All dogs owners feel terrible when they close the door behind them when they’re heading out for work in the morning. We know our canine companions are sitting on the other side with a sad face just hoping that we will turn around and bring them with us. If you have interactive toys or subscribe to a television station that is specifically designed to entertain dogs, you may not feel as bad.
But wouldn’t it still be nice to get updates throughout the day about what your pet is doing?
If there was a way to know what your dog was up to throughout the day, would you want to do it? Of course you would! A new gadget known as Flipaw may be able to help you out with that. The device isn’t available on the market yet, but creators have started a Kickstarter campaign in hopes that they can raise enough money for commercial production through the crowdfunding site.
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The high-tech device actually has a pretty simple design. It is built right into a dog collar, and all you need to do is strap it onto your Fido and place a few sensors around your house. The creators of the device recommend placing the sensors in your dog’s favorite spots, so you’ll be more likely to receive regular updates on his whereabouts.
The device is linked to a free smartphone app. You’ll input a bit of silly information about your dog into the app, and then whenever he stretches out on the couch or sprints through the living room the system will generate a message from Fido’s point of view and send it to you. For example, the message may say “You may call it trash, but I call it treasure” if your pooch is exploring around the garbage can.
Of course, this silly device is certainly not a must-have item for dog owners, but it is a neat way to keep tabs on your best friend and would make a unique gift for the dog lover on your Christmas list. The retail price for a Flipaw unit is expected to be somewhere in the $170 range, which certainly won’t fit into everyone’s budget.
I was also skeptical about the originality of the messages. If the device began repeating phrases after just a few days, you’d get tired of checking the app very quickly. Flipaw claims that they have dozens of creative writers on staff that are busy crafting thousands of unique messages based on many different variables. Hopefully that will be enough to keep the messages fresh for the most part.
The Flipaw collar adjusts to fit any size dog, and you can receive messages via Twitter, Facebook, e-mail or text. The app even allows you to “check-in” with your pet at some of the hippest pet-friendly places in town. You can monitor and compare your dog’s statistics with other canines as well to see how your pet stacks up.
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This collar is available in three different sizes and many different colors. You can also get it with or without a GPS microchip. I would assume the option without the chip will be a bit cheaper, but we’ll have to wait for more details to be released before we know exact prices.
Sending you random messages throughout your workday isn’t the only feature of the Flipaw collar. It also works as a GPS tracker and collects some basic health information including your dog’s activity level. The versatility of the product may make it worth the added expense, but we’ll have to wait and see what consumers think when the collar hits store shelves in the near future.
