Sniffing out the best pet-care technology
Smartphones have become the go-to tool for hailing a car and ordering delivery food. But summoning a dog walker? That could take some getting used to.
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A growing number of startups offer apps and gadgets that help you take care of your pets. So-called pet tech — yes, it’s a thing — includes automatic treat dispensers, surveillance cameras embedded with laser pointers to remotely play with your pets and apps that connect you with a dog walker or sitter with the tap of a button.
Be warned: A majority of pet tech products are ineffective gimmicks that probably aren’t worth your money. I tested many and found only several to be occasionally useful: an app for hiring dog walkers, an app for boarding your pet at someone’s house, and a pet location tracker.
Unsurprisingly, pet tech is still a nascent market. In 2016, Americans spent $66.75 billion on pet products, according to the American Pet Products Association. While the biggest chunk was devoted to pet food, pet owners spent $14.75 billion on supplies including beds, collars, leashes, bowls and, among all that, pet tech accessories.
In the end, pet owners will probably agree that technology isn’t an adequate substitute for human companionship. But some products are nice to have just in case you are pressed for time.
What follows are the products that did — and did not — make the cut after I tested them on my pet corgi, Max Fischer, and my cat, Cuddy.
The best pet tech
Of the many pet products I tested, a few stood out: Wag, an app for hiring a dog walker — but only in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle and New York — DogVacay, which is billed as an Airbnb for dog boarding and which has many listings in Sarasota and Manatee counties; and Whistle, a tracker for monitoring your pet’s location.
DogVacay is an app that lets you board your dog at a person’s home rather than a traditional boarding service. Hosts name their price and you can search for them based on their location and dates of availability. It took one try to find a host who could board Max for a day, and the overall experience was smooth. After booking and paying $60 for the boarding, I dropped Max off for his slumber party.
While testing Wag and DogVacay, I found the pet GPS tracker Whistle to be a useful tool for making sure dog walkers and sitters were actually doing their jobs. (Call me detail-oriented.)
The $80 GPS tracker fits snugly around a pet’s collar and communicates with a smartphone app that displays the pet’s location on a map. The gadget also logs the amount of time a pet is physically active, similar to a Fitbit. Using Whistle, I was delighted to see that my DogVacay hosts spent over two hours playing with Max in Buena Vista Park.
The Whistle website shows that the product works nationally and requires a cellular contract of $7 to $10 a month, depending on length of contract.
Subpar pet tech
Pet owners can immediately cross these items off the list: pet cams, automatic food dispensers and the app Rover.
The webcam I tested, Petcube, includes a Wi-Fi connection and a built-in laser pointer. When you view the live video feed of your pet through the app, just tap wherever you want the laser to land. Presumably your pet will chase the laser, so when you are procrastinating at work, you can remotely play with your furry companion.
That’s the theory, at least. Max and Cuddy are apparently daytime narcoleptics who couldn’t care less about a laser. And, in the end, paying for the $200 Petcube will probably make you regret that you didn’t buy a superior all-around webcam, like the $200 NestCam, which can be used as a full-time home security camera and a part-time pet camera.
A Petcube spokeswoman said the product was a high-quality camera and its laser pointer was a central feature that people use to play with their pets.
I also used a generic automatic pet food dispenser for about a year with Cuddy. Not only did the product’s motor eventually die, but the bowl was often full of food because my cat refused to eat her kibble unless I fed her myself. Even cats are social creatures, and they grow attached to the hand that feeds them.
Finally, Rover is similar to the dog-walker-summoning app Wag — except rough to use. Rather than automatically matching you with a walker, Rover makes you browse through a directory of walkers, ask them whether they are available on a certain date and wait for a response. The experience is reminiscent of booking a first appointment with a primary care physician.
Rover has announced it would acquire DogVacay, combining the services and resources of the two apps. Let’s hope that the merger results in a better overall product.
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