My border collie, Danny, charges hard. So hard that he tears cracks in his paw pads. I own two horses, and every morning and evening during chores, Danny sprints laps around the barn with decided ferocity. I鈥檒l hear gravel bouncing off the walls as he cranks around the corners with the kind of intensity that can be unsettling to folks who鈥檝e never witnessed a border collie at full throttle.聽
But I never knew just how hard Danny got after it until recently. In the past few years, a handful of trackers designed specifically for dogs have hit the gadget market. While all of them record activity levels, some (like FitBark) are essentially Fitbit for canines, while others (like PetPace and Voyce) are about helping you or your vet get a better understanding of your dog鈥檚 health. With Danny, I discovered that he has a maximum heart rate of 158 and runs more than a mile each time we do chores鈥攅nough to make him more active than 98 percent of all dogs using FitBark. Here鈥檚 what you can learn from each device.
Whistle GPS
In addition to logging activity, the alerts you when your dog leaves an established zone and tracks his location as long as he鈥檚 in cell range. $80, plus monthly plan from $7聽
PetPace
The collar tracks biometrics like respiration, pulse, temperature, and calories burned. The app is a little buggy, but the reports can help identify problems early. $150, plus $15 monthly plan
FitBark
The clips to any collar and weighs less than the other devices here. Dogs go head-to-head on BarkPoints, a murky metric similar to steps, in FitBark鈥檚 active social-media community. $70
Voyce Health Monitor
Tracks your dog鈥檚 vitals and records distance鈥攖he only one here to do so. Bummer: there鈥檚 no app, so you have to view the data on 鈥檚 website. $199, plus $9.50 monthly plan