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FitBark Dog Activity Monitor


FitBark is a colourful bone-shaped health and fitness tracker for dogs, which attaches to their collar to monitor their daily activity and sleep patterns. 

When we help our dogs be healthy, we’re more likely to achieve our own goals. FitBark is a new way of understanding your dog’s health and making better decisions regarding living an active lifestyle. 


HOW TO SET UP YOUR FITBARK

Even for the technology-challenged, we found the set-up process could not be any easier…

1. Fix the FitBark onto the collar 

When you wrap the elastic band around your dog's collar, pull the FitBark away about 2cms until you hear two "clicks". 
This ensures that you have secured your FitBark correctly. 

Note: The FitBark will fit collars no wider than 3cm, so if you have a large breed or like extra wide collars, this may not work for you. Or you will need to be creative to secure it!

2. Fully charge your FitBark

Plug your FitBark into the micro USB connector provided and charge on your computer for 90 minutes. You could start with this first but there's no need to remove the FitBark from the collar. A battery charge should last anywhere between one to two weeks.


3. Download the free app

You will need to set up your Personal User Profile - you will receive an introductory video and some daily tips to get you started - and the process only takes a few minutes. 

Then you will create your Dog Profile including a picture (you can take a new one or use one saved on your phone) and name for social sharing purposes.

Additional details regarding your dog’s gender, age, weight, breed, whether he/she is desexed, pre-existing medical conditions will all help determine your dog's individual optimal exercise requirements.


4. Sharing your dog profile 

If you know someone who also owns a FitBark, you could choose to invite another user (a family member, friend or your vet) to follow your dog and you can even write journal posts. Tapping on your dog's name at the top of the screen will open up the Menu where you can Manage Users, Privacy Options (letting other users find your dog's profile or not), edit Daily Goal / Sleep or Distance Settings etc.

HOW DOES THE FITBARK ACTIVITY MONITOR WORK?

Big day for an averagely active dog!

Your dog’s FitBark is an activity monitor which measures BarkPoints or activity counts which were developed in line with best veterinarian practices.

Thanks to the latest improvements in the app, it now also tracks the kilometres walked and the calories expanded which makes it a lot easier for us to understand!

Through their FitBark your dog is anonymously contributing health data that helps other dogs and their owners. Within this framework, the default goal is currently calibrated on an averagely active dog.

You can decide which lifestyle you would like for your dog.


Having the FitBark helps us because we can set goals for Aramis and it reminds us to take a break from the computer and get out with her to help her reach those activity goals (and our own fitness goals). 

There are three goal levels with FitBark:
  • Average: 7,500 BarkPoints: (lots of snuggle time, couple of walks a day, in the 50% percentile)
  • Active: 10,300 BarkPoints: (adventurous, always playtime, in the 75% percentile)
  • Olympian: 13,500 BarkPoints: (never stops going, full speed ahead, in the 90% percentile)

Looking at our recent log, what we felt was a very active day for us resulted in only 9,156 BarkPoints and 9.83km so not sure that too many dogs would reach the Olympian status!
A very active day: 120% of daily target!

If you really want to know how your dog has spent their day, you can drill into the details.

The more our dog moves, the more points she collects. Your dog gets no points (or very few points) for resting.

Each minute of her daily life is allocated into one of three buckets (rest, active and play). You can think of “rest” as your dog sleeping, “active” as your dog moving slowly, and “play” as your dog walking or running. A game of chasey or a long walk will burn a lot of BarkPoints!

FitBark will collect data 24/7 and sync whenever your dog is within the Bluetooth range of an authorised Smartphone. Indoors, this range equates to a couple of rooms, whereas outdoors you should be able to sync from a distance of at least 15-30 metres.

FitBark stores activity information in its memory for up to 4 weeks before its internal memory fills up if you have forgotten to sync regularly.


TECHNICAL SPECS

  • Weight: 8 grams
  • Dimensions: 41 x 28 x 11 mm (curved design)
  • Compatible with iOS (Bluetooth 4.0 running iOS 10 and above) and Android (Bluetooth 4.0 running Android 5.0 and above). 
  • Available in 3 colours: Blue, Grey, Red (in Australia)

FitBark’s waterproof specification is IPX7 (up to 1 metre and 30 minutes) so there’s no need to remove it from your dog’s collar before a quick dip in the pool or at the beach, perfect for our Australian climate. Just make sure that the rubber cap at the back (protecting the USB connection) is securely closed.

WHAT WE LIKED

FitBark will work for dogs of any breed, size and weight. The device is so light that our dog does not even notice its presence. Contrary to other activity monitors, it works worldwide and there are no monthly fees.


Note: Made of high-impact polycarbonate, the new FitBark2 is even more durable and the way you attach it to your dog's collar has also improved (now using Zip Ties), making it a lot more secure. 

The battery life has also been extended to 6 months which is a big improvement.

Since we first started using the FitBark app in late November 2015, we feel it has improved drastically and it's now much more user-friendly. Your can now link your own Fitbit, Apple HealthKit or Google Fit device and review progress side-by-side.

You will receive a detailed weekly progress report based on the data collected which gives you a great insight into how much activity/sleep your dog is getting to help you decide what could be improved.

If you have multiple dogs using a FitBark (they will need one each), you can create multiple dog profiles all linked to one account and you will receive only one combined report with a "Top Dog Leaderboard" to keep everyone motivated!

PRICE & WHERE TO BUY

RRP: $107.00
from www.worldforpets.com.au


Last updated 5th February 2018
Disclaimer: product supplied by FitBark (USA) for editorial consideration.
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