Prepare yourself, because there’s a whole heap of cuteness heading your way, and you may not be emotionally prepared to see our team’s four-legged friends look quite so dapper as they take their new jobs as product reviewers and models very seriously.
We’re an inquisitive bunch at GLAMOUR HQ, and our pooches are no different, which is why, when we decided to extend our 5 People Test series to our pets, five noble doggos raised their paws to volunteer.
To kick things off, we’re starting with the PitPat Activity Monitor, £39 – the doggy answer to a FitBit. It attaches to your dog’s collar and reports back on steps taken, distance covered and calories burnt via bluetooth to an app on your phone. So, is it the ultimutt in doggy devices? Here’s what happened when our team tried it out…
Monty, age 3, Working Cocker Spaniel
Reviewed by: Serena, GLAMOUR’s Executive Assistant
“I would highly recommend PitPat for those wanting to track their dogs daily exercise. The setup process was very simple with no hassle at all. All you have to do is attach the velcro PitPat monitor onto your dog’s collar and then connect it up to the app. It’s small and subtle so Monty doesn’t even realise it’s on his collar.
Once you’ve downloaded the app, you then input the breed and age of your dog which generates a daily exercise goal. For Monty, he was given 90 minutes a day, which has been a great goal to work towards, even keeping me more fit too! (It’s a great way to encourage the owner to get out as well).
The app differentiates between “running”, “walking” and “playing” time, as well as tracking calories burned and miles accomplished each time you scan and check the app.
We have been on a few walks using PitPat and Garmin at the same time, and it’s been very interesting to see how many miles we walked in comparison to Monty running around on the same walk. We even used it for the dog walker and it was a great way to track how much exercise he had done with them – it’s a comfort to know he’s actually being walked. Thanks to PitPat, we’ve been taking Monty on longer walks as it’s a relief knowing he’s been satisfied each day. He’s even sleeping better now. I’m sure he’s been very pleased since it arrived!”
Rating: 9/10
Teddy, age 4, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Reviewed by: Bianca, GLAMOUR’s Web Director
“Teddy loves the PitPat and uses it every day – it actually makes me walk him more. After a sneaky recent weight gain, it’s so important for Teddy to be active, so I love how the PitPat has given us some motivation. It’s very easy to set up and automatically tracks his steps if connected to his harness and collar. It’s great to see how much he’s walking, running and playing. The only drawback we noticed was that it didn’t pick up some of Teddy’s running (maybe he’s a slow runner?). At the end of each day, it uses bluetooth to sync so you can see how much exercise they are doing really easily. I find it fascinating.”
Rating: 8/10
Pepsi, age 6, Small Cockerpoo
Reviewed by: Camilla, GLAMOUR’s Publishing Director
“The tracker is light and Pepsi wasn’t bothered by it at all. You have to input all your dog’s vitals (size, weight and breed) for it to generate a target of how much they should walk a day. In Pepsi’s case this was 40 minutes of exercise daily. Since I’m the main person who walks her, I’m already aware of Pepsi’s daily activity as she does it all with me.
Once out Pepsi loves to run, especially through hedgerows and bushes, flushing out squirrels, birds or rabbits which must be the cocker spaniel part of her. I know that a short 20 min walk on a lead around the block is not enough exercise for her. If that’s all she gets (some days that’s all we have time for) she bounces around like mad at home and hassles and whines to go out, whereas if she has a good run of 40-60 minutes in a park or field, then she’s happy to sleep and relax for the rest of the day once home.
Updating the activity monitor after a walk (which told me she had completed 100 minutes outside, broken down into 40 minutes of running, 50 minutes of walking and 10 minutes of playing) felt a bit redundant as I’d been with her for the walk so I knew that already. If the tool had more in-depth analytics like vitals on her heart rate that would have been more useful.
She gets very stressed when left alone, especially after the year of lockdown we’ve just had so it would have been interesting to know how quickly she settled down after I left the house by checking her heart rate.
Where this device would be brilliant, is if your partner takes the dog for a walk and is anything like mine and ends up in the pub at the end of the road – then I guess it’s a great spy device as you’d be able to see that they’ve only walked for 10 minutes. However, if you’re the one doing the walking, your dog will tell you what they need.
Rating: 5/10
Bagheera, age 1, Pug-Shih Tzu
Reviewed by: Lottie, GLAMOUR’s Beauty Editor
“Bagheera is paralysed in his back legs, so I’m always conscious of how much playtime he’s getting to make sure he’s not becoming bored, as well as making sure he’s getting adequate rest (he had a big operation on his spine a few months ago, so he has to take it easy!).
PitPat is a great way of monitoring his rest, as well as the distances he’s doing in his wheelchair. He’s currently only allowed to do 15 minutes per day in his wheels, but I can’t wait to use the PitPat for longer adventures in the future. The only, major, downside is that PitPat uses natural gait movements of the dog to measure activity levels and determine between running and walking. Bagheera doesn’t have any natural gait, so the device isn’t really able to tell me how he’s covering these distances. It knows he’s moving but it can’t register it as running. Luckily, I have another dog, Winnie, who can enjoy PitPat in its full functionality.
Rating: 7/10