We're going to talk to dogs v2

We are going to talk to dogs.

I said this when we launched our first product, Companion Pro, for shelters and dayboarding facilities. It seems like an age ago. It was -- we launched Companion Pro in January 2020, one month before the pandemic shut down our lives as we knew them, including for all of our customers.

With the help of some of the world's leading consumer and animal investors, we have now made the Companion available for public reservation for your home. Companion is the first product in the world whose sole mission is to delight your dog all day long by engaging it in enriching games like practicing training. And, through those thousands of practice behaviors, observe how your animal moves to look for sudden or subtle shifts in pain, health, and wellness. You can reserve yours at www.joincompanion.com. As of April 11th, the next available ship date is February 2024.

Looking back at the post we launched our shelter product with, the same thought and sentiment from our team is as, or more, valid today than before the pandemic affected all of us. Our resolve for the mission has only increased. I have included it below as the first post in a series on Companion. We hope you enjoy it. Original link here.

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Today we understand that a dog by the door means “I need to go out.” Soon we will know what every lick, tail wag or ear wiggle means from our companion, enabling us to be better guardians and to have a lot more fun.

It’s only a matter of time before we can better understand the animals we love. This a natural and inevitable evolution of two truths:

• Animals primarily communicate with movement and posture
• New technology (here) can sense movement and posture with perfect precision and memory

Today, the U.S. euthanizes millions of animals every year. Many animals who are returned to shelters are brought back for behavioral reasons (i.e., poor communication with their humans). Imagine if parents had the tools to better understand adopted pets adjusting to their new environments. Imagine the bonds that could form if communication and understanding were strong from the start. We could make a significant impact on the burdens of shelters while keeping pets in safe and happy homes.

Ask any pet owner if they wished they could better understand their pet’s thoughts and you will hear an emphatic “yes!” While humans and animals have found some ways to connect and communicate, there is still a need for better understanding and empathy. And unlocking that level of understanding means we’ll all have richer lives with our four-legged family members.

Even better, in addition to passively understanding, we can enable our animals to directly use the same technology to teach (“train”) communication skills. With Companion, our dogs can:

• Understand the most important communications from humans perfectly (training so reliable it changes your day-to-day relationship)
• Keep those most important communication skills honed throughout their lives, fostering a great relationship with their human counterparts

// Our 5 year roadmap

Step 1: Demonstrate technology to train dogs to professional levels in all of the behaviors (sit, stay, down, recall, etc.) that get dogs adopted, stay adopted and that help grow and maintain a strong bond with their human companions. Enjoy the drastic reduction in animal anxiety that comes along with any training and use of our technology (especially for Separation Anxiety).

Step 2: Make this technology available to leading shelters, boarding facilities, vets and breeders. Those places can reserve their Companions here.

Step 3: Offer this to the 60 million homes in the U.S. that have a dog.

Step 4: Radically change how we can monitor and improve your companion’s health and wellness at home all while continuing to launch updates that increase the human-animal bond, reduce animal anxiety and are just plain fun.

Step 5: Extend what we have learned to the other animals around us.

// Our commitments

We will always operate on a non-profit basis with non-profit shelters.

We will always be opt-in for all animals and use best in class techniques (Positive Reinforcement only).

We will always work to make our technology accessible to everyone, democratizing access to expensive new technology as quickly as possible.

We are a small, passionate team with a plan to fundamentally change our relationship with animals.

We hope you will join us on that journey.

John & the Companion team

A thank you

Thanks to those who have written these types of posts before, for inspiring us to layout our mission and vision in the same way.

How to get involved

Get in touch with your local trusted daycare, boarding facility or shelter and ask if they’re using Companion or visit www.joincompanion.com to learn more.