PetPace 2.0: Vet-Grade AI-Powered Dog Collar for Continuous Health Monitoring
DVM 360 // March 5, 2024
Sydney Yankowicz, Assistant Editor
PetPace, a wearable pet technology company based in Burlington, Massachusetts, develops AI-driven devices that aim to transform pet health monitoring. The company’s team includes veterinarians, Internet of Things (IoT) specialists, engineers, algorithm developers, and data scientists who collaborate to create products for continuous health tracking. Their latest device, the PetPace 2.0 collar, delivers real-time medical insights about a dog’s physiological status and behavior so owners and veterinary professionals can detect issues earlier and monitor recovery more effectively.
What the PetPace 2.0 Measures
The PetPace 2.0 smart collar continuously collects multiple biometric and behavioral metrics. Rather than relying on a single measurement, it integrates several indicators to give a fuller picture of a dog’s condition. Key recorded metrics include:
- Internal temperature
- Pulse
- Respiratory rate
- Heart rate variability
- Behavior tracking
- Sleep quality
- Activity (calories burned)
- Posture
According to the company, the collar can also provide GPS tracking. The combination of continuous vital sign monitoring and behavioral analytics is intended to give pet owners and clinicians objective data about a dog’s baseline health, sudden changes, and trends over time.
“It is a dog’s natural instinct to mask their pain and discomfort until the disease has progressed,” said Asaf Dagan, DVM, DAVBP, CVA, and co‑founder of PetPace, in a company release. “PetPace’s proprietary continuous monitoring of critical biometrics enables the early detection of health problems that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. Other smart collars measure only a few vital signs, which are insufficient to accurately determine a dog’s overall wellness or early warning signs.”
Wellness Scores and Clinical Backing
As data accumulates from the collar, PetPace 2.0 can generate a wellness score that summarizes the dog’s overall condition for owners to review. The company states the product is backed by clinical studies and university research. One published study in Frontiers in Pain Research examined the collar’s ability to detect differences in activity and physiological variables between healthy and osteoarthritic dogs, suggesting the device may help identify signs of chronic conditions such as osteoarthritis by tracking trends and deviations from normal patterns.
By monitoring multiple indicators simultaneously, the collar is designed to alert owners and veterinarians to changes that might otherwise be missed during occasional clinic visits. Remote and continuous monitoring can enable earlier veterinary intervention, more informed remote assessments, and better tracking of treatment responses in the pet’s natural environment.
“Tracking trends and changes across a range of health indicators can alert an owner when something is wrong with their pet’s health, prompting them to bring their dog to a veterinarian before the situation becomes more serious. It also enables the veterinarian to remotely assess the pet’s condition using objective and accurate data in its natural setting,” Dagan added.
Case Example: Acute Injury and Recovery Monitoring
The PetPace 2.0 collar was used to monitor Moli, a 4‑year‑old spayed female Siberian Husky, after she sustained injuries in a car accident on November 11, 2023. The collar recorded acute changes associated with pain and distress during the injury and then documented gradual improvement as Moli received treatment, which included antibiotics and pain medication. Her wounds were described as scraping injuries and bruising on the left hind leg and inner thigh. According to the company report, Moli’s vital signs and activity levels returned to normal within a few days, and the collar’s continuous data captured both the acute event and the recovery trajectory.
“This case underscores the accuracy and value of the PetPace collar in detecting health issues quickly, followed by tracking treatment efficacy and eventual recovery and return to normal levels,” Dagan said.
“Seeing Moli’s vitals helped us monitor her condition in the hours after the injury, making sure she was not in a life‑threatening situation, and then giving us peace of mind in knowing that her recovery was moving forward as expected,” Moli’s owner, Ayelet Ben‑Zvi, stated.
Availability and Use
The company offers the AI smart collars through its product channels. Pet owners and veterinary teams interested in continuous remote monitoring may find the product useful for early detection of illness, postoperative monitoring, chronic disease management, and objective behavior tracking.
References
- PetPace launches PetPace 2.0, the only vet‑grade AI‑powered canine pet collar providing continuous life‑saving medical insights for vets, researchers and pet owners. News release. PetPace. March 4, 2024.
- Rowlison de Ortiz A, Belda B, Hash J, Enomoto M, Robertson J, Lascelles BDX. Initial exploration of the discriminatory ability of the PetPace collar to detect differences in activity and physiological variables between healthy and osteoarthritic dogs. Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2022;3:949877. doi:10.3389/fpain.2022.949877
- Acute pain monitoring in a Husky: From hit‑by‑car injury to full recovery with PetPace. PetPace. December 10, 2023.