The project, which focuses on the support of a dog owner for working with his dog. Dogs take an increasing share in the social life of people and there are more and more of them in cities. Increase in the number of these animals do not go hand in hand with an increase in knowledge about dogs, ability to deal with dogs, etc. Most of the solutions of common problems with dogs on the market can be compared to a remote controller, pressed to turn on or off any dog behavior, eg. using some kind of violence (spikes, electric collar...). Mistakes in the application of these solutions, or simply weak reflexes, may aggravate the behavior, as well as cause physical harm to the animal. The aim is to create a solution that improve communication between the dog and its owner, a helpful in training, but not giving direct power to influence the dog.
Currently, the project consists of two products:
1. Leash designed to help in teaching looseleash walking by "early warning" that the dog will stretch before he will do it, which significantly affects the speed of learning (faster is to teach your dog by preventing unwanted behavior, rather than correcting it after fact). The second element of this idea is to vary a stimulus experienced by dog owner if the problem of pulling the leash is unresolved for many years, than people unconsciously ignore it. Vibration of leash helps people pay attention to changes changes in the leash tension.
2. Heart rate monitor connected with the application (that collects the information and create statistics) and bracelet (informing a dog owner through the vibration that the dog's heart rate changed).
Dog’s heart rate quickly reacts to changes around, so change in heart rate can be used to determine potentially dangerous situations that are comming. This can be used to warn dog owner, about something he doesn’t see (eg. when someone’s dog chase after a cyclist, and there is a hard to see bike comming at night because dogs see better than humans in the dark, they will notice it faster). The device can also help with understanding the signals send by dogs, which is essential and very difficult.
Most important in this project is to create symmetric solutions and focus on the educational aspect that is covered by tips in application. It will help gather information, observe progress and to respond more quickly. It is expected to lead to improved quality of life with a dog, both for the owner and his entourage. Purpose of this tool is to help with cooperation with dog, reduce the burden and get rid of some doubts using electronics. Of course it is not the magic and without work of dog owner, nothing will change. There are projects with certain elements of the solution, such as Dog pulse, which was inspiration to use a heart rate monitor, or Tactilu “Bracelet for remote tactile communication.”, but either they are not related to dogs, or have only a scientific value, and can not be used in everyday work. As far as I know, this project is innovative. Existing solutions allow you to track your dog (eg. GPS), feed him remotely or automatically keep a pet within a set of predefined boundaries (using a mild electronic shock delivered by an electronic collar). Besides the parts related to the software, the entire project, including the theoretical foundations is realized by me.
Motto: If a dog can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.
Support:
Project promoter Aga Szóstek
Humanistic promoter Dawid Wiener
Technology Consulting Wiesław Bartkowski
Garment support Marzena Jagielska
