Meet WÜF, The World’s Smartest Dog Collar
How cool is this collar?
It seems like every time you turn around, there’s another awesome pet product up for funding on Kickstarter (and we’re definitely not complaining!).
The latest ingenious invention we’ve come across is the WÜF smart collar, a device that attaches to your dog’s collar or harness and transmits data directly to your smartphone.
The WÜF collar is equipped with all kinds of cool features like GPS, a motion sensing unit, Bluetooth, a speaker and a microphone. All the features combine to make what its creators are calling “the World’s Smartest Dog Collar”.
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The idea for WÜF came about after a sad turn of events — the company founder’s dachshund mix Roxie ran away in pursuit of a squirrel, got lost in the dark and heartbreakingly, was hit by a car. Knowing that 4 million dogs run away in the United States each year and wishing that they’d had a reliable way to track down Roxie before the worst occurred, the inspiration for WÜF was born.
That said, “No more lost dogs” is just the beginning of what WÜF’s creators hope to achieve. They did their homework about the relationship we have with our pups when deciding which features to incorporate into the collar.
Want to track your dog’s fitness level and see how much exercise they’re getting? The built-in 6-axis accelerometer captures the full range of your pup’s activity and you can learn about what activities they like the most. The best part? All the information will be transmitted straight to a beautifully designed smartphone app via built-in Bluetooth technology. And get this — based on your dog’s age, weight and daily activity level, the WÜF app will give you daily guidelines on how much to feed your dog, so you never have to wonder if you’re giving them too much or too little.
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The GPS (beyond providing tracking capabilities if your pooch wanders off) allows you to set up geo-fencing, so anytime your dog goes past the invisible geo-barriers you set (say, if they get more than 100 feet from your yard), you’ll get a notification on your phone. And of course, using the GPS, you’ll be able to track them down in no time.
The built-in speaker and microphone will also allow you to communicate with your dog from anywhere via your smartphone. On your way home and want to send a “Hey boy, see you soon!” message? WÜF can help you do that.
You can also use the technology to set up what the WÜF creators call an “invisible leash”: use the GPS to set a perimeter around you and take advantage of the two-way audio, vibration and included training program. When your dog approaches the perimeter, they’ll receive a series of commands to stop, listen and come back to you. Neat, right?
The collar will use the same technology to institute training plans for your pup and to help the two of you play games using their collar and your smartphone. Think geo-caching with you and your dog working together or an augmented reality role-playing game with you and your pooch as the main characters. Again, very cool!
The WÜF collar is bite-proof, waterproof and shockproof and comes in orange and gray. It also comes in small, medium and large to accommodate dogs of all sizes.
You can pledge as little as $5 all the way up to $10,000 with a variety of perks at each pledge level. To be first to get your hands on the WÜF collar, you’ll need to donate a minimum of $99 to the Kickstarter fund, which will get you a gray one of the WÜF.
So, are you ready to WÜF? Head on over to their Kickstarter page to find out more!
The campaign runs until December 29, 2014 and right now, they’re a little under halfway to their $50,000 funding goal, so go show them a little love!
What do you think? Would you be interested in getting a WÜF collar for your pup?
Christina Peden is a lifelong animal lover and avid wordsmith. She lives in Toronto with her boyfriend Ryan where they are proud pet parents to puppy, Matilda and cat, Oscar. In her spare time, she can be found enjoying Toronto, Canada's all-too-short patio season, taking advantage of the city's numerous parks or curled up with a good book.
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