FitBark Reviews

It works just as it says it does, and it’s super easy to use! Smaller than I expected too!

I have two things to say- first, the device and the app does everything it claims to do. I bought it to better understand my Miniature Labradoodle’s activity behavior, especially at daycare when we don’t know what she really does there. It was a snap to set up, and it really works. I find myself taking her for walks more just because I’m now accountable for her activity levels. The app works great, but like all apps, I’m sure it will continue to get better. It even interfaces with FitBit somehow. Second, the device is smaller and lighter than I expected, which is largely my fault because there are plenty of pictures showing it on other dogs, etc.
Bottom line- it works, it’s fun, and it provides me with useful data for my dog and me. I haven’t tried any of the competing products out there, but after having such a great experience with this one, why would I?

Great way to bond with my dog!

My dog has severe anxiety and I noticed that the days he exercised, he felt better than the days he did not. I bought the FitBark to help me find the right amount of daily exercise he needed to stay calm and relaxed. As they say “A tired dog is a good dog!” When I first got the FitBark, I had issues syncing the device. I reached out to customer support and within minutes they responded. This was at 8 pm! They walked me through step by step and before I knew it, we were able to see my dogs activity. I love that you can record daily notes and see how your pets activity compares to other dogs. I’m excited to tell everyone about FitBark and keep building my dogs health, happiness, and our bond.

That seems to be his sweet spot for activity – if he gets that amount …

I debated for a while whether to get this but broke down and got it before Christmas. I have a young active Golden and wanted to make sure that I was providing him enough exercise. This product provides that information and so much more. We’ve had it almost a month now and it’s really worth it. I go in and check the app everyday to see how much exercise he’s had and if it’s on the low end we play a few extra games indoors to bring his activity level to around 10,000 steps. That seems to be his sweet spot for activity – if he gets that amount of steps he’s content, if not he’s asking for more attention – jet his way I can easily monitor it. Even better we’ve added ‘friends’ which are his dog buddies that also have one which also pushes us to compare and contract with our friends. It’s easy and fun and a must have for dog owners. Off to get one for my little 10 pound Morkie too (7 years old) as the product is quite small and will not be a burden for his collar.

I’m loving the Fitbark with my new rescue dog. First, it’s really getting me to pay attention to the exercise he’s getting and motivating me to get him out for hikes, jogging, playdates, etc. This in turn is actually getting me much more active then personal activity tracker ever did. I also love the ability to benchmark and see how other dogs are doing and now have friends and family’s dogs on the app as well. An interesting benefit to showing the activity throughout the day is I could tell when the he escaped from his crate to go running around the house! Since he did no damage after being out for a couple hours, I’m no longer crating him. Bonus for him 😉 . The FitBark is simple to set up and the app has a great user interface. Get one for your dog and get the both of you more active.

Yep. This is what I needed

So here’s the deal. My sister runs a pet sitting/nannying company in LA. Which means a lot of dogs, cats, rabbits, pigs, a lot of whom are used to pretty good lifestyles. I live up north and go to visit her every few months, and when I do I love to join her at “work” while she “has to” hang out with furry animals all day.

I had some dogs and cats growing up. But working with my sister has opened my eyes to a lot of new things. Like how many animals sit at home all day while their owners are away, in various conditions. Some have big cushy couches they aren’t allowed to sit on, others are in kennels (which I do not support).

They do all have one thing in common: they are alone a large chunk of their lives, or at least with other animals but not their owners. And because they can’t speak it’s hard to know if they got enough exercise that day, if they’re sitting down too much, not playing, feeling sick. I’d tried FitBit and Jawbone Up and all sorts of wearables for myself but I returned all of them.

Then we got our own dog. I cannot say how glad I am I didn’t return the FitBark like I did with those devices for myself. I realized the difference is I know how I’m feeling but I don’t know how Toby’s feeling. And working with my sister has taught me that animals do exhibit body language, but that can’t/doesn’t tell the whole story. And working with trainers I’ve learned you need a degree to parse your dog’s body language anyway 😉

I will never go back to not putting a doggie tracker on Toby. I don’t think I’m the only one who’d pay anything for my dog 😉 Any little bit more I can relate to him and know he’s living a great life I will do. It did take a bit of adjusting the levels on the FitBark and I keep forgetting about the battery reminders but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I love my Toby. Worth it. Very worth it.

Lazy dog owner with a happy, active dog!

This product has changed the way I approach my dog’s health. I am, admittedly, a lazy dog owner. My dog is older, so I used that as an excuse for brief walks and lots of downtime. Her first week with the FitBark, I realized how little activity she saw throughout her day and was appalled by my own behavior. Since using the FitBark, Maggie May is having more active days and is sleeping better because she’s worn out and happy. The app is easy to use, the company is SUPER responsive and fast, and my partner is able to keep track of Maggie’s activities, too! I highly recommend the FitBark to anyone with a busy, distracting life. It keeps your dog’s needs in mind, even when you can’t.

Critical for every dog owner, since our pets cannot speak to us

I couldn’t come up with an objective reason to give this item less than five stars. The unit is essential, I think, for any dog owner. Your pet’s activity level is critical to its physical and mental health. While everyone understands how calories are burned and muscle is built through exercise, I think fewer people realize the mental aspect of activity for dogs. If your pet is antsy, seems anxious, or behaving poorly, the easiest step to trying to fix those things is giving it more exercise. While that absolutely will not solve all problems, many problems stem from owners not providing this critical component of their animal’s daily life.

Pet physical fitness and weight are also important to their longevity. While this unit doesn’t solve the problem of overfeeding dogs, it does provide a concrete number that can be referenced to see if you are providing your dog with enough exercise to burn the calories he’s been fed.

This unit is valuable to me and my fiancee because it takes the guesswork out of our 12 pound dachshund’s daily exercise. Was that walk long enough? How much exercise does chewing a bone provide? Does he need to be running or can short bursts and tug of war wear him out? How much was he played with before my fiancee went to work tonight? Not having to wonder about these questions is well worth the rather high price tag, as it ensures that my dog won’t drive me crazy (which he will do if he’s not exercised) or begin to misbehave and potentially cost me more money in something he’s decided he would like to chew on.

As I mentioned my dog is a small 12-pounder, and the unit is not too big for his collar. I’ve seen pictures of it on even smaller dogs. Its very likely that it will be able to fit around your dog’s collar without being disruptive. In the image you can see that there are two hooks in the center of the bone. It is attached to the collar by what appears to be an o-ring, or a strong elastic. You hook one end of the ring onto the hook, wrap it around the collar, and wrap it around the next hook. I was a little skeptical of this method, but it does ensure that if something happens to the ring (they give you three) you can easily replace it. You don’t have to worry about a latch breaking and rendering the device useless. I think it was a good less conventional design decision.

I read a few reviews about the software being lackluster, but they must have made an update to the app, because it looks full-featured to me. You can view your dog’s activity down to the hour, and the history builds to show you averages, top scores, and all the usual fitness statistics. It works by detecting agitation through an accelerometer. There are three categories of rest, active, and play depending on the level of agitation. All levels give you the “bark points” that gauge your dog’s daily activity, which can be thought of as calories in humans. Even at rest the body burns calories. However, active and play hours will need to be spent in order to reach the dog’s daily goal. You can set your dog’s personal level as you see fit with recommendations to guide you. You should go more based on your dog’s need rather than the recommendation.

Also you have a suite of options available to manage people who can connect to the fitbark such as co-owners, friends, or your vet. This eases the issue of communicating the information on the fitbark and describing your dog’s history or changes in your dog’s activity. If the fitbark is somehow lost or destroyed you can connect another bitbark to your dog’s account.

Changed Pippie’s life

I’ve been waiting a long time for a product like this and I have looked at and tried others but none did exactly what I wanted them to do. I have a 14 yr old jack russle with terrible problems in her back joints and arthritis and I travel a lot for work. With fitbark, I can not only keep any eye on how active she is, and if my dog walker is walking her as much as he’s supposed to be, but I can also tell if she has had her medication that day. If she hasn’t her activity levels are way down and her rest is way up. Last week I even got an alert that “Pippie is resting more than normal, is she ok?” She had already had her medication that day so, I made an appointment with our Vet and showed her the Fitbark app and Pippie’s play and rest times. First, my Vet asked where he could get one and I also showed him how I could share Pippie’s information with him to help keep an eye on her. He adjusted her medication and my girl is back up to her normal playful self. Pippie loves Fitbark, thank you!!!

Dog Trainer’s New Favorite Toy

I’ve just completed set-up for my second FitBark, and just as I was with my first FitBark, I’m excited at all the fun to be had with this activity monitor.
First the basics: The app is easily my favorite part! The set-up is quick and easy. The interface is stellar, and I’ve yet to encounter any glitches. As a dog trainer, I make sure that my dogs get plenty of exercise, but this device and the accompanying phone app make it more fun and quantifies everything into numerical data, which is great. The best application i have found for my own dogs though, are the times when I am away and have to leave them in the care of someone else. I can monitor their activity and pair their FitBark devices with the dog sitter’s mobile device so that the individual can reference how much activity I expect from them in a clear way, without confusion or uncertainty. Furthermore, I’ve convinced a few clients to order these so that I can monitor their dogs to determine if they are doing the necessary amount of work needed to properly condition in obedience commands the way they are instructed to do so between lessons with me. The FitBark quantifies everything for them to help give a tangible goal to improve/maintain not only the physical health of their dog, but the dog’s mental health through training exercises. My clients tell me that FitBark helps keep them on track and I can see it for myself. My girlfriend loves my FitBark monitors too, as they allow her to see how much activity our dogs get by virtue of my full-time employment as an independent trainer. Of course, she teases me when “her” dog, ‘Chivo’, gets more points than “my” dog, ‘Jarvis’. All in all, the applications for a FitBark are endless and I can’t wait to see what other things people think of that I haven’t yet!

Yep. This is what I needed

So here’s the deal. My sister runs a pet sitting/nannying company in LA. Which means a lot of dogs, cats, rabbits, pigs, a lot of whom are used to pretty good lifestyles. I live up north and go to visit her every few months, and when I do I love to join her at “work” while she “has to” hang out with furry animals all day.

I had some dogs and cats growing up. But working with my sister has opened my eyes to a lot of new things. Like how many animals sit at home all day while their owners are away, in various conditions. Some have big cushy couches they aren’t allowed to sit on, others are in kennels (which I do not support).

They do all have one thing in common: they are alone a large chunk of their lives, or at least with other animals but not their owners. And because they can’t speak it’s hard to know if they got enough exercise that day, if they’re sitting down too much, not playing, feeling sick. I’d tried FitBit and Jawbone Up and all sorts of wearables for myself but I returned all of them.

Then we got our own dog. I cannot say how glad I am I didn’t return the FitBark like I did with those devices for myself. I realized the difference is I know how I’m feeling but I don’t know how Toby’s feeling. And working with my sister has taught me that animals do exhibit body language, but that can’t/doesn’t tell the whole story. And working with trainers I’ve learned you need a degree to parse your dog’s body language anyway 😉

I will never go back to not putting a doggie tracker on Toby. I don’t think I’m the only one who’d pay anything for my dog 😉 Any little bit more I can relate to him and know he’s living a great life I will do. It did take a bit of adjusting the levels on the FitBark and I keep forgetting about the battery reminders but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I love my Toby. Worth it. Very worth it.

FitBark is GREAT

I love the FitBark for my girls. I have two Border Collies, a 12 year old and a 2 year old. It has been amazing to see how much activity they are getting in a day. I bought them originally because I was concern about my older girl and it is an amazing tool/reminder to me how much I need to be involved in ensure that she gets the exercise she needs to stay healthy. I have also found it beneficial in understand the younger one too. I can attest that it is waterproof and the battery life has been about 1 week with a fast charge time. I love the app and detailed information it proved. The bonus for me is that I am actually hitting my FitBit targets now that I am making sure my girls hit their goals. I would recommend it to anyone and have told all my friends with dogs about the FitBark.

Great device and awesome app

Dog Trainer’s New Favorite Toy

I’ve just completed set-up for my second FitBark, and just as I was with my first FitBark, I’m excited at all the fun to be had with this activity monitor.
First the basics: The app is easily my favorite part! The set-up is quick and easy. The interface is stellar, and I’ve yet to encounter any glitches. As a dog trainer, I make sure that my dogs get plenty of exercise, but this device and the accompanying phone app make it more fun and quantifies everything into numerical data, which is great. The best application i have found for my own dogs though, are the times when I am away and have to leave them in the care of someone else. I can monitor their activity and pair their FitBark devices with the dog sitter’s mobile device so that the individual can reference how much activity I expect from them in a clear way, without confusion or uncertainty. Furthermore, I’ve convinced a few clients to order these so that I can monitor their dogs to determine if they are doing the necessary amount of work needed to properly condition in obedience commands the way they are instructed to do so between lessons with me. The FitBark quantifies everything for them to help give a tangible goal to improve/maintain not only the physical health of their dog, but the dog’s mental health through training exercises. My clients tell me that FitBark helps keep them on track and I can see it for myself. My girlfriend loves my FitBark monitors too, as they allow her to see how much activity our dogs get by virtue of my full-time employment as an independent trainer. Of course, she teases me when “her” dog, ‘Chivo’, gets more points than “my” dog, ‘Jarvis’. All in all, the applications for a FitBark are endless and I can’t wait to see what other things people think of that I haven’t yet!

Fantastic activity tracker for dogs!

I bought 2 of these for our dogs. My husband and I both own a Fitbit and thought it would be fun to track our dogs activities too! We looked into it and discovered FitBark!

Well we haven’t been disappointed. The dogs receive bark points each day based on their activity not steps, however they explain why this is. Essentially it’s impossible to track steps in dogs as their movements vary so much. However it’s pretty accurate with picking up play time/ rest time and when they are active.
I’ve also been really impressed with the customer support. For a small company they go out of their way to make sure you are happy and are always on the end of a live chat to help if you have any problems.

The app that supports it is good as well and we can even track our activity against the dogs in the weekly view!

Tracking how active the dogs have been also allows us to make adjustments to feeding.

The battery lasts a long time and we have had no issues with the product. I imagine if you did have any issues their customer service would be excellent. They really care about the brand and the experience you have with their product.

Overall I’m really happy with my purchase.

Very Impressed

I’ve been using the FitBark for over a week now with our 3 year old Maltese. I was very happy to see that it was much smaller than I had expected it to be. It was easy to place on his collar, and he doesn’t mind wearing it at all. The app is very user friendly and helpful for the set up process. It is amazing to be able to monitor your dogs level of activity, and it has influenced us to take longer walks and stay more active. The app makes it easy to set and change your dogs goal for the day, and monitor his progress via Bluetooth connection with your phone. I’ve tried a couple other pet “wearables” and the FitBark is the best I’ve come across so far.

Oscar is a Puggle who we adopted from an Amish farm when he was about 12 weeks old. We do not know the size of his parents, nor are we aware of the existence of any litter mates.

He is overweight for sure, and was diagnosed with hypothyroidism a little over a year ago. Even on the medication and prescription food, he has maintained the same weight (~ 55-58#) for a while.

FitBark (combined with my Fitbit) fits right into what we are trying to accomplish with Oscar’s health. He will be 4 years old in April, and we want to be sure he’s around for a long time.

Best Pet Accessory EVER!

This thing is absolutely incredible, and the company behind it is amazing as well! The interface on the app is very slick, informative, and accurate! It is a great way to know what your pup is up to when you are not with them, or just to track each day’s activity! So much fun. Also compatible with the fitbit and other fitness apps to compare the pups to their humans! The fitbark itself is pretty wicked, but what makes the experience SO awesome is the ability to get in touch with support chat instantly via the app, and they respond brilliantly fast, always with kind words and helpful advice. I have recommended this to all dog owners I know and meet and I recommend it to you!!!

Definitely the best — works and works well. LOVE It!!!

Can’t say enough great things about it. We are dog people.. everyone in our family has a dog and now everyone in our family has a Fitbark! I tested both Fitbark and Whistle and the Whistle just doesn’t compare.. the Fitbark is the way to go (more about that later). Fitbark is small, lightweight, fits on the collar very well and the app is super easy to use. It doesn’t require cellular so there are no monthly fees. It is reliable…and the device on the collar actually records activity levels so that when a phone that is authorized w/the Fitbark app is near, it syncs and updates the server with the info (or if you buy the optional doghouse shaped Wifi base station, it will do it for you when your dog is near it). The portal is fun…you can compare your dogs activity to other dogs that you own or have been invited to monitor.
It is keeping us more active, too.. we want our dog to meet her goal so we take her for more walks!! Incredible.
One of the best features is that you can post pictures and information to the dog’s network so that everyone following him can see…this is great for pet professionals to keep in touch with the parents as well as family members to communicate with each other. Everyone I’ve showed this to has asked for one.. We have five and just ordered another ten!!! It’s also great because you can see WHEN your dog was active.. it tracks activity and time. The app is great, too.. all the data is so easy to understand and get to. It was very well thought out.
Lastly, Whistle would be great if it worked..except for the size, weight, and bulkiness. The GPS is the only reason to get it.. if activity is all you need just get Fitbark… but if you want GPS, I just don’t think the Whistle is ready. There is a 3 minute lag time which is FOREVER if you are trying to track a roaming pup and so far I can’t get activity working on Whistle and GPS is 6.95/month if you pay 2 years in advance…that’s a lot but it would be well worth it if it worked. I give Fitbark five stars–it’s awesome.

A fitbit for your dog. Easy integration, great tool and small!

I live an active lifestyle and have a dog that is helping to make me active with our frequent activity together. I wanted to get a monitor for several reasons, one of which is because the gadgets are just cool, but also to monitor my dog’s activity level.

I decided on this item based on all the positive reviews. This is a great item.

First off this is a lightweight and small item. It barely weighs anything. Set-up was easy. essentially power up the item with the included miniUSB cable after downloading the app and the item should sync. Charge for 1.5 hours and it is ready to go.

There are two included rubber bands that go onto the unit and then this goes around the collar. Although I was initially concerned about this coming off easily, it won’t unless something crazy happens. Plus, the profile is so small it is really like a leash attachment rather than the LED lights you can attach for a night walk.

Once you open the app and you get the item connected, you add the dogs profile, you can add a picture and away you go. The app for IOS is pretty easy to navigate for features. One quibble is I added my dogs picture, but had to look around to edit his info and that should be easier. I found how to change it, but it wasn’t immediately obvious. My hint: Press all the buttons and you discover many new features. (recommendation for software: make a default setting for sharing information something you choose rather than having to set it each time you go to this feature, or have a default setting for sharing information).

Once you get all squared away, you choose an activity level, from low energy to Olympian level and activity gives you points. I like this and the app. which can be set for use with a Fitbit, is pretty similar. I am noticing already that assuming activity levels can be easy when not based on facts. Love striving for a goal for my dog. I like the fact that you can also have others watch and participate in the app. Great feature!

I was also concerned about waterproofing on this item, but the USB plug is encased with a rubber seal that would be difficult to penetrate. As with most items, I would just ensure rinsing off the item with fresh water after an encounter with fresh or salt water.

Overall: I have been looking at various monitors for a while and waited because the technology didn’t quite seem there yet. This item seems to signal that the technology is here and easy to use. I really love the potential of this item and I love being able to understand my animal better in terms of activity. Plus, this is just a neat, cool item. It is small, lightweight, barely noticeable and easy to interact with and use.

Best part? The hardware works well, and software can always be updated now. Awesome.

Fantastic App, great customer service!

With the latest update, the folks at fitbark made an already great app fantastic. We have three fitBark dogs and at a glance we can see if they are getting enough sleep and exercise. It’s very easy to dive in to get more data on a particular dog or look at larger trends, like sleep over the past month.

We really love the new Top Dog Board which ranks our pups in the house by activity. It also provides stats on similar dogs so you know how you’re dogs doing in comparison. This is super helpful since we have three dogs ranging from 3 months to 10 years and they obviously require different levels of playtime.

We really love this update. The customer service at Fitbark is amazing. They go out of their way to help and make sure your issue is resolved.

If you’re looking for an activity tracker for your dog this is the best one on the market.

Great device • Great app

I should start by saying I read an article about 5 things you may be doing to crush your dogs spirit. The very first thing was not taking your dog on a walk as often as you should. Admittedly, I am guilty of this and I do NOT want to crush the spirit of any dog! So I looked at several styles of activity trackers and decided to try the FitBark. I think seeing their actual activity level will either guilt me into getting busy with them or make me proud of how we’re doing.
I’ve only been using my FitBark for about a week. I have 3 dogs (a Mastiff and 2 Yorkies) and it’s been fun to see what time of day they’re most active and just how active they really are.
I bought one for each of my daughters dogs too (an Australian Shepard and a Boxer).
All of the dogs are ‘friends’, on the app, so we can see how active they’ve been, even when we’re all living in different cities. When they’re all together there’s a HUGE jump in play/active time.
It’s nice to be able to add notes to each day as well. You can go back and see if their activity, or lack thereof, is mirrored by health issues (diarrhea, decreased appetite, etc). I haven’t been using it long enough to take advantage of this feature but I like having that option available.
The staff is amazing! When I’ve asked questions through the app, I thought I’d have to wait several hours for a response; not so! The support has been much higher than I expected it to be. You’re made to feel like one of the FitBark family. I like having the ability to send photos too. I can include a screen shot with my question(s) which helps me explain my question and, I assume, it likely helps them to see what I’m talking about.
I don’t consider myself to be a very tech savvy individual but I have found the app and FitBark set up to be quite straightforward and simple. If I can do it, anybody can do it!
I’ve purchased 5 FitBarks, for my dogs and as gifts, and I feel it will prove to be a great investment in our dogs’ health. And we’ll benefit as well.

Loving the FitBark!

We got a FitBark for our little dog as we wanted to ensure he was active enough even though my wife and I both work during the day. The FitBark allows us, through their proprietary FitBark Points, to see how active he’s been during the day whilst we’re out (usually not very!) and gives us a target to aim for to push us to get him out and moving. As proponents of the human equivalent, FitBit, the Bluetooth connectivity and interactive app (which is, as yet, by no means perfect but is always being worked on and improved) were familiar and easy enough to use.
The customer service at FitBark is excellent and their staff are always willing to help and answer queries. If you’re a fan activity trackers and want to get your canine buddies involved too, the FitBark fits the bill perfectly.

Great device and awesome app

Great product, awesome customer service!

We picked up this activity monitor a few weeks ago to see how much exercise our pooch was getting with their walker. This device is tiny and actually provides us with more info than we would have anticipated. Plus, it keeps us honest and motivated to get my pup out and about. The interface is good, not great, but fitbark are working on making it more user friendly — I know this bc fitbark actively solicited my feedback and explained the app’s feature. A good friend has the whistle but I was never convinced, esp after reading reviews. So happy I went with my gut and tried out this new product.

Great device • Great app

I should start by saying I read an article about 5 things you may be doing to crush your dogs spirit. The very first thing was not taking your dog on a walk as often as you should. Admittedly, I am guilty of this and I do NOT want to crush the spirit of any dog! So I looked at several styles of activity trackers and decided to try the FitBark. I think seeing their actual activity level will either guilt me into getting busy with them or make me proud of how we’re doing.
I’ve only been using my FitBark for about a week. I have 3 dogs (a Mastiff and 2 Yorkies) and it’s been fun to see what time of day they’re most active and just how active they really are.
I bought one for each of my daughters dogs too (an Australian Shepard and a Boxer).
All of the dogs are ‘friends’, on the app, so we can see how active they’ve been, even when we’re all living in different cities. When they’re all together there’s a HUGE jump in play/active time.
It’s nice to be able to add notes to each day as well. You can go back and see if their activity, or lack thereof, is mirrored by health issues (diarrhea, decreased appetite, etc). I haven’t been using it long enough to take advantage of this feature but I like having that option available.
The staff is amazing! When I’ve asked questions through the app, I thought I’d have to wait several hours for a response; not so! The support has been much higher than I expected it to be. You’re made to feel like one of the FitBark family. I like having the ability to send photos too. I can include a screen shot with my question(s) which helps me explain my question and, I assume, it likely helps them to see what I’m talking about.
I don’t consider myself to be a very tech savvy individual but I have found the app and FitBark set up to be quite straightforward and simple. If I can do it, anybody can do it!
I’ve purchased 5 FitBarks, for my dogs and as gifts, and I feel it will prove to be a great investment in our dogs’ health. And we’ll benefit as well.

Critical for every dog owner, since our pets cannot speak to us

I couldn’t come up with an objective reason to give this item less than five stars. The unit is essential, I think, for any dog owner. Your pet’s activity level is critical to its physical and mental health. While everyone understands how calories are burned and muscle is built through exercise, I think fewer people realize the mental aspect of activity for dogs. If your pet is antsy, seems anxious, or behaving poorly, the easiest step to trying to fix those things is giving it more exercise. While that absolutely will not solve all problems, many problems stem from owners not providing this critical component of their animal’s daily life.

Pet physical fitness and weight are also important to their longevity. While this unit doesn’t solve the problem of overfeeding dogs, it does provide a concrete number that can be referenced to see if you are providing your dog with enough exercise to burn the calories he’s been fed.

This unit is valuable to me and my fiancee because it takes the guesswork out of our 12 pound dachshund’s daily exercise. Was that walk long enough? How much exercise does chewing a bone provide? Does he need to be running or can short bursts and tug of war wear him out? How much was he played with before my fiancee went to work tonight? Not having to wonder about these questions is well worth the rather high price tag, as it ensures that my dog won’t drive me crazy (which he will do if he’s not exercised) or begin to misbehave and potentially cost me more money in something he’s decided he would like to chew on.

As I mentioned my dog is a small 12-pounder, and the unit is not too big for his collar. I’ve seen pictures of it on even smaller dogs. Its very likely that it will be able to fit around your dog’s collar without being disruptive. In the image you can see that there are two hooks in the center of the bone. It is attached to the collar by what appears to be an o-ring, or a strong elastic. You hook one end of the ring onto the hook, wrap it around the collar, and wrap it around the next hook. I was a little skeptical of this method, but it does ensure that if something happens to the ring (they give you three) you can easily replace it. You don’t have to worry about a latch breaking and rendering the device useless. I think it was a good less conventional design decision.

I read a few reviews about the software being lackluster, but they must have made an update to the app, because it looks full-featured to me. You can view your dog’s activity down to the hour, and the history builds to show you averages, top scores, and all the usual fitness statistics. It works by detecting agitation through an accelerometer. There are three categories of rest, active, and play depending on the level of agitation. All levels give you the “bark points” that gauge your dog’s daily activity, which can be thought of as calories in humans. Even at rest the body burns calories. However, active and play hours will need to be spent in order to reach the dog’s daily goal. You can set your dog’s personal level as you see fit with recommendations to guide you. You should go more based on your dog’s need rather than the recommendation.

Also you have a suite of options available to manage people who can connect to the fitbark such as co-owners, friends, or your vet. This eases the issue of communicating the information on the fitbark and describing your dog’s history or changes in your dog’s activity. If the fitbark is somehow lost or destroyed you can connect another bitbark to your dog’s account.

The Awesome FitBit for Furbabies!

I purchased this product looking for a pets equivalent to Fitbit. This is the ultimate. It even integrates with fitbit to see your progress together. Batty, my minpin, was 13 lbs at his last vet visit and so the vet placed him on orders of an additional long walk per day. Therefore I wanted a better way to see how he was doing like I see mine, as well as walking him the long walk every day. I’m more than pleased with this! While the android app is in Beta, it works great on BlackBerry 10 devices as well as android, and the Apple app is impressive too! Kudos and thank you! If you have fitbit and a furbaby, you need to get this for your pup!

Oscar is a Puggle who we adopted from an Amish farm when he was about 12 weeks old. We do not know the size of his parents, nor are we aware of the existence of any litter mates.

He is overweight for sure, and was diagnosed with hypothyroidism a little over a year ago. Even on the medication and prescription food, he has maintained the same weight (~ 55-58#) for a while.

FitBark (combined with my Fitbit) fits right into what we are trying to accomplish with Oscar’s health. He will be 4 years old in April, and we want to be sure he’s around for a long time.

Fantastic activity tracker for dogs!

I bought 2 of these for our dogs. My husband and I both own a Fitbit and thought it would be fun to track our dogs activities too! We looked into it and discovered FitBark!

Well we haven’t been disappointed. The dogs receive bark points each day based on their activity not steps, however they explain why this is. Essentially it’s impossible to track steps in dogs as their movements vary so much. However it’s pretty accurate with picking up play time/ rest time and when they are active.
I’ve also been really impressed with the customer support. For a small company they go out of their way to make sure you are happy and are always on the end of a live chat to help if you have any problems.

The app that supports it is good as well and we can even track our activity against the dogs in the weekly view!

Tracking how active the dogs have been also allows us to make adjustments to feeding.

The battery lasts a long time and we have had no issues with the product. I imagine if you did have any issues their customer service would be excellent. They really care about the brand and the experience you have with their product.

Overall I’m really happy with my purchase.

Changed Pippie’s life

I’ve been waiting a long time for a product like this and I have looked at and tried others but none did exactly what I wanted them to do. I have a 14 yr old jack russle with terrible problems in her back joints and arthritis and I travel a lot for work. With fitbark, I can not only keep any eye on how active she is, and if my dog walker is walking her as much as he’s supposed to be, but I can also tell if she has had her medication that day. If she hasn’t her activity levels are way down and her rest is way up. Last week I even got an alert that “Pippie is resting more than normal, is she ok?” She had already had her medication that day so, I made an appointment with our Vet and showed her the Fitbark app and Pippie’s play and rest times. First, my Vet asked where he could get one and I also showed him how I could share Pippie’s information with him to help keep an eye on her. He adjusted her medication and my girl is back up to her normal playful self. Pippie loves Fitbark, thank you!!!

No more excuses…

So far so good! I ordered this for my pup because I know I am being a lazy pet parent and wanted to see how much exercise he is missing out on and to see how much he sleeps while I’m at work. Came super quick and it’s really easy to set up. I can’t wait to get home to see how my baby was while I was out (we do not have the wifi receiver so I can only see his progress once I get home and sync with him). He is only 9lbs and I love how the tracker is super light and cute. I also love how Amazon customer service replied to my concerns and fixed them immediately. I am so glad I purchased thru Amazon.

Small and easy to use

I have a Shih Tzu and was worried the Fitbark would be bulky around his neck. I didn’t need to worry as its really small and quite discreet. It doesn’t bother him at all.

The app was easy to install however takes some playing about with to get best out of product. However the basics of the product are really easy to navigate.

The product does what it says on the tin and we find it interesting especially looking at our dog’s sleeping habits. If you’re curious as to whether your dog is getting enough exercise or what it’s up to when you’re not around then this is a great tool.

Great wearable for dogs!

This device is so much fun. You can see how much time your dog spends resting, playing (typically walking or running), and being “active” (which is basically being awake but not doing a lot). If you have multiple dogs, you can compare them against each other. I even used it to determine who wandered off at night and peed in the basement – only one dog was active at that time so she was busted! LOL Support is fabulous. They respond via chat to any questions, and are super-responsive to any enhancement ideas. I use the app on an iPhone 4s and it works really well, even though my phone is older. Another plus is that they share the (anonymized) data that they collect with the FitBarks. It’s a great way for dog owners to contribute to research on dog health, especially if you have a purebred that is not as well-represented in their data set.

So far it’s a lot of fun. We use FitBark most in ways you might not expect. For example, as a puppy being crate trained and house trained we use it in the middle of the night to see if she’s moving around in her crate. If she is, we get up and walk her. If not we go back to sleep without waking her. We use it to measure our crate training progress.

We also use it to see if our schedule is consistent. Consistency seems to be key, so we can see if we’re walking her at the same times every day and if we’re walking her when we should.

Lazy dog owner with a happy, active dog!

This product has changed the way I approach my dog’s health. I am, admittedly, a lazy dog owner. My dog is older, so I used that as an excuse for brief walks and lots of downtime. Her first week with the FitBark, I realized how little activity she saw throughout her day and was appalled by my own behavior. Since using the FitBark, Maggie May is having more active days and is sleeping better because she’s worn out and happy. The app is easy to use, the company is SUPER responsive and fast, and my partner is able to keep track of Maggie’s activities, too! I highly recommend the FitBark to anyone with a busy, distracting life. It keeps your dog’s needs in mind, even when you can’t.

Big Fan of Fitbark aka fitbit for dogs

I’m a big fan of Fitbark. It helps keep my dog healthy and is generally a cool thing.

I was lucky enough to acquire a Fitbark by a chance encounter at SXSW this past Spring. I’ve been using it ever since then and have nothing but great things to say.

I’ve found several uses for Fitbark. For one, it helps my dog stay healthy in terms of exercise. In the past there were many times when I would only walk my dog for bathroom breaks, but thanks to Fitbark, I can see how long of a walk I need to take to ensure he gets the amount of energy required. Secondly, I’ve started to notice when Trevor has nighttime activity, which I can then map back to lack of exercise or him eating other types of foods. Finally it helps me monitor Trevor’s separation anxiety. Whenever I leave the house, he’s super active until he settles down. Thanks to Fitbark, I learned that the anxiety got better over time. That’s a great thing to know for any caring dog owner.

The app is pretty slick, it shows you your dog’s activity over days and weeks. All in all it’s a great way to improve your dog’s health.

Changed Pippie’s life

I’ve been waiting a long time for a product like this and I have looked at and tried others but none did exactly what I wanted them to do. I have a 14 yr old jack russle with terrible problems in her back joints and arthritis and I travel a lot for work. With fitbark, I can not only keep any eye on how active she is, and if my dog walker is walking her as much as he’s supposed to be, but I can also tell if she has had her medication that day. If she hasn’t her activity levels are way down and her rest is way up. Last week I even got an alert that “Pippie is resting more than normal, is she ok?” She had already had her medication that day so, I made an appointment with our Vet and showed her the Fitbark app and Pippie’s play and rest times. First, my Vet asked where he could get one and I also showed him how I could share Pippie’s information with him to help keep an eye on her. He adjusted her medication and my girl is back up to her normal playful self. Pippie loves Fitbark, thank you!!!

Allows you to track daily activity levels.

I use this product on my 7 year old terrier cross and it shows me how active he is during the day and night and allows me to see if there is any change in his activity levels day to day. It also has a very long battery life as it has currently been 9 days since it was last fully charged and has only just showing that the battery is starting to run low.
This product is also smaller than I expected and easily fits onto my dogs collar so it doesn’t effect him in any way.

Fantastic activity tracker for dogs!

I bought 2 of these for our dogs. My husband and I both own a Fitbit and thought it would be fun to track our dogs activities too! We looked into it and discovered FitBark!

Well we haven’t been disappointed. The dogs receive bark points each day based on their activity not steps, however they explain why this is. Essentially it’s impossible to track steps in dogs as their movements vary so much. However it’s pretty accurate with picking up play time/ rest time and when they are active.
I’ve also been really impressed with the customer support. For a small company they go out of their way to make sure you are happy and are always on the end of a live chat to help if you have any problems.

The app that supports it is good as well and we can even track our activity against the dogs in the weekly view!

Tracking how active the dogs have been also allows us to make adjustments to feeding.

The battery lasts a long time and we have had no issues with the product. I imagine if you did have any issues their customer service would be excellent. They really care about the brand and the experience you have with their product.

Overall I’m really happy with my purchase.

Total Greatness for Vizsla Owners!

My dog Murphy is a Vizsla. The word Vizsla must be Hungarian for “Limitless Energy”. Murphy is a little over a year and we can never exhaust him. We have been doing all that we can to “wear him out”, but felt guilty that we were not doing enough. Since Jan. 1st I started wearing a FitBit and it has made a huge difference in my training. Wanting to measure our efforts to exercise Murphy, we saw that RubyTheTrail – World Famous Instagram Vizsla, endorsed FitBark. That was all it took for me to pick one up for Muphy. It has given me such peace of mind to know that despite me and my wife working full time jobs we are actually taking care of Murphy’s exercise needs. (We walk him 3.5 miles before sunrise and spend all free time playing with him when we get home). Today my trusty Fitbark app sent me a message that told me, and I quote… “At 15,916 BarkPoints per day on average, he was more active than: -96% of large sized dogs of adult age, -76% of all Vizslas, -93% of all FitBark dogs.” Whew! That made my month! So, daily we track Murphy’s Playtime, Active-Time, Rest Time, and FitBark converts it to points. Our daily goal for Murphy is 13,100 points. We do not go to bed until he hits that goal.
The most amazing thing about FitBark is that it requires me to help Murphy meet his goals and my FitBit totals are on the rise. It is a win – win invention. Get one for your best friend, and yourself.
You can check out Murphy on Instagram… follow “MURPH_THE_VIZSLA” … Also follow FitBark’s best spokesdog … “RUBYTHETRAILDOG”

LOVE this product!

I cannot say enough good things about this product. Unfortunately, my original FitBark would not charge, so I brought it to Best Buy and they exchanged it with a new one instantly! I was thrilled. Then, when I went home, I was not sure how to add the new one to my existing account, so I emailed FitBark and the tech support answered my email INSTANTLY and helped me through it. I am so pleased and impressed. The product allows me to keep track of my dog’s sleep schedule and compare activities and how active they keep him (he does agility, flyball and disc). This product is amazing, and I’ve had such a great experience with FitBark.

A great and nifty product, well worth buying.

The FitBark is an awesome product. The app is clever and provides some clear, and relevant information. I’m looking forward to seeing how this product develops, but will continue to use it! It’s well packaged, and easy to set up with clear instructions. The support team respond very quickly to queries, and are very friendly and helpful. There’s a growing community of users on Facebook with whom you can share information and find dogs similar to yours to “friend” on the app to compete/compare as you’d like. Would definitely recommend.

It links my FitBit account which is awesome, shows me my target and the dog’s on the same graphs. Some more integration would be amazing, although I’m unsure what I’d like to see really at this stage!

There are a few things which could be better though. The additional wifi charging station is very expensive, so I don’t have it, which means my dogs data only sync when I ask it to via my app. I’m hoping that something will change with this in future development of the product though, and I’d still happily give it 5 stars.

Pawfect

I can’t fault FitBark, their customer service is second to none – I bought mine before Christmas and had live chat within the Android app to one of the founders on Christmas day, that’s serious commitment to their product.

The FitBark itself attaches well and doesn’t bother my dog at all. It resists water and mud and is apparently waterproof but not tried yet.

The Android app is well designed, easy to sync, easy to compare your dog with another albeit both owners need to have shared email addresses.

The best thing so far is being able to compare days. We could see how new years eve fireworks at midnight kept our dog restless for 40 minutes, if we didn’t manage to get a walk because of heavy rain we can see how much activity she has missed.

Lazy dog owner with a happy, active dog!

This product has changed the way I approach my dog’s health. I am, admittedly, a lazy dog owner. My dog is older, so I used that as an excuse for brief walks and lots of downtime. Her first week with the FitBark, I realized how little activity she saw throughout her day and was appalled by my own behavior. Since using the FitBark, Maggie May is having more active days and is sleeping better because she’s worn out and happy. The app is easy to use, the company is SUPER responsive and fast, and my partner is able to keep track of Maggie’s activities, too! I highly recommend the FitBark to anyone with a busy, distracting life. It keeps your dog’s needs in mind, even when you can’t.

5 paws

Hi I am Luna the 4 year old Collie, My mummy owns a fitbit and found it so interesting that when she saw this advertised she thought it would be fun to see us keeping fit together she is currently annoyed as I keep beating her :).
she has had great fun keeping track of me and she also loves the fact it tell her what I have been up to when she has been out but sadly she now knows my secret that I am often have a good sleep.
it has helped my mummy lots as I had been unwell and she was able to show the vet my details and she was able to track my food intake and also if I had had lethargic days.
I would highly recommend this device to any dog lover as it is great fun to work out together and go for long hikes to collect our points.

mummy said that the support from the FitBark team is excellent she had trouble with her device and they are literally there 24/7 to help you with all your needs my device did go a bit faulty but within 48 hours it had been replaced and linked up to my old account so we could get back to tracking my details.

the device is small and discrete on my collar and comes in a wide range of colours I’m currently modelling the life and soul of the party blue but I think my mummy is looking into purchasing another one for my bro.
well we give this device 5 Paws and lots of high excited Woofs cause we love it.
many thanks for reading
Luna x

FitBark customer service is wonderful. I had some problems with the initial install …

FitBark customer service is wonderful. I had some problems with the initial install and their support chat was very quick, helpful and thorough. Now that the FitBark is working, I love the insight it gives me into my puppy’s life. I notice that if she is up and restless at night she can be a little “off” during the day. I’ve also noticed that she doesn’t behave well if she doesn’t get enough exercise OR if she gets too much! I can check her FitBark and realize she’s just had enough of a day and it’s time for bed. The FitBark holds a charge for quite some time, is easy to use and sturdy. I love my FitBark.

Great Product – Great Service

We got this for Christmas, and within a week it died, I contacted the customer service via their online chat and was helped immediately. They mailed a new fitbark within a few days so I didn’t even need to go back to Best Buy. Best customer service I’ve ever had. Plus the product itself is great, We live in a condo so I was worried about my dog not getting enough exercise. The fitbark has been great to keep track of how he’s doing that day and whether I need to give him a longer walk or not!