Happy dogs and happy owners: using dog activity monitoring technology in everyday life

Abstract

Today, the markets are populated with dozens of devices for dog activity tracking and monitoring. Our aim was to get detailed insights on how dog owners use these devices in their everyday life. Two studies, an interview study with Finnish dog owners (N=7) and an international online questionnaire (N=35) were done to capture the motivations for using dog activity trackers, their utility, user experience, gained insights, and impacts of use. The results showed that the use of the devices was motivated by monitoring health, behavior, learning related issues, and by balancing the amount of activity and rest to an appropriate level. The tracker inspired the owners to spend more time with the dog and to be more observant to his/her behavior. In return, this had the potential to improve their relationship. The owners wanted to keep their dog happy, and in turn, perceiving the dog as happy made the owners happy. Based on the results, we also briefly discuss development needs for dog activity monitoring solutions.