Want to Know How Your Dog Feels? Now You Can!

Ever wondered what your dog is feeling? With this new invention, you'll never be in the dark again!
Want to Know How Your Dog Feels? Now You Can!

Last update: 18 April, 2019

You’ve probably wondered on many an occasion what your dog is thinking. Well, thanks to a Japanese invention, this will no longer be a mystery! You can now know how your dog feels.

Obviously, you won’t be able to know exactly what’s going on inside his head. But you can find out whether he’s happy or sad and then try to work out why. This way you can help him feel better, enjoy his happiness, and strengthen your bond.

How Inupathy helps you know how your dog feels

A corgi wearing an inupathy harness so that you can know how your dog feels.
Source: Inupathy Facebook Page

Although human relationships are often complex, it’s easy to work out how someone feels, because we can talk to each other. Sadly, your dog isn’t able to do this, although he can express himself a lot using body language.

As a result, knowing exactly how your dog feels can be complicated. This is where Inupathy comes in. Joji Yamaguchi is the inventor behind this incredible device.

This contraption can help you know what and how your dog is feeling, as the device measures heart rate to recognize mood.

Inupathy is a small harness with a heart rate sensor and an algorithm installed which captures pulse variations. The harness then has built-in LEDs which display fixed patterns to show what your dog is feeling.

LED patterns

Here are the possible patterns that the harness will show:

  • Red vs blue. The lights can change from red to blue or simply show one of the two colors. Red means excitement whilst blue means calm.
  • Rainbow colors mean happiness.
  • White. White light means that your dog is concentrating. Maybe something has grabbed his attention or he’s aware of some sort of danger or something that he doesn’t like.

All of the data collected about your dog’s mood can be saved on the Cloud so that you can see it whenever you want. This way, you’ll be able to link certain emotions to certain situations and better understand your pet. It’s that simple. However, at the moment, this option is only available for iOS.

As well as knowing what your dog feels, you can then reflect on your relationship with him. You can do this on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, and think of ways you could improve it. You can also make a record of the time you spend together to see if this is having an impact.

Not content with his device as it is, the inventor also added a game suggestion feature. According to your dog’s mood, the device will suggest games to play. They could be ball games for when he’s more excited, hiding games for when he’s concentrating, or looking for a bone when he’s maybe a little down.

When can I get an Inupathy?

A small dog trialling an inupathy collar.

We’d love to say that you can get one now. However, at the moment the device is still campaigning for funds in order to put it into production, and so it’s only available to developers.

However, Yamaguchi has promised to keep improving things so that soon any dog will be able to have it. If everything goes according to plan, it will soon be on the market in three possible colors: gray, pink, and blue.

This invention can bring us closer to our dogs. Knowing what your dog feels is an important part of providing him with the things he needs, especially emotionally. An animal needs more than just food and water.

We hope that this invention is available soon, and many more besides! This way we’ll all be able to understand our dogs better and strengthen the bonds between us.


This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.