A greater understanding of your dog's behaviour and wellbeing

24th June 2019

Pet product specialist Sure Petcare today announced the launch of Animo, the lifelong activity and behaviour monitor which learns and accurately interprets the unique behaviour and activity patterns of a dog.

Animo delivers insights into a dog’s activity and sleep, as well problem behaviours such as shaking, scratching and barking.  These insights help owners to understand the changing needs of their pet over its lifetime, enabling them to provide proactive and personalised pet care.

Worn on a dog’s collar, Animo comes with three different sized attachment bands, making it suitable for dogs of all sizes.  Weighing just 22g, Animo is lightweight, comfortable and waterproof.  It sits flat against the collar and its “twist and lock” fitting not only makes it easy to attach and detach, but also holds the unit firmly in place.  It operates using a standard coin cell battery which lasts for six months, preventing the need for regular charging.

Animo connects to the Sure Petcare – Animo app via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), where owners can set and monitor daily activity goals for their pet, as well as view their pet’s activity and behaviour reports by day, week, month or year.  The app also provides an hour-by-hour sleep quality report every night, which can be compared against previous nights to easily spot changes in sleep patterns. 

Key features of Animo and the Sure Petcare app include:

• Activity: Set and monitor daily activity goals, check last walked time and view activity reports by day, week, month and year.
• Sleep Quality: Hour-by-hour sleep quality report throughout the night; a poor night’s sleep can be an indication of stress, discomfort or illness
• Calories:  track the calories burnt by your dog and compare this to a recommended daily target based on their breed, age and weight
• Behaviour tracking: notice changes in behaviour such as increased barking, scratching or shaking
• Connect with family and friends: Animo can be synced by any member of your app household and owners can share access to the app with their friends and family.

“We can’t be with our pets 24/7, so we have created Animo to give dog owners a window into their dog’s day: not only to tell them what he gets up to when they’re not around, but more importantly to spot changes in behaviour and activity over time, which may signal changes in their pet’s health and wellbeing.” said Nick Hill, founder and CEO of Sure Petcare.  “Animo is the result of a collaboration between Sure Petcare and our sister company within the Antelliq group.  Over the past 18 months we have combined Antelliq’s world-leading animal monitoring expertise, our pet industry experience and the advice of world-renowned dog behaviourists to create a product which will change the lives of dogs of all breeds, ages and sizes.”

“From the moment Animo is attached to a dog’s collar, its suite of algorithms begins to learn the animal’s unique patterns of movement; accurately interpreting them and reporting their corresponding activity and behaviour types to the owner via our smartphone app.  This means that Animo can tell owners more about their dog than they’ve ever known before - it will be a game changer for the dog tracking market and is far more than an activity monitor, it is the essential lifelong companion for your dog.”

Jon Bowen, Royal Veterinary College vet and animal behaviourist said: “Because we spend so much time with our dogs we think we know how they feel, but the reality is that we often miss things. Our dogs can’t tell us that they are starting to have problems sleeping because they are in pain. They can’t tell us they are getting stressed or upset by something while we are at work, or whether they really go on good long walks with the dog walker. Even when we go on a walk with our dog, we may not notice that they are gradually becoming less playful and energetic, so we don’t detect early signs of health problems like arthritis or heart disease. Using monitoring we can get a much greater insight into what is really going on with our dogs, so we can spot the first signs of a problem. But monitoring isn’t all about picking up signs of poor health; if we monitor our dogs we can aim to make their lives better and more enjoyable. For example, identifying the activities they really like, doing more of those things and making an effort to pack more fun into every walk instead of just plodding. Having said this, the most critical aspect of monitoring is accuracy. This is where products like Animo have a real advantage, because If we are going to take action based on what a monitor tells us, we need to have real confidence in the quality of information.”

Pet tech continues to be a growing industry, with the global market expected to increase to $2.36bn (£1.84bn) by 2022, according to Grand View Research.

Animo is available to purchase online today at surepetcare.com, and in the coming weeks from leading pet retailers for an RRP of $99.99.