PetPace Smart Collar: Continuous Health Monitoring for Dogs
While PetPace looks like an ordinary dog collar, it functions as a medical-grade wearable. Built-in sensors continuously record body temperature, pulse, activity, caloric expenditure and additional vital signs. That data is transmitted to an app so pet owners and veterinarians can review a dog’s condition at any time. If the system detects an anomaly, it sends alerts to both the pet parent and the veterinarian — a capability Dr. Asaf Dagan, a veterinarian and co-founder, designed to fill a gap he observed in clinical practice.
Why continuous monitoring matters
As a practicing vet, Dr. Dagan noticed animals often arrive at the clinic in advanced stages of illness because owners didn’t recognize early symptoms. “A pet’s instinct is to hide their weaknesses,” he says. “In nature, if you show any weakness, you’re not going to do well.” PetPace addresses this by providing objective, continuous measurements that reveal subtle changes long before they become obvious, effectively giving owners an early warning system.
Versions and accuracy
PetPace currently offers two collar versions: a consumer model for pet owners and a more feature-rich edition for veterinary hospitals. The company reports an accuracy level of approximately 90 percent, comparable to medical devices used for humans. “We did extensive validation tests on sick and healthy dogs,” Dr. Dagan explains. “We worked in collaboration with leading veterinary institutes and specialists and our results are very good right now.”
Data analytics and interpretation
The collar’s value grows over time because its analytics compare current measurements against historical data for the same dog, against species-specific baselines, and against aggregated datasets. “We have data for hundreds of dogs over thousands and thousands of hours,” says Dr. Dagan. Sophisticated algorithms translate this large volume of raw sensor output into actionable information, highlighting deviations that warrant attention.
Because the information is rich and medically oriented, the company requires veterinarian involvement when selling collars to individual owners. Veterinarians have access to full medical-grade datasets and can help interpret results for everyday care — a distinction Dr. Dagan emphasizes when comparing PetPace to activity-only trackers such as Whistle. “They just follow activity. We take it one step further and put it in a medical context,” he says.
Cost and value of prevention
The consumer collar costs $150 with an annual subscription of $180 (available through the company’s online store). While that represents an upfront expense, preventive monitoring can reduce long-term veterinary costs: according to American Pet Products, owners spend an average of $852 per visit to the vet. Dr. Dagan notes that many customers view the subscription as affordable health insurance for a family member: “People think that paying $15 per month for the health of their family member is definitely affordable and reasonable.”
Who benefits
PetPace is especially useful for pets with preexisting conditions, but it also helps apparently healthy dogs by revealing hidden problems. “A lot of diseases go undetected,” Dr. Dagan says. “Obvious things like obesity and dental disease, but also more complicated issues like early kidney insufficiency, early diabetes, osteoarthritis. A lot of owners think their dog is just getting older and slowing down, but in fact they’re having joint degeneration, and they can be made to feel better by medication.” Continuous data makes it possible to catch these trends earlier and intervene sooner.
Product roadmap
Development continues: the company is working on new generations of the collar with additional sensors and expanded diagnostic capabilities, including the ability to detect seizure activity. PetPace has already adapted the device for cats, and plans to broaden species support over time. “It’s a revolution in preventative medicine,” Dr. Dagan says. “People are really amazed by what PetPace does.”
Real-world validation
One practical endorsement comes from Dr. Dagan’s own golden retriever, who has worn a PetPace collar for two years as one of the company’s primary test dogs. He calls her “the perfect test dog,” joking that “she really earns her keep!” The combination of continuous monitoring, veterinary oversight, and data-driven alerts aims to shift pet care from reactive to preventive, helping owners and vets keep animals healthier for longer.