There are already plenty of activity-tracking wearables for dogs, but what if there was one that could also tell you how your furry friend is feeling? That’s the idea behind Jagger & Lewis’ Smart Dog Collar, which is a gadget that uses special sensors to track your dog’s behavior and let you know if anything is out of the ordinary.
Key Specs and Features
- Jagger & Lewis’ tracker is a small plastic module that you can attach to your dog’s existing collar. The device is waterproof to IP65 standards (meaning it can take splashes and be submerged), and comes in white, red and gray.
- According to Jagger & Lewis, the tracker features an “onboard neural network” that was built in partnership with Intel. The company worked with dog experts and veterinarians to create a “dog behavior interpretation smart engine” that uses accelerometers to interpret your dog’s behavior and spot when something is wrong.
- The collar is built to track sleep, stress, pain, hunger and thirst.
- You can track your dog’s activity and behavior via a free iOS and Android companion app, which offers real-time alerts and personalized advice. The app has an Away Mode for providing behavioral information when you're out of the house, a Guest Mode for tracking differences in behavior when your dog is with a sitter or at a kennel, and a Challenge Mode that has mini-games meant to encourage you to spend quality time with your pet.
Why You Should Care
- While dog trackers are nothing new, many of them are focused on providing a look at how active your dog is and making sure you can find them if they run away. What Jagger & Lewis is aiming for could be much more nuanced than that – if the tech ends up working as intended, you could potentially know when your dog is sick, hurt or simply acting out of the ordinary just by firing up your phone.
Pricing and Availability
- The Smart Dog Collar will launch on Kickstarter on Jan. 24. The estimated retail price is $220, though there may be a discount for early backers.
Outlook
- The Smart Dog Collar is expensive, and what Jagger & Lewis is aiming for seems very ambitious. However, if it works, it could end up being an invaluable tool for dog owners that have to spend lots of time away from their furry best friends. As someone who has trouble even leaving their dog for a few hours, I’m certainly intrigued.
