- This post contains affiliate links. Read more here.
- Not a substitute for professional veterinary help.
We want the best for our pups: good health, deep sleep, nutritious food—essentially, all the things that ensure a long, happy life together (a hundred years and counting). And what better way to see what’s working and what’s not than a dog fitbit or activity tracker?
We’ve rounded up the best and taken a close look at what distinguishes each model from the others to help you find the right fit to meet your goals.
How To Pick the Best Dog Fitbit or Activity Tracker
While these devices might seem a bit over the top, we’ve found dog activity trackers can be surprisingly effective tools to monitor your dog’s overall well-being.
A lot of pet parents have trouble gauging the amount of exercise their dog is getting (and we count ourselves among them!). A more accurate understanding of the distance you’re covering—and what it means for your pup’s metabolism and calorie intake—can help with weight loss and even behavioral issues. If those are your goals, prioritize a tracker that specializes in step tracking and has an app with an interface specifically for nutrition.
LightFieldStudios via iStock
If you have a dog with allergies or prone to infections, the best dog fitbit might be one with good behavior-monitoring features. It can alert you to changes in your pup’s normal sleep, licking, and scratching routines to help you catch a problem early. We’ve seen activity trackers spot ear infections and even an embedded foxtail before anyone was the wiser.
If you’re looking for a fitness buddy for your own journey, pick an activity tracker that can sync with your own Apple Health or Fitbit app. Or if you have a competitive spirit, try one that lets you see local leaderboards.
If GPS tracking is important to you, you’ll want to make sure there’s good local cell coverage for whatever service provider the device has partnered with. It might be worth starting this from the other direction and choosing the GPS device that has what you need safety-wise, with activity tracking as a secondary priority.
Finally, we say choose the tracker that looks the most fun—after all, we’re at our healthiest when exercise and nutrition are enjoyable. Dog activity trackers are about the journey, not just the results.
Best for Tracking Steps: Fi Smart Collar Series 2
Step counting enthusiasts unite. This dog fitness tracker is great for pet parents who want to monitor their pup’s walks and activity levels but also see the breakdown in steps. Taking breed and size into account, Fi helps you create customizable step goals. And they even have a fun leaderboard where you can compete with other dogs in the community and see how your pup ranks in the region.
As reviewers have pointed out, however, the Fi smart collar doesn’t calculate distance based on total steps. So if you’re romping around with your pup in a smaller area, your step count will be accurate, but your distance will be stagnant (think: 26,000 steps at 0.4 miles). And while the device offers in-depth sleep monitoring, it doesn’t have as wide of a selection of health and behavior tracking as its competitors.
Highlights:
- Comes in four sizes and four colors
- Durable design: chew-proof and waterproof
- Option to add 24/7 GPS tracking
Best for Monitoring Anxiety: FitBark 2 Dog Activity Monitor (Verified Review)
Whether you’re dealing with separation anxiety or just wanting a snapshot of your dog’s comfort levels, the FitBark can help you monitor your pup’s stress and anxiety while you’re away. FitBark’s mobile app offers an hourly view that compares your dog’s anxiety levels when you’re together versus when you’re separated. A clear view of the bigger picture can help you make changes, track progress in your anxiety journey, or simply gain peace of mind.
The FitBark also offers a wide variety of other health insights like calorie levels, distance traveled, and sleep behavior. Reviewers like the user-friendly interface and appreciate that it doesn’t require a subscription. But if you decide you do want GPS, you’ll have to buy a completely different device and commit to subscription fees.
A user-friendly interface links to most human devices like the Apple HealthKit and Fitbit, so pet parents can build healthy habits alongside their pup. Our tester thought the health tracking aspects of the device were strong, but the GPS struggled in rural areas.
Highlights:
- Works with popular human fitness devices
- Comes with a 30-day guarantee and two-year warranty
- Small and lightweight design
Best GPS Combo: Whistle Go Explore (Verified Review)
For pet parents who want it all—detailed health insights and location tracking—the Whistle Go Explore is one of the best dog fitbits on the market. In our testing, we found this device to be super helpful in tracking down one of our own escape artists. By setting up “safe zones” for your pup (like the boundaries of your backyard), the Whistle will alert you when they’ve left the designated areas and provide real-time location tracking to help you find them.
We also found that the app was useful in monitoring elevated levels of licking and scratching, even noticing Rover Test Pup Sabine’s ear infection before her parents did. Another cool feature is the on-demand access to veterinarians, allowing you to chat with professionals about any concerns, potentially saving you money on vet visits.
The only downside is that you need decent AT&T coverage for the tracking to work accurately. (Some reviewers reported they had an issue with “dead spots.”) You’ll also need a pricier subscription plan to access most of the data.
Highlights:
- Built-in night light
- 20-day battery life
- Waterproof and durable
Best Budget GPS Combo: Tractive GPS LTE (Verified Review)
The Tractive is another popular GPS tracker for dogs. It’s edged out in the health and fitness tracking department by the fancier Whistle Go, but it still offers activity monitoring—and at a much more affordable price.
The device tracks your pet’s active time, calories burned, sleep, and “calm time” (not sleeping, but not active), then displays them alongside a running comparison to your pet’s daily average and a local leaderboard you can opt into. The Tractive doesn’t track behaviors like licking, scratching, eating, or drinking, but our testers felt its accurate live tracking makes it a powerhouse in the GPS department and a good budget pick that doesn’t compromise on safety.
Highlights:
- Seven to ten day battery life
- Live tracking that refreshes every 15 to 60 seconds
- Tracks active minutes and sleep time
Find on Tractive Find on Amazon Find on the Rover Store Find on Chewy
Best for Tracking Moods: PETKIT P2 Dog Fitness Tracker (Verified Review)
This dog fitbit is marked toward pet parents wanting to connect with their pup on a deeper level. While the PETKIT P2 offers an affordable entry-level tracker, the most unique feature of the device, and the one that reviewers say is their favorite, is its ability to track emotions. Once you’ve entered your pup’s breed, weight, and age, the app’s algorithm creates a mood index for your dog based on their sleep and activity levels. The higher the score, the greater the mood!
The app also has a built-in calendar so you can set reminders on your smartphone to help you stay on top of things like grooming, administering medications, and vaccinations.
Our Petkit P2 reviewer found it good for the basics but concluded that pet parents who want data on mileage (as opposed to minutes of exercise) may want to prioritize a more advanced device.
Highlights:
- Available in five colors
- Lightweight, weighing only one ounce
- Bluetooth device
- Tracks sleep, calories, and activity
Best for Tracking Nutrition: Sure Petcare Animo Dog Fitness Tracker
Providing high-quality data, the Animo dog fitness tracker is great if you want to keep a close eye on your pup’s diet. This device uses an adaptive algorithm to learn, interpret, and keep detailed records of your dog’s health—helping you monitor specific issues like diabetes and weight loss.
A caloric calculator also tracks burned calories based on your pup’s weight, age, and neutered status—taking into account all the behaviors (even simply resting) that burn calories. Over time, you’ll be able to review comprehensive graphs that show your dog’s results by day, week, month, and year.
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that reviewers have reported the device has to be positioned perfectly in order to function properly, which might pose a problem for more rambunctious pups.
Highlights:
- Monitors behaviors like barking, scratching, and sleep quality
- Long-lasting battery life of six months
- Attaches to dog collars up to 1 1/4” wide
How We Chose Our Dog Fitness Trackers
The dog fitbits featured here were selected based on a combination of our own hands-on testing, a comprehensive look at customer reviews across a wide variety of retail platforms, and interviews with expert trainers. We prioritized accurate distance tracking, a wide range of health tracking features (including licking, scratching, and sleep), user interface, price, battery life, and GPS capability. We’re also guided by the experience of living and playing alongside our own much-loved and strongly opinionated pets, who are never stingy with their feedback.
