Hi PitPat, my name is Francesca. I’m a Canine Hydrotherapist, a K9 Nation ambassador, and a proud pet parent to Ralph, a 12-year old Golden Retriever.

Ralph loves being outside exploring and being around water! He is at his happiest when we go camping,  are at the beach, or going on holiday He has an obsession with insects and will watch them for up to half an hour,  and also has a routine of rolling on the floor before every single walk – he also loves doing this most at the beach after getting wet. Apparently sand in the eyes, nose, and mouth is an amazing feeling. 

Why do you love dogs? 

I think the main reason I love dogs is that they’re everything a human should aspire to be. They don’t have a care in the world, all they want to do is soak it all up, be healthy, and be happy about life. They bring you back to reality and give you a sense of calm, because ultimately that’s all that matters, and I think that’s why we admire them so much. 

The reason I love my dog is quite hard to explain. I guess everyone will say this about their own dog, but he is one of a kind, he’s funny, independent, intelligent, and really caring. He’s my best friend and I love him more than anything. 

What do you think of the PitPat? 

I like that it’s waterproof as Ralph swims at my work weekly, and it was a nice surprise that it also picked up swimming as an activity! It’s also very lightweight and easy to use.

I found it useful to set Ralph’s goals for exercise and ideal weight. Keeping track of his exercise and calories burnt, I was able to re-evaluate these goals and how much food I was giving him, following his response to the exercise he had done.  

I noticed he hasn’t been struggling too much with his arthritis even though he was doing more exercise than I initially thought, or that I thought he could manage. But with the PitPat app giving me the information I needed, I upped his food accordingly, and now he has reached his ideal weight without putting on fat, which means he has gained muscle mass! This has been so brilliant to see.

It also showed me that Ralph is actually a lot more active than I thought. With cutting down his walks due to his having arthritis and because he had been showing signs of struggling, I felt guilty that he wasn’t getting enough. It looks like he’s actually getting the perfect amount of exercise, and the PitPat app has helped me work out his food intake much more easily,  so he’s now at his ideal weight and looking stronger. 

I was really surprised at how responsive the PitPat Dog Activity Monitor was to Ralph’s movement, I didn’t expect it to be able to understand the difference between play, walk, and pottering.

Would you recommend the PitPat? 

I’d definitely recommend this to anyone with a dog really, but especially to client owners. Quite often we advise owners on taking note of their walk times and patterns so that exercise can become more valuable to their dog and their current condition. With most conditions, we suggest smaller, more frequent walks for building muscle and preventing pain and fatigue. With a PitPat it would be so easy to work this out and will help show owners why some days their dogs may be feeling good, and some days not so good, in regards to their condition. 

I also love how I am able to keep more in tune with Ralph’s health and wellbeing. It has given me good insights into what changes I can make and has made me feel more confident in my decisions as an owner. 

Our partner K9 Nation

K9 Nation is a dog community platform where you can post and discover local routes, events, and dog-friendly products.

They’re avidly trying to better the environment we walk our dogs in through their campaign, the K9 Clean Up. 

Whether you donate, take part, or both. Any help is very appreciated. If you do get involved make sure to spread the word by using #K9CleanUp.  

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