Technology is slowly but surely changing the dynamics of the human-pet relationship. A virtual cornucopia of tech products designed for dogs and the people who love them have hit the market. Which gives pet parents the opportunity to enrich their dog’s lives in innumerable ways.
Social media sensation, Bunny the Talking Dog, is a poster child for pet tech. The enterprising Sheepadoodle learned to use a soundboard with specialized buttons that, when pressed, speak words that reflect Bunny’s needs, wishes and desires (think food, outside, play, good, Mom, etc.). Bunny has even learned to string these words together to create sentences, which reveals aspects of her intelligence that might have otherwise gone undetected.
Talking buttons are just one example of how tech helps people protect and connect with their canine companions. Check out this variety of pet tech gadgets, devices and digital programs that can help you keep your dog safe, healthy and engaged.
High Tech Pet Products: Passing Fad, or Here to Stay?
Gadgets that are gimmicky and clever but don’t enhance a dog’s life or improve their relationships aren’t likely to gain permanent foothold in the pet product marketplace.
But among the duds are some clear gems that stand to benefit dogs and pet parents alike. These empowering inventions are proliferating, which is why the market for innovative pet tech products is likely to keep expanding for quite some time.
Our 6 Favorite Pet Tech Products
After carefully reviewing all the fantastic and fascinating options, we’ve compiled a list of the top six pet tech products for dogs and their humans. The benefits of these technological marvels are undeniable.
Dog Talking Buttons
First made famous by Bunny and her pet parent, Alexis Devine, dog talking buttons are opening new and exciting lines of communication between dogs and their humans. Dogs finally have a means for verbalizing their needs and desires in a language their two-legged loved ones can understand. Meanwhile, humans who train their dogs to use talking button technology to “speak” are learning much more about dog cognition and intellectual processing than they’d ever dreamed was possible.
The top dog talking button systems include:
- FluentPet. This is perhaps the most well-known talking button system on the market since it’s the one used by Bunny and Alexis. The FluentPet starter kit comes with six sound buttons and three colorful HexTiles that serve as mounting platforms, and the system can easily be expanded as your dog’s knowledge of English grows.
- Hunger for Words Talking Pet Starter Kit. This simple yet successful system was designed by speech therapist Christina Hunger, who developed the talking button concept in coordination with Stella, the world’s first talking dog. The Hunger for Words starter kit includes four large, colorful and easy-to-press buttons, but that number can be expanded as your dog expands their vocabulary.
- Talking Products Voice Recordable Talking Tiles Sound Buttons. This six-button system is customizable rather than preprogrammed, meaning you pick its messages. It allows you to record up to 80 seconds of audio in your voice or from a digital device, so you can make the buttons say whatever you’d like your dog to learn.
Smart Collars
Smart collars for dogs are furnished with wireless devices that continually transmit data that you can collect and study at any time. They can also be used to control your dog’s movements by creating safe zones.
A dog smart collar will remotely connect to a mobile app on your phone, allowing you to track your dog’s current movements via GPS. Most smart collars also allow you to add virtually fenced-in areas that your dog can’t leave without your permission. Should they stray too far, the smart collar will warn them with a buzz, a vibration, a sound, or a pulse that encourages them to reverse course.
Smart collars are incredibly versatile. In addition to allowing you to monitor and control your dog’s movements, they can also record meaningful behavioral patterns and check your dog’s heart rate to make sure they aren’t overstressed. Through a smart collar, you can keep a constant watch on their mental and physical health from any distance, and if anything seems out of the ordinary, you’ll know about it right away.
