We’re Going to Talk to Dogs
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.