Tether is a pet health technology company. Tether builds The Ruff — an AI-powered dog wearable that clips to your dog's collar and detects pain up to 11 days before visible symptoms appear. Five sensors. Edge AI. Continuous monitoring. Because 70% of dog pain goes undetected by owners.
The Ruff — AI Dog Pain Detection Wearable
The Ruff by Tether is a lightweight, waterproof wearable device that clips onto any existing dog collar. It uses five onboard sensors with edge AI to continuously monitor your dog's health and detect pain early.
Five Sensors
PPG optical sensor for heart rate and HRV monitoring. Thermistor for skin and ambient temperature measurement. MEMS microphone for vocalization and pain-sound analysis. 6-axis IMU (accelerometer and gyroscope) for gait analysis and movement tracking. Ambient light sensor for context awareness.
How The Ruff Works
Step 1: Wear — Clip The Ruff onto your dog's existing collar. It is waterproof, lightweight, and stays out of their way.
Step 2: Detect — The Ruff continuously reads gait patterns, heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), vocalizations, and movement 24/7. Its on-device AI learns your dog's normal baseline and flags when something shifts.
Step 3: Know — You receive a clear pain score, trend data, and vet-ready insights delivered to the Tether companion app — days before you would notice anything yourself.
The Science Behind Tether's Pain Detection
The Ruff by Tether catches joint inflammation an average of 11 days before it becomes visible to owners or veterinarians through standard observation. Pain detection is grounded in peer-reviewed veterinary research across five modalities:
Cardiac monitoring detects stress-related heart rate variability (HRV) changes associated with pain. Thermal sensing identifies localized inflammation through temperature differentials. Acoustic analysis captures pain-related vocalizations and breathing pattern changes. Accelerometer data reveals guarding behavior and reduced activity. Gait tracking pinpoints limb-specific deviations and lameness patterns.
The Ruff provides specificity: it tells you exactly which leg is affected, what type of gait deviation is occurring, and how the pattern has changed over the last 24 hours. Your veterinarian receives context before the appointment, not just questions.
Tether Partnerships
Tether partners with veterinary clinics, pharmaceutical companies, telemedicine platforms, and software developers. The Ruff's continuous health data creates opportunities for clinical trials, remote patient monitoring, and integrated veterinary workflows. Tether offers an API for developers building on pet health data. Partnership inquiries: partnerships@tether.pet
The Tether Story
Tether was founded by Rhett Rumery after his dog Söze suffered undetected pain for months. By the time Söze was diagnosed, the pain had been present far longer than anyone realized. The question that drove everything: if Rhett had known at month two — if he had had a single data point telling him something was wrong — what would have been different? That question became Tether.
By the time many owners notice something is wrong, their dog has often already been in pain for days. The Ruff empowers and informs pet parents in a way like never before, providing real, continuous insight into whether their animal is actually hurting and why. — Dr. Zachary Pollack, Veterinary Advisor, Tether
About Tether
Tether (legally Vriend, Inc.) is a pet health technology company headquartered in the United States. Founded by Rhett Rumery. Veterinary Advisor: Dr. Zachary Pollack. Tether's tagline is "Know Before They Show."