UPFRONT/TECH
Tracking Fido’s Fitness
Electronic collars keep tabs on your dog’s activity
ANY DOG OWNER knows that their pet can get pretty obsessive about daily walks. Now you can keep track of every step they take. Just as people have fitness bands and watches to monitor their activity, dogs can have smart collars that deliver to a phone app data such as number of steps taken, distance walked and amount of time spent sleeping. (According to one device, my 12-year-old boxweiler, Milo, snoozes nearly 14 hours a day. My sleep-deprived wife expressed her envy.) Among the smart collars on the market are Fi (from Barking Labs), Whistle Health and Halo 2+. Dog trainer Janine Pierce of Southern California told me these can have an effect similar to that of fitness bands and get pets to move more. “I think a dog activity tracker is fun and useful,” she says. “It helps keep me motivated to give my own dog enough exercise.”—Craig Rosen
Go to aarp.org/tech for phone and computer tips.