A greater understanding of your dog's behaviour and wellbeing

17th January 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 as 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: displays incidents of 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.

Dr Nick Hill, founder and CEO of Sure Petcare said “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.”

“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.”

Mark Vette, BSc MSc (Hons), Animal Behaviourist and author of bestselling book, Dog Zen, said: “Our dogs’ activity levels, and most importantly the changes in them, can tell us so much about our dogs’ inner lives. With many owners juggling multiple responsibilities and distractions, they can often miss the subtle but important changes in their dogs’ behaviour, which might be early warnings of developing difficulties. With Animo, owners can track changes over time, setting a dog’s behaviour benchmark when they are healthy and watching for any changes in activity level, sleep patterns and eating habits.”

“With four dogs of my own of varying breeds, size, and ages, Animo is an easy and effective way to ensure I’m meeting each of their different needs. We are increasingly used to tracking our own activity and health information using health monitoring devices, and doing this for our dogs is just as important. Animo provides yet another, deeper way we can get an insight into our dearly loved dogs’ lives.”

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. In 2017, UK dog owners spent a whopping $10 billion on general products and services for their animals.

Animo is available to purchase exclusively from Animates stores both online and instore.