About 2 years ago, I started using a Personal Fitness tracking device. At the time, I was using a Withings Pulse and usually had it connected somewhere on my belt. It definitely drew a lot of attention, as people had no idea what it was or what its benefit was.
Fast forward to mid-2015….Fitness trackers are popping up everywhere. People are using them to track key things like heart rate, active calories and even how many rotations are done while one chases their tail. Confused?
It seems that health care monitoring is not just for the human race, as people are using them to track the activity level of their dogs…..and before you say “what has the world come to?”, there is actually a sound justification for doing so.
Having owned pets for years, they do truly become part of your family’s life and often considered to be members of the family. They also can cost a lot of money. Besides the basics of food and leashes, their health bills can truly add up. If you are able to keep them healthier, you will not only lengthen their life, you will also improve the quality of it as well. This means fewer trips to the vet for serious illnesses, saving you time, stress and of course, money.
This is the theory behind Voyce, a data collection service used by dog professionals and the Average Joe to help keep track of your four-legged friend’s level of health by looking at basically the same metrics that a FitBit looks at for 2-legged creatures (such as your heart rate, respiratory activity and even distance traveled). Think of it as an early warning system for your furry friends…
It is not a cheap service…..It will set you back close to $500 for the first year (with upfront costs and monitoring costs) and close to $200 per year after that. At that price point, it may be hard to justify it as a true “insurance policy” for Fido, but it can be looked at as more of a way to give them a better quality of life.
The Bottom Line
It was only a matter of time before we started monitoring “man’s best friend”. I mean, we are monitoring our cars, our homes and even our toasters…the list of data-producing devices continues to grow. While it may seem frivolous to some, the idea of monitoring your dog’s health is not as crazy as it might have been even a couple of years ago. Now, if it will just keep the pooch from going through the garbage….
