Tailing dogs with new canine collars

Ever wonder what your dog does all day whilst you’re at work? Does he just lounge around on the couch?

Well, thanks to a new collar produced by a San Francisco-based start-up called Whistle, you could have all that information at your fingertips.

Through an inbuilt accelerometer, the collar collects data about your dog’s various movements and relays it to your phone. It can distinguish different doggie activities like running, walking or playing.

Fancy giving your findings some context? You can determine how active or lazy your mutt is compared to others of the same age, breed or weight.

In case you’re feeling competitive, you can even upload comments and photos, to goad rival owners, or just share with friends.

Whilst keeping abreast of your dog’s health may be is central part of what Whistle is about, its creators say it is also a way of celebrating pups for who they are: members of the family.

As Co-Founder of Whistle, Steven Eidelman, explained: “I think we’re seeing this across not just a small portion of pet owners, but really lots of pet owners, who are really treating their pets as family members and having their pets as children almost, and treating them as such. And so what we’re enabling is for those pet parents to communicate with each other and be more connected and give them that peace of mind around their pets when they’re away.”

Weighing in at half an ounce, this piece of canine bling costs around 100 euros and is available for the i-phone, with an Android version due out in Spring 2014.