Every pet parent wants the best for their pet. From your pet’s diet to the toys it plays with, you ensure you buy the best of things. So, why stop at regular collars? 

According to a study conducted by Lost Pet Research and Recovery, at least 14% of dog owners lose their furry friends in a five-year period. This is where smart collars come into the picture. They are versatile, help you track your dog’s health and fitness, and even help create an effective dog training plan.

What are Smart Collars?

Just like humans have smart watches that track their location, activity levels, heart rate, and much more, a smart collar does the same thing, except it is for dogs.

Smart collars accurately collect data about your dog, like its vital and activity levels, for you to monitor through an application on your device. Some collars also provide premium features like live tracking and visual fencing. 

What Are the Benefits of Using a Smart Collar for Your Dog?

Real-time location tracking

You will know now where your furry friend is at all times, thanks to live tracking through GPS. Smart collars also track location in zones where the collar is not connected to Wi-Fi through next-gen cellular networking and multiple satellite constellations. This is easily one of the most beneficial features of smart collars for dogs. 

Pet parent, or pawrents, can have access to their pet’s whereabouts nationwide. All you have to do is download the collar’s mobile application to have access to it. But this only works if your pet is wearing the collar. 

This is a particularly impressive feature to use if your pet ever gets stolen. The GPS collar will let you know where exactly your dog has wandered or stolen off to, so you can notify the authorities and track down your furry buddy.

Immediate Alerts 

Along with live tracking, you can choose to be notified of your dog’s whereabouts through alerts as soon as it leaves a “safe zone.” You can set these safe zones on the maps itself. 

Locations like your home and doggy daycare — anywhere you can access safe Wi-Fi — can be selected as safe zones. If your dog leaves the vicinity and the smart collar loses connection, your phone will receive a notification through the mobile application. 

This way, you will always know exactly where your dog is.  

Monitoring Health 24/7 

These smart collars do more than track location — they also monitor your dog’s health and well-being. These devices track their heart rate, activity levels, calories burned, and behavior. 

GPS tracking allows you to access your dog’s exercise levels and activities, just like a fitness tracker would for humans. This can help you assess your pet’s health based on its breed standards and set a fitness goal to help it lead to a healthier lifestyle. 

Some premium devices also monitor skin health and anxiety levels. These features are ideal for dog owners who have pets with sensitivities and high levels of anxiety. It can help you learn about your pet better and create relationship-based dog training.

Naturally, these records can be given to vets at the time of an examination for a better in-depth consultation. 

Lets You Monitor Multiple Pets at Once

If you have more than one pet, you can connect all of their smart collars to one application and see their data in one place. Do not worry about shifting between multiple applications to check on your pet.

This makes watching over your furry buddies easier when you are away. 

Builds Friendly Competition 

Besides letting you know about breed standards, you can also compare your dog’s health and activity levels with other dogs that are similar in size, age, and breed on the application. 

This is also an easy way to incorporate playtime and training time, enabling you to come up with a training plan, especially if you are a novice pet owner.

Access All Information in One Place

Some smart collars also allow you to connect your Apple Watch or Fitbit to the smart collar application. As a result, you will not have to switch between multiple apps to know your and your dog’s activity levels — it will all be stored in one place! 

How To Choose a Smart Collar for Your Dog?

Before choosing a smart collar for your dog, you should look at other aspects and factors you must consider. They include: 

  • GPS tracking and connectivity (Wi-Fi, Cellular Network, Bluetooth, etc.)
  • Battery life 
  • Ease of use
  • Durability
  • Size and weight 
  • Price and subscription cost
  • Customer service 
  • Warranty

Noting these points and finding a device that checks all of these boxes will definitely get you a premium smart collar like FitBark

About FitBark 

FitBark is on a mission to get humans and dogs to lead healthier lives together. Their smart collar is a game changer in the canine world, thanks to the plethora of features they provide at competitive prices. The device can be attached to any existing collar; you need not buy a whole new collar to have a smart collar.

Access GPS and health tracking, get escape alerts, monitor activity, sleep, behavior, and skin health, set health goals, and so much more on a single application. This device is suitable for dogs between 5 lbs to 240 lbs. Soon, they will be releasing a FitBark for cats, as well.

The starter pack includes a FitBark GPS tracker, 2 black covers, 10 zip ties, a charging cable, and a quick start guide. You can choose other colors like pink, red, green, and blue at an additional cost. 

Conclusion

So, having a smart collar for your furry friend can be super beneficial. It can help you track your pet’s whereabouts and find it in case it is stolen or lost. Moreover, the health tracking and monitoring features help you get your and your pet's health in order.