Get Smart! Pet Tech in 2019
By Diane Krueger
Whether we like it or not, technology keeps us
connected to pretty much anything and everything 24/7. Smart devices have
infiltrated almost every aspect of our lives, which is why it makes total sense
that smart technology is gaining in popularity for pet care too. From digital
daycare to fitness trackers to pet beds, smart technology can be found in a
host of products that allows us to learn more in-depth info about our pets’
health and well-being and hopefully provide the best care possible.
Pet cams, like nanny cams, are nothing new. But the
features they offer nowadays help ease the separation anxiety for you and your
pet. Cameras, like PetChatz HD, aren’t just cameras anymore. This bad boy has a
two-way video camera that lets you video chat with your furry friend, kind of
like FaceTime for pets. In addition, it comes with a built-in treat dispenser, a
calming aromatherapy mister and can stream a TV service geared directly to your
dog (although this feature does have fee), all of which are controlled with a
couple swipes on your smart phone from anywhere.
If you’re like most of us pet parents, we often wonder
if our dog is active enough or maybe we fret because it seems like we’ve been
dispensing treats too loosely lately. We want to keep our dogs as healthy and
active as possible for as long as possible. Well, smart technology now allows
us to keep tabs on our pets’ health and well-being on a whole new level.
Fitness trackers, like FitBark, easily attach to a collar and monitors your
dog’s daily activity level, calories burned, distance traveled and even quality
of sleep. The nice thing about this device is it can be linked with your Fitbit,
Apple’s Healthkit or Google’s Fit, so all the info for you and your dog is
stored in the same place that you can access at any time.
So smart technology lets us stay connected to our pets
when we’re away and track their fitness, what more could we possibly need for
our beloved fur babies? How about technology that optimizes their sleep? Petrics’
Smart Pet Bed is just the thing. It features smart automatic and manual climate
control to provide your pet the optimum resting state. The settings can be
based on user preferences or based on breed, environment or geographic
location. In addition to being able to control the bed’s settings with your
smart phone, this bed can be synced with your other smart home devices, like
Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Home.
While smart technology may keep us virtually connected
and more informed about our pets, nothing can replace the time we spend with
them. It’s important not to let this new technology replace our quality time
together, but merely be a supplement to what we already share.