Ya Doggie smart food scoop tracks when your dog eats

A startup based in Santa Cruz, California has launched a smart pet food scoop that keeps track when when your dog eats, automatically ordering more food when the existing bag is running low. The scoop is designed to make feeding a dog easier and more organized, in part using LEDs to indicate whether it is time to feed the dog or whether someone has already done so.

Ya Doggie specializes in grain-free dog food and snacks, and the smart scoop is a sort of perk on top of it, helping retain customers no doubt by removing the entire purchasing process. The scoop uses Bluetooth to connect with a phone and related app. Pick up the scoop and a red LED light will indicate if the dog was fed recently; a green light will indicate it is, indeed, time to feed the dog again.

Each scoop of food is noted by the smart scoop, which orders a new bag before the existing one runs out so that there's never a lapse in food. The idea here is to nearly automate the feeding process while helping ensure the dog isn't overfed. Everyone in the house with the app will get a push notification whenever the scoop detects that the dog has been fed.

According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Ya Doggie will sell the smart scoop for between $40 and $50 some time later this year, though anyone who signs up for the dog food shipments before then will get the scoop for free. Of course, this isn't the first pet-centric technology we've seen hit the market; Acer just recently announced its own smart doggy gear.

SOURCE: Santa Cruz Sentinel