Wellness Score
Last Update:Nov 28 2022 9:27pm • Est. Read Time:Est. Read Time: 4 MINChecking in on your dog’s overall well-being should be easy, intuitive, and informative. The WHISTLE™ Health Index gives you insights into your dog like never before, with the ability to dive deeper into specific metrics to spot patterns before they become health issues. Tuned to your dog’s individual needs, the Wellness Score updates with daily check-ins and a weekly graph so that you can stay on top of any changes.
Why is the Wellness Score related to energy?
Changes in energy output that are unrelated to normal day-to-day habits are one of the most important factors that can signal a change in wellness. When we humans start to feel under-the-weather, the first thing we do is slow down and rest. Dogs are no different. Your dog’s changes in energy output are a signal to stop and observe. Is the dog’s energy output declining because you missed a walk or because a storm kept you inside? Or is something else going on?
My dog is old. Why is their Wellness Score so high?
Your dog’s Wellness Score is a personal score that compares their past 90 days of activity patterns to the present. As your dog ages, the Wellness Score adjusts to what is the current normal so that changes against “normal” are easier to spot. If your dog is old and their Wellness Score is high, that means your dog has been more active lately than normal.
What affects my dog’s Wellness Score?
Pet Parent Directed Activity -- Because our dogs' lives are so closely tied to ours, we want to encourage healthy activity. Extra user-directed activity will help raise a Wellness Index score, and we are also measuring the vigor in which a dog performs the activity against their normal. If they are normally not vigorous but have a few extra walks that day, this could raise their score above their normal.
Over-zealous Play Day -- A big play day followed by a low-energy day could result in a low score, in the same way the humans need a recovery period after vigorous activity. It ensures that we are properly conditioned for vigorous activity and helps prevent injury. If you are noticing really low days after a big play day, cutting back a little would be a good idea.
Crating or Kenneling -- Kenneling can be an important component of your pet’s safety, but if they are artificially restricted on some days and not others, this can cause bigger swings in their Wellness Index score. It is important to keep them moving and offer opportunities to get out and stretch their legs.
Activity Goal -- One of the minor components we look at to calculate the Wellness Index score is whether or not a dog was able to achieve their activity goal. Setting a proper goal for your dog is helpful to the accuracy of their score and ensuring they get the correct amount of exercise. Exercise requirements are unique to each dog, although we do benchmark against similar populations for comparison. For example, if someone has significantly lowered the value of their dog’s activity goal, it will be easier for their dog to reach the goal, and would show a slightly higher score compared to a similar population. We are still tracking their dog against their historical averages and we will still be able to detect changes over time. This could be in the case where a dog has a chronic issue and can not be very mobile.
Do I need to update my app to see the new score?
No, but you should update your app to see the explanation for the new score calculations
What about my Wellness Score chart? Do all 30 days reflect the new score?
Yes, all Wellness Scores have been calculated with the new Wellness Score calculator
What is new about the Wellness Score after April 2022?
The new Wellness Score expands on the old score, considering Energy, Sleep, and Skin & Coat health in the score. Skin & Coat health includes your dog’s scratching and licking-self levels.
New Score:
Energy & Activity Levels
Sleep duration and Sleep disruption
Scratching and Licking Levels (Skin & Coat health)
Old Score:
Energy & Activity Levels
The new Wellness Score is also more consistent day-to-day, with fewer peaks and valleys. Your dog’s score will dip when multiple variables dip at once, or when one variable dips significantly.
Why don’t I see my Wellness Score?
You may not see a Wellness Score for a couple of reasons:
Your data has not synced recently
Your data synced, but you don’t have enough data to show a score yet
Your data synced, and we’re processing your data now
The best way to ensure your dog has a Wellness Score is to keep the Whistle device charged and on your dog’s collar, and sync your dog’s Whistle device with your phone at least once a day.
If you check both these boxes: (1) regularly on collar and (2) synced, your Wellness Score is not being displayed because it is currently being calculated. You will receive your Wellness Score within the next hour.
How much data do I need to record before I see the Wellness Score?
Your dog’s Wellness Score relies on a wellness baseline that considers the last 90 days of health data. Your dog needs at least 7 days of data in the last 30 days to receive a Wellness Score.
This means you’ll start seeing a Wellness Score after your first 7 days.
A “day” is any day where at least 12 hours of data is recorded.
What’s next for the Wellness Score?
improvements to how we weight sleeping when there isn’t enough valid data
investigation of eating and drinking as additions to the wellness score
addition of eating and drinking