Fi's new smart collar uses AI to track dog health

Dogs are notoriously stoic. By the time you notice your pup is limping or lethargic, an underlying issue might have been brewing for days.

Pet tech company Fi thinks machine learning can solve that. On Monday, the New York-based startup launched the Series 3+ (also called Series 3 Plus), pitching it as the world’s first AI-powered smart dog collar built for real-time health and behavior tracking.

Spotting the subtle clues

Smart collars usually stop at basic step counts and geofencing. The Series 3+ goes significantly deeper by actively monitoring five key daily habits: barking, licking, scratching, eating, and drinking.

Subtle spikes in scratching or sudden drops in water intake often signal allergies or chronic illnesses before visible symptoms show up. Fi trained its AI on real-world behavior data from hundreds of dog breeds, claiming an 80% accuracy rate in flagging meaningful behavioral changes.

Inside the companion app, an AI document scanner lets pet parents upload vet records, bills, and insurance paperwork. The software pulls clinical context out of those files and pairs it with the collar's sensor data for a more comprehensive health history.

Doubled GPS and an Apple Watch app

The physical hardware gets a modest refresh alongside the new smarts. Fi doubled the GPS signal sensitivity compared to the previous model, which CEO Jonathan Bensamoun noted could make the difference between life and death if a dog escapes.

The collar comes in four colors (yellow, blue, pink, gray) and five sizes, boasting an IP68 waterproof rating tested down to 50 meters in saltwater. A built-in LED helps with night walks, and battery life stretches up to three months on a single charge.

Fi also shipped an Apple Watch app mirroring the mobile version's tracking features, so you can check your dog’s location and habits from your wrist.

The Series 3+ is available now on Fi’s website, with Amazon, Costco, and Chewy rollouts planned in coming months. Fi packages the hardware into a membership that starts at $14 per month with no upfront equipment charge.

Why it matters

For dog owners, turning invisible daily habits into structured data is genuinely useful. Dogs can't tell you their skin is itching or their stomach hurts; catching changes in water intake or compulsive licking early can spare owners expensive emergency vet bills.

There is a caveat, however. Wearables can sometimes manufacture user anxiety out of thin air, and an 80% accuracy claim means one out of every five behavioral flags might be a false positive or a miss. It should guide your questions at the vet, not replace professional judgment.

From an industry perspective, Fi made a clever pivot. By packaging the device into a $14-a-month subscription and moving from simple GPS tracking to preventative wellness and document parsing, Fi transforms a seasonal gadget into essential recurring pet healthcare. It sets a clear benchmark that rivals will likely have to scramble to match.