Just how lazy is your cat or dog? You can find out by clipping a Tractive Motion pet activity tracker to its collar and syncing the data it collects to your phone via Bluetooth.
It was with a heavy, though unsurprised, heart that I learned my dog basically flatlines when I’m not home. On an average day, she gets up from her sunny spot on the carpet, nails clicking and clacking like a metronome on the hardwood floors, to lap some water from her dish, twice in about eight hours. Other than that, she sleeps. I know because I clipped a Tractive Motion activity tracker to her collar for about 10 days. Think of the $59.99 Tractive Motion like a Fitbit, but for your cat or dog. It’s fairly priced and will give you a good idea of just how active your pet is (or isn’t) , but it lacks some of the features you get with pricier GPS/Wi-Fi models.
The Tractive Motion tracks how much total activity your pet gets in a day, alongside a few other statistics such as temperature and ambient light, then syncs that data to an app on your smartphone. It doesn’t have GPS for finding your pet if it goes missing, like the Link AKC or Whistle 3. UK-based Tractive does make several devices for that purpose, but they don’t work in the United States due to the shutdown of our 2G networks.
Because the Tractive Motion only uses Bluetooth, you need to be physically present with your phone in order to get updates. That means if you’re out of town and someone else is watching your pet, you can’t check your phone and know when the job is done, or remind your neighbor that you haven’t seen any spikes in activity.
The Link AKC and Whistle 3, on the other hand, include GPS location tracking and sync via Wi-Fi. That means the app will update periodically, no matter where you are. The FitBark tracker doesn’t use Wi-Fi, but does update to the internet (and thus its smartphone app) while in contact with an optional base station in your home. With those devices, if you share dog-walking responsibilities with other people, you’ll know when and for how long they took the dog out, even when you’re not home. You can also track the walk on a map. Then again, they all cost significantly more than the Tractive Motion, and the Link AKC and Whistle 3 require GPS subscription fees.
The tracker itself is a small (0.59 by 1.9 by 0.35 inches, HWD) rechargeable device with an OLED display on the front. You pop it into a rubbery silicon clip, available in black, that attaches to your pet’s collar. It weighs just 0.25-ounce and is recommended for cats and dogs four pounds and up.
It comes with a USB cradle for recharging. One full charge lasted about five days in testing. A single button on the device lets you see your pet’s activity score for the current day, as well as forces a sync with your phone. In addition to tracking motion, the device also measures ambient light and temperature.
In the 10 days or so Midgie wore the tracker, she managed to scratch the display. The devices from Whistle and FitBark, on the other hand, have no display, but are more rugged.
To use the Tractive Motion, you need to the free Android or iOS app to see the data it collects. The main screen shows how much activity your pet has gotten so far in the current day; swipe through to see screens with other details.
I found the app a bit unintuitive to use. Every time I launched it and started digging into my data, I would forget how to return to the home screen, where it gives you a summary of your pet’s activity for the current day. Once there, however, it gives you a good idea of when your pet is (and isn’t) active, which is helpful in gaining an overall snapshot of its health.
Another one of the metrics the app measures, ambient light, wasn’t particularly useful for me, as my Pekingese is very furry, and the Motion simply disappeared into her fluff. As a result, the app reported almost no ambient light all day long, which simply wasn’t true. This shouldn’t be problem for pets with shorter hair, however.
Similarly, the temperature readings for Midgie held fairly steady, even when I took her outside, because the Motion was nestled deep in her hair. I have to assume the readings were somewhere between her body temperature and the outside air (her constant average was 91 degrees Fahrenheit) . Temperature could be an important reading in the dog days of summer. Being able to see if it spikes on a hot day when I’m not home would be very beneficial and might help me decide when to turn on the air conditioning.
The Tractive Motion pet activity monitor records how much movement your cat or dog gets in a day, and syncs via Bluetooth to your phone, where it then charts the information in an app. It’s useful data for an affordable price, though I would prefer the use of Wi-Fi over Bluetooth so I could check in when I’m not home. The Link AKC and the Whistle 3 both add GPS and Wi-Fi, but come at a significant increase in price. So if you’re looking for a very simple pet tracker, the Tractive Motion is a decent place to start.
Eric Griffith contributed to this review.
