past including PetPace and Voyce, two different collars that monitor the dog’s health and transmit data to owners or the vet’s office.
Waggit, which consists of a collar and a smartphone app, claims a comprehensive list of benefits including and beyond health monitoring. The collar fits dogs that weigh 20 pounds or more. Waggit tracks the dog’s vital signs, activity, and location and can also assist with pet training. Waggit’s biometric sensors report resting body temperature, heart rate, and respiration. The collar’s sensors also report body position, sleep duration, and quality. A built-in GPS uses geo-fencing to send alerts if your dog goes outside virtual boundaries. A related location-based application tracks air temperature and alerts if pre-set limits are broken. Fitness tracking with Waggit includes data on daily activity time, distance, and speed plus the number of calories burned. Waggit also has potential as a training tool using a training center app and ultrasound speakers that play three different sound cues.
Waggit’s developers include a two-year limited warranty and free collar size exchange for puppies and dogs that need larger collars. The Kickstarter campaign quickly exceeded its $25,000 goal, reaching almost $100,000 with 37 days to go. Estimated delivery is scheduled for May 2018. The full slate of potential benefits Waggit promises sound appealing; if you’re going to use a pet wearable, you might as well pick one that does everything except take phone calls so you can talk to your dog from any remote location.
