Fitbit collar band and app for dogs or pets

[beatyoursteps]

I work at an animal hospital & have been there for almost 16 years. Time after time you see dogs come in that are overweight, we prescribe a prescription diet and they are told to increase the dogs activity. Today I had a dog come in for doggie daycare to incorporate more activity into her daily routine and I thought how great it would be to have a fitbit flex collar & chip that would track the animals steps, calories lost, weight, food & water intake, etc. I have 6 dogs of my own and it is very important to me that they get enough exercise. I think it would make people more conscientious of their dog's health as well. Not everybody walks with their dogs, sometimes a petsitter/dog walker walks them, play at doggie daycare or an owner will take them to the beach and watch the dogs run or swim. The app can be specific for dogs, the steps are calculated differently and the way they burn calories, the food logging portion can have all major dog foods/treats so the owner could track that as well. You could sell different fitbit flex collar band prints. People love there animals and want them healthy sometimes more than their own selves. The pets could reach goals too! Then they could get a printed fitbit tennis ball, Frisbee, collapsable travel food/water bowl, leash, etc for accomplishing biannual goals.

Moderator Edit: Added Labels

[Ehlissa]

It would be fun and a little out of the box to create a fitbit for kids, and have a kids daily steps support a digital "animal" or "pet." The more you walk, the healthier your pet is, or the more items you unlock. Something along those lines, so that children can become more involved in a healthy lifestyle.

[RickyFitbit]

Dogbits! That's a great idea. Once we have more information, we'll update the status. Thanks! 

[beatyoursteps]

Thank you for responding. I have more ideas if you want to contact me further. I have worked for a vet for 16 years and would love to be involved in something like this.

Thanks again,

Jaclyn

Moderator Edit: Removed personal information.

[AmritaFitbit]

Thank you for posting this awesome idea!

[Ingy]

Love this idea!  I'd like to vote it up but can't find the button!

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@beatyoursteps wrote:

I work at an animal hospital & have been there for almost 16 years. Time after time you see dogs come in that are overweight, we prescribe a prescription diet and they are told to increase the dogs activity. Today I had a dog come in for doggie daycare to incorporate more activity into her daily routine and I thought how great it would be to have a fitbit flex collar & chip that would track the animals steps, calories lost, weight, food & water intake, etc. I have 6 dogs of my own and it is very important to me that they get enough exercise. I think it would make people more conscientious of their dog's health as well. Not everybody walks with their dogs, sometimes a petsitter/dog walker walks them, play at doggie daycare or an owner will take them to the beach and watch the dogs run or swim. The app can be specific for dogs, the steps are calculated differently and the way they burn calories, the food logging portion can have all major dog foods/treats so the owner could track that as well. You could sell different fitbit flex collar band prints. People love there animals and want them healthy sometimes more than their own selves. The pets could reach goals too! Then they could get a printed fitbit tennis ball, Frisbee, collapsable travel food/water bowl, leash, etc for accomplishing biannual goals.

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[DamienFM]

http://greatist.com/fitness/whistle-activity-monitor-060513

[Dlucariello04]

Not sure if already been mentioned but who wouldn't want a fun way to track their dogs activity or sleep patterns? A Fitbit pet collar could encourage fitness for owner and pet. Possible gps location feature too?

[MarcusMarcus]

You may want to look at this.

FITBIT FITNESS TRACKER ON A CAT — JAVA’S STORY

[TommyeLou]

So here is a suggestion we have for fitbit.....as my family sat around the table one night during the holidays one of my daughters joked about putting her fitbit on her overly active dog so she could beat the rest of us on a weekly challenge.  We all had a good laugh but then we started a healthy discussion about whether or not a fitbit would even work on animals.  Anyway, as our discussion went on through our meal we thought about those people who have overweight pets and how using a fitbit might be of help.  Similar to how humans use the fitbit app to watch their calorie intake versus their exercise outtake owners could do the same with their pets.  Motivating them to take that extra evening walk with their pet or giving a smaller portion for dinner to track their pet's fitness/weight goals may help many pet owners realize the need for exercise for those pets who lives in homes on small back yards. One of my daughters lives and work in NYC and we discussed how difficult it is to own a dog in a city and how little exercise they probably end up getting on a daily basis.  Then the discussion went to those who live with animals in a cold climate and tend to neglect daily walks due to the weather.  We actually have a veterinarian in our family unit and she was sharing how much pet owners spend on their pets health and trying to improve their pet's health and what a struggle overweight pets have on their overall health.  Anyway....our suggestion is to have a fitbit unit designed just for pets to use so their owners can help track their fitness/weight needs.  Not even sure if this is a practical idea or not but it sure was a energy filled family conversation over the Christmas vacation.

[GarudaGirl]

Agree! I know that there is a product out there for dogs for one of the competitors, but I'd love to see something from (or connected to) Fitbit. I always wonder what my dog does all day. 😄

[TommyeLou]

I was just thinking that having pet "fitbits" then owners would be more motivated to keep up with their daily walks to the park by tracking the actual steps each pet takes in a given day.  Being an overeight human or pet is hard on their overall well being and I read that it can lead to many health related problems.  Why not avoid the problem to begin with by monitoring your calorie intake versus outtake for pets too!  We all know how very difficult it is to lose those extra unwanted pounds! 

[geminiwitch]

I love this idea! I just lost one of my dogs in December and the other last November. I would have definitely gotten them dogbits and would have used them to track their health info. If I get more in the future I would for them too.

[geminiwitch]

Curiosity... Why does it say recovery runner under my name when I post? Like how it shows Ricky as a moderator?

[jahailey]

Great idea for Dog.  Have been thinking of getting / attaching a FITBIT One to dogs collar but:

• Play time with other dogs, it would be pulled off.
• Must be water proof, dog swims in pool in lake all summer long.

[Richard-Lisanne]

When is @Fitbit going to invent fit it for checking health vital signs of your #pet? Reduce stressful visits to the vet!

[JoshLeahyUK]

i was recomended by your facebook admin to repost here:

As you guys are hugely successful in the UK, i had a product idea that would pull at the UK's best known love... Their pets.
Effectively fitness tracker collars for pets that would help track the well being of our four legged friends and also tie in with apps/trackers so you can see where your cat wonders off to during the day, or to help track lost pets. it could also be used to set reminders or alerts for medication, and maybe be made of luminous material to help road users notice the animals better / when letting a dog off the lead, seeing where they've gotten to.

if you guys haven't though of it already, you're missing out on something no one else appears to be doing. You got it from me first!!!

i would like to talk more about this should you be interested;

https://www.facebook.com/josh.leahy.18

joshualeahy1995@gmail.com

[martingutzmer]

I Think it should be a simple process to add a category for pets, whereby one could use the "one" model attached to a collar, if the fitness app could be adjusted tor heights from 12 inches to 36 inches, and adjusting for a 4 footed gait.
I just hooked my old charge onto the doggie's collar, and watch with interest.

She goes from zero activity, whuch the program records as "sleep" to bark at the delivery driver - full speed ahead, and heaven help us if we see a bunny on a walk!
She definitely does more steps in a day han I do, but so much fun, and I am sure there is a market for this! (People will buy ANYTHING and everythiing for their dogs!)

[jasjca]

This is a GREAT Idea!  I would definitely purchase a PetFit for my dog.

[Lunar681]

I have 2 dogs and a cat that I would like to see just how active they are. I have looked online for trackers for dogs and cats and there are some, but I trust fitbit to provide wonderful products and service. I would prefer to go though fitbit for my animals as well (have a pets section under profile to add or remove and track them

on the app and a tracker for their collars).

[ChuckT_2]

Interesting thought!

[lemos]

although I am not a big fan of the competition (jawb*), they actually have this. Search for their product "whistle".

[Lunar681]

I am aware that there are other companies that have pet activity trackers; however I would like to go through fitbit. I would use a zip or fitbit one, except that I would have to create accounts of all of them or their steps would be added to mine. I was hoping that Fitbit would think about having their own pet tracking device (small and/or large, can clip/be attached to any collar) and would potentially add a pets section to their app.

[Mcore]

Thank you for contributing your idea to our Feature Request forum! This post has been archived due to inactivity, and can no longer receive votes or comments. Any other ideas you might have, feel free to share them or vote for it, if it’s already suggested in the Feature Request Forum.

[skyscroller]

FidoFit! 🙂 I emailed Fitbit about a device for dogs about a month after I got my Fitbit (2 years ago) I almost put my Fitbit on my dog, but didn't want to skew my stats! I truly think this would be a fun and useful tool! - With technology today, it could also be fitted with a GPS so you could track your dog should he/she get lost. - Depending upon the dogwalker? What a great way to ensure they are delivering as promised! - Wondering what your pal does while you are away at work? Now you can track their activities. - Your dog is getting a bit roly poly? You can monitor their activity as you increase it to help them lose weight and get fit with out overdoing it. - Just curious? What a great way to see just how much more your dog moves at the off-leash than you do (all those fetch and returns, those follow the nose wanders...) Heard recently on the news that Fitbit sales are dropping for various reasons. This would be a huge boost for this great company because as we dog guardians know - billions are spent on our beloved pups, and seriously - this would be a great tool - fun, informative, helpful. I really do hope it's already being developed in the R&D room 😉

[kiwichameleon]

I would love to see a Fitbit Dog tracker.  I actually use an old fitbit one on my dog in a specially made pocket on his collar.  He wears it 24 hrs a day, but the setup wouldn't allow me to set up his correct "measurements" to more accurately guage his stats.  I still use it for step count, active minutes and competing in challenges with his human friends.  I think the key to a fitbit dog device is that it can integrate with the human trackers.  I could go out an buy one of the current on the market dog trackers, but that doesn't let me have competitions with my dog.  Compare our stats etc.  

Here is a picture of Gryffindor wearing his fitbit in a specially made collar.