Have you ever wondered how active your dog really is? Maybe they seem to sleep a lot and you worry if they are getting enough exercise for their age/size. The FitBark dog activity monitor allows you to monitor your dogs activity on a daily basis and see the amount of time spent playing, active or sleeping.
I couldn’t wait to try this out on Joey, a lively Pointer who seems to be on the go 24/7. I wanted to see was he sleeping when I was out of the home and how much time he really spent running around with his sister Coco.
What Is A FitBark?
It’s common now for humans to use activity trackers like Fitbit or Jawbone to track their activity levels throughout the day. The FitBark is similar to that but instead monitors the activity of your dog.
“FitBark is a research grade dog activity and sleep monitor. It collects physical activity and rest levels 24/7, providing you and your family with unprecedented insights into health and behaviour.”
Pros of the FitBark
No Monthly Fee
What I love about the Fitbark is that once you purchase it there are no ongoing fees to use it. The app can be downloaded for free and connects via bluetooth to the device.
Compact
I was really impressed with the compact size of it. Often with devices that go onto a dog collar, such as GPS trackers, they can be quite bulky. It also only weighs 8 grams so even the smallest of dogs can wear them without an issue.
Rechargeable
There are no expensive batteries to purchase as the FitBark is rechargeable. The website states the battery lasts up to 14 days and after 13 days of use the battery is still at 18%.
Mobile App
The FitBark app can be downloaded from the app store is a few minutes and you are up and running straight away. It easily connected to the device and then it’s just a case of waiting for 24 hours to start to see any real data.
Waterproof
The website states you can submerge in 1 metre of water for 30 minutes. Joey doesn’t ever get that wet so I haven’t been able to test that out. It is very sturdy though in general.
How Much Does A FitBark Cost?
You can purchase the FitBark for £59.95 in a variety of colours.
For the functionality that it offers this seems like a very competitive price point.
Review Of The FitBark
The first thing that impressed me about the FitBark was the range of colours that it comes in. If you normally buy red collars for your dog then it’s nice to be able to order the device to match their collar.
It was really easy to install the app on my phone, charge the device and then connect the two.
The video posted above gave me a good overview of what I was able to view on the app itself so this got me off to a good start in understanding how to interpret the data. There is also a user guide in the app that you can read through.
After a few days it was really interesting to be able to see how much time Joey spent sleeping versus being active. I could clearly see that he was very settled during the night and also any time that he was home alone. It also showed that he is very active during the day and you can see from the app his peak times of activity.
You can also add journal notes to the app so you can keep a full record of your dogs activity.
And if you want to make friends with other dogs using the app you can. I found this great Pointer called Coco to make friends with.
I would definitely recommend getting one for your dog if you want to be able to understand their activity levels. They would be really useful if you worry about your dog being anxious when you leave them or if you were trying to help your dog lose a few pounds.
Have you used the FitBark on your dog? What did you think of it? Let us know in the comments below.
Note: I received the FitBark mentioned above for free to assist in an article we were writing about the product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
