The Future of Wellness Is Here — and It's a Fit Tracker For Your Dog

Updated on 8/2/2016 at 10:25 PM

These days, so much emphasis is being placed on health, and with good reason. So many people are focusing on eating clean and exercising regularly, and the influx of fitness trackers on the market doesn't stop at just those for humans. Because being healthy should include your pets, fitness trackers made especially for dogs are on the rise. According to Dr. Louise Murray, veterinarian with Wellness TruFood, "Pets can't talk to us, so it's often hard for pet parents to tell if their pet is healthy and feeling his best," which is where these devices come in. She points out that many of them track temperature and calories burned along with movement, which helps us learn so much more about our dogs.

While Dr. Murray hasn't had a chance to try any of the fit trackers on the market yet, she still thinks they have great benefits because they help combat pet obesity. "Many people think letting their dog out a few times a day counts as exercise, but trackers can help paint a more accurate picture," she said. These devices also strengthen the bond between you and your pup because not only are you monitoring his activity on your phone often, but chances are you'll be taking him out to play more often, too.

All in all, Dr. Murray recommends all dogs get at least 30 minutes of good activity every day, though the type of activity can vary from breed to breed. She warns, though, not to get too hung up on what the activity tracker is telling you. Every dog is different, which means every activity goal will be different. Always check with your vet with any questions or concerns. But in the meantime, we tested three of the activity trackers for dogs currently on the market to give you a little more insight into what each of them is like. Scroll through to hear from our dog owners who tested them and get more details on buying them.

Most Attractive Device — WonderWoof

Victor Verdugo tried the WonderWoof tracker on his 11-year-old Chiweenie, Princess.

"The WonderWoof's fitness tracker is a great way to gauge the activity your dog has throughout the day. The app tracks rest, active, and play times to calculate your dog's overall activity. But there are other great features that are convenient for dog-owners. You can set up feeding, bathing, vet, and play time reminders that will make sure you never forget to give your pet some extra love. The social component allows you to make friends with other dogs that own the WonderWoof. However, my dog never encountered any other WonderWoof dogs on our walks so we weren't able to play with that feature."

The WonderWoof bow tie is an adorable accessory for a dog collar, and it is strictly a fit tracker and not a GPS device. We found that the app is very easy to use and navigate, and the way it tracked activity was super useful in that it showed how different types of exercise relate to each other. Though we were unable to test the social aspect because there were no other dogs with the device, the idea is very neat, because who doesn't want more doggy pals? Our only issues were that the app syncs on its own schedule rather than when you want it to. We also ran into trouble trying to simply change the dog photo in the app, and while customer service was super responsive and helpful, the problem was never resolved and actually resulted in losing some of the app data. Lastly, while the device is adorable, it is a bit sizeable, and we recommend it for medium dogs or larger. Princess is a bit on the small side, and she managed to wiggle the device off a couple times to maximize her comfort.

Price: $95
Monthly fee: None. The app is free to download and free to maintain.
Service availability: You can only sync the app with the device when they are near one another.
Where to buy: WonderWoof's website

Best All-Encompassing Device — Whistle

Marina Liao tried the Whistle Pet Tracker on her 7-month-old Golden Retriever, Nolan.

"My puppy has run away six times now, so having the Whistle Pet Tracker attached to his collar definitely helped ease any worries of him being lost. The tracker easily attaches to the collar and doesn't fall off no matter how rough my puppy gets when playing with other dogs. I think my favorite part about the GPS tracker was the fact it also monitored fitness. You can set an exercise goal of how many minutes per day you want your pet to have, and once the goal is reached, it will tell you. It's like a Fitbit but for dogs."

For all that it does, Whistle is a great deal for the price. Once registered, you will get weekly emails about your dog's fitness progress and updates on his location. The device is also sturdy and easy to clean, and the app is easy to navigate. One of the best parts about Whistle is that their customer service is super responsive. The only issues we encountered were the preciseness of your dog's location (it just says "near" this address), and the GPS tends to lag sometimes. Also, Whistle recommends the tracker be used for dogs over 15 pounds, and we agree, as it is definitely a heavy device.

Price: $80
Monthly fee: Whistle uses cellular connectivity to send info to your phone, so it requires a monthly fee ranging from $7-$10 (not activating the service means the device won't work).
Service availability: The service covers anywhere in the US you can get a cell signal, so you're covered from New York to Tahoe, even when you and your pet are miles (or states) away from each other.
Where to buy: Whistle's website

Best Value Device — StarWalk

Alessia Santoro tried the StarWalk tracker on her 4-year-old Rottweiler/Beagle mix, Lucas.

"Like a Fitbit, which both myself and my dad have, the StarWalk Pet Collar counted Lucas's steps throughout the day and had an app connected via Bluetooth so that you could see in real time how many steps had been taken. Because the app only connects when you're about 10 feet away, we had to wait until we got home to see what he did all day, so we wouldn't find out until it was too late how lazy he'd been all day (spoiler alert: he was always lazier than we expected). This tracker really helped us to figure out how to make more of an effort to get Lucas outside before and after work, which helps both my dad and I to get our steps in as well, so it's a win-win."

The StarWalk Pet Collar is an excellent value as far as non-GPS fitness trackers go. It sets a goal of 8,000 steps for your dog so you have a baseline of how much activity to aim for, but you can change that to suit your dog. The app tracks your dog's activity as well as calories burned and temperature, which is handy. The adorable little device attaches to your dog's collar easily, but we found that it moved around quite a bit and had a tendency to come off the collar. While the app was easy to use, you had to be in close proximity of the dog to be able to connect with the device, and we wish it somehow had alerts you could activate to remind you to walk your dog. And while the lights on the device are intended as activity monitors, they sometimes went off at what appeared to be random times, including during the night.

Price: $50
Monthly fee: None. The app is free to download and maintain.
Service availability: You need to be within about 10 feet of your dog for your app to pick up the data from the device.
Where to buy: IQPet's website