Squeaker introduces a pet's wearable that keeps our furry friends visible in the dark. (Photo courtesy of Squeaker)

It all started with the director of pet-tech company Squeaker, Chris Forcucci, who is also a cyclist. He noticed that it’s extremely difficult to identify a dog in the dark on a shared sidewalk since cyclists have flashing lights, cars have lights and joggers wear reflective clothes for protection while our furry friends don’t have any on-road protection.

Squeaker launched LED leash and collar Poochlight in 2014. The LEDs lit leash and collar that illuminate in the dark soon became popular and the team tried to rethink a dog collar design. They ended up with a multi-functional, integrated smart collar for pets, Buddy.

The ultimate goal is to save lives. Based on that concept, Buddy provides owners with several practical and useful functions to keep human’s best friend safe and sound. The smart dog collar Buddy monitors the exact position and health condition of dogs and keeps them visible in the dark.

Buddy lets pet owners set up desired safe zone for dogs to roam and sends notification if dogs exit the virtual geofence area. (Photo courtesy of Squeaker)

The built-in GPS sensor on Buddy lets pet owners setting up a virtual fence area. Once the dog exits or is off the virtual geofence area, the designated app sends user an alert notification right away.

Buddy can be connected to a number of smart devices, including the smart home Nest™. The built-in temperature sensor keeps track of your dog’s body temperature. If he or she is too warm or cold, the smart collar will be able to adjust air conditioning accordingly.

Buddy is a smart collar that offers a number of useful functions that let owners take better care of human's best friends. (Squeaker/LEDinside)

Most importantly, the high output LED strip fitted into the collar enable the dog to be easily identified in the dark. While most of the LED collars have only one color proposition so far, Buddy provides individually dimmable LEDs that allow the collar to showcase unlimited color combinations via app.

Owners can control the RGB LED light with default lighting effect or configure an unique effect themselves.  (Photo courtesy of Squeaker)

The individually controlled RGB LED can be configured via the provided service “RESTful” endpoint, ifttt.com and the upcoming SDK. Users can fully control Buddy’s LED pattern system on provided app.

The built-in OLED display screen on Buddy provides quick information of the dog. (Squeaker/LEDinside)

Meanwhile, Buddy has an OLED display screen that lets owners to get overall condition of their dog at a glance, displaying body temperature, calories consumed and food intake details.

It takes about one hour to fully charge Buddy on the base-station. A fully charged Buddy can last up to 7-14 days without going back to the station for another recharge. Also, the built-in Kinetic charging tops up the battery while your dog is bumping around.

Buddy also has a D ring for owners to connect a leash to their dog. (Photo courtesy of Squeaker)

Buddy is no different from the regular waterproof collar that you get from your local pet supply shop. Except that it can be connected to smartphones, Apple Watch via Bluetooth.

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